Hotel Hell’s Juniper Hill Inn closed in April 2013 due to foreclosure, almost a year after Gordon Ramsay and his team intervened to turn the inn around.
Hotel Hell is touted as the fourth show that Gordon Ramsay created for the Fox network.
Ramsay and Fox have had a long-standing working relationship as Ramsay and his team are behind some of the channel’s flagship shows including Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, and MasterChef US.
One of the most memorable episodes from the three seasons of the show’s natural run between 2012 and 2016 is arguably “The Juniper Hill Inn” episode.
The reason for this is that the inn was the first one featured on the show and it had a two-part special. But unfortunately, the inn foreclosed in April 2013, reportedly because it was repossessed by the bank.
Did Fox cancel Hotel Hell?
It seems unlikely that the Fox network would cancel Hotel Hell, as the channel has yet to cancel a show created by Ramsay.
Moreover, the show was popular during its three season run. Therefore, it is more likely that the show ended at the behest of Gordon Ramsay, primarily due to the fear of the show falling into the same pattern that Kitchen Nightmares fell into.
This is as Ramsay made the abrupt decision to end Kitchen Nightmares after rising backlash on the lack of success that the show had, along with the ongoing media backlash and continuous lawsuits filed against the show.
What happened to Juniper Hill from Hotel Hell?
Juniper Hill Inn was located in Windsor, Vermont, and was owned by antiques dealer, Robert Dean ll and his partner, Ari Nikki.
Juniper Hill marked the first inn to be profiled on Hotel Hell’s premiere two-part special. The inn overall was in a state of disrepair, with the only redeeming factor being the conditions of the rooms.
When Ramsay arrived, the reason that the hotel eventually closed was already a factor in the contention of needing to turn around the business. This is as it was established that the inn was in debt of over $1 million by the time that Gordon Ramsay arrived.
Robert was pin-pointed to be the cause of the financial state of the inn as Ari had already invested everything into it and needed the business to succeed to earn his return.
But instead of investing in the inn, Robert invested all of his money in the antiques he was hoarding in the inn’s basement.
Robert initially believed that the antiques he was hoarding were an investment, as he believed that they had high value and that they would have high returns when auctioned, but this all came to a head when the antiques were evaluated.
Unfortunately, the antiques were only worth $25 000 due to their condition. Moreover, Robert also allowed his friends to stay in the inn for free, he kept the staff’s tips for himself, and he also paid them late and never the agreed upon amount.
Lastly, due to the state of the hotel, a fixed breakfast and dinner menu of a set price of $59 was considered pricey, and the rooms were priced at nothing less than $350 for a minimum two-night stay.
Why did Juniper Hill Inn close?
Juniper Hill Inn officially closed in April 2013 due to foreclosure. The foreclosure was because of the debt that the inn had accumulated before Ramsay’s intervention.
As such, there was little that Ramsay could do in his intervention to ensure the longevity of the inn.
Following the foreclosure, it is reported that the inn was auctioned off and bought by Kenni Lucci and his sister Brenda Bradley in 2014 for $405 000. The new owners reportedly also wanted to invest $500 000 to get the inn up to code.
New owners lambaste Robert and Ari over Juniper Hill Inn’s state
Kenni Lucci and Brenda Bradley, the new owners of the Juniper Hill Inn, were vocal after their purchase about their criticism of the former owners.
While the episode teased the state of disrepair that the inn was in, Lucci and Bradley were forthcoming in their lambasting of Robert and Ari and the state in which they left the inn.
They detailed how they found the inn, stating that there was also unused merchandise in the inn.
Juniper Hill Inn name changed to Windsor Mansion Inn
As new hotel owners, Kenni Lucci and Brenda Bradley asserted that they intended to invest over $500 000 to get the hotel up to code and ready for business, and that they did.
After the repairs and renovations, they reopened the inn under its new name, Windsor Mansion Inn. The inn is still operational with a website to book your stay, currently operational, and receiving new bookings.