In this Hotel Impossible episode, Anthony Melchiorri visits The Hotel Corpus Christi Bayfront in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The Hotel Corpus Christi Bayfront is owned by Gregory.
It is owned by his family and it is losing money every year.
Anthony arrives and he has a problem finding the hotel.
Bayfront Plaza Hotel is on a sign outside but on the front door is the name Hotel Corpus Christi.
The hotel doesn’t just have a misleading name, it also looks abandoned from the outside.
Fixtures are hanging dangerously on the side.
The front is untidy and there are post-it notes as decoration on the front glass.
Inside, Anthony cannot tell where the dining room is from the front desk.
He looks around but no one is there to greet him.
There is a big atrium but this does not mask the bad smell.
Anthony cleans the leather chairs and they are dirty with blood stains.
There are also dusty artificial trees.
After the brief inspection, Anthony sits with Greg and finds out that the room rates are less than half of their competition.
There is no General Manager and Greg is not passionate about the hotel.
Greg has never got direct feedback from guests so Anthony plays video feedback from guests.
Greg admits embarrassment at the reviews.
Anthony inspects the value room, one that most of the guests complain about.
The decor is dated and there is an outside menu.
There is room charge for cleaning of $10 for the guests.
Anthony measures the mould and bacteria on the telephone and it is high.
He finds bugs dead all over the bathroom.
Didi oversees the staff and Anthony sits with her to find out what is going on.
She complains she has passion for the place but is not given enough to run it properly.
While talking on the pool deck they find a dead pigeon.
The 200 room hotel is run by only 20 staff and Didi has to wear many hats, which is wearing her thin.
Blanche Garcia is brought in as the interior decorator.
Anthony outlines the exterior needs to be redone from signage to landscaping.
While she makes her plans Anthony sits with Don.
He has been given a ridiculous title but is essentially a marketing director.
Don has been responding to guest comments with dry humour that is insulting to the guests and damaging to the hotel brand.
Anthony is not impressed and asks him to never be customer facing.
Anthony checks on Blanche, who has been pulling down some of the exterior fixtures.
One comes off so easily it has been a safety hazard and could have injured somebody.
The next day, Anthony meets with Greg by the docks and confronts him with all he found on staff and resources.
For the first time, Greg convinces Anthony he is committed to the hotel and wants to learn.
Anthony channels this new energy to cleaning the dusty tree in the atrium, which Greg does himself.
Anthony leaves him to talk with the cleaning staff to check on how they set up their cleaning cart.
There was so much wrong with how they are prepping it and it is unsanitary.
Anthony shows them a properly set up cart with colour coded towels.
On demonstrating their cleaning process he finds there is no system and it is also unsanitary.
Anthony commits to training them properly.
A professional cleaning service is brought in to clean the carpets, floors, rugs and upholstery.
They give Greg a rating of 9/10 on the unclean scale.
Greg has never had a professional cleaning crew deep clean the hotel.
Anthony decides to meet Greg in his comfort zone which is the gun range.
Greg demonstrates and Anthony tries it out with his instruction and does well.
Anthony has him shoot the old signs of the hotel.
Anthony has arranged room service with a nearby restaurant for the hotel and lets Didi know.
There will be a direct phone line to the restaurant that will benefit both businesses.
They ordered a meal to test it out and the restaurant staff was fast and courteous and the food presentation was good.
Anthony checks in on Blanche and they are still in the thick of the work.
Anthony sits with Greg and Didi to iron out the staffing situation.
She outlines what is needed to run the hotel properly and how to manage the staff.
Greg is made to understand and commit to the changes needed.
Didi is working as a GM but not been given the title and Greg commits to this also.
Anthony takes them to the room that has been renovated with just $200 and it looks a lot different.
It is clean, fresh and rearranged with new linen and thoroughly cleaned.
He leaves them with a template to renovate the remaining room when their income increases.
The Atrium has been cleaned and made more inviting with the cleaned artificial tree.
The last thing to reveal to them is the exterior which has been cleared up and upgraded to be more inviting and the new very visible sign put up.
They love the changes, especially the window treatment of the history of the hotel.
The staff are all gathered and Anthony motivates them ahead of booking their first spring break guests.
What Happened Next at The Hotel Corpus Christi Bayfront?
Sometime after Anthony’s visit, their spring break occupancy increased.
The room service has provided additional revenue.
Don the marketing director is trying to write better online reviews.
The Hotel Corpus Christi Bayfront is closed.
In 2019, the hotel was sold after being listed for $6.9 million.
Reviews after the show are mostly negative with customers complaining of the hotel being dirty in communal areas and rooms and rooms not being ready for check in.
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