GORDON: I'm checking in
to historic Brick Hotel in Newtown, Pennsylvania
where I meet an overbearing owner
who has run her business into the ground.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
GORDON: And what was once a proud landmark...
Are they bullet holes in the wall?
- That's mold. - (gasps)
GORDON: Is now suffering from neglect.
This place is disgusting.
The road ahead is not going to be easy for me.
I tried to get through to the owner,
who's totally oblivious.
Sync and corrections by explosiveskull www.addic7ed.com
(dramatic music)
♪ ♪
30 miles north of Philadelphia
lies the borough of Newtown, Pennsylvania,
home to this historic Brick Hotel.
Owner Verindar Kaur, a former therapist,
bought the property in 2006 with her son CJ,
who serves as a silent partner in the business.
CJ: We bought the Brick Hotel
because it was an investment opportunity.
When we first purchased the place,
we were told that it was gonna be sort of a hands-off.
It'll run itself. You just have to watch it.
VERINDAR: Of course, we had no idea,
zero idea, what this business is about.
♪ ♪
VERINDAR: I always said to my son,
"Maybe this year, we'll make a profit."
"Maybe this year, we'll make a profit,"
and it never happened.
CJ: She used to be in family therapy,
so patience comes with that job,
and I've seen her have a short fuse
where she wouldn't do that, uh, before we bought the place.
VERINDAR: When I came here, it blew my mind away
that we're still putting in money,
so I cut out a lot of stuff here,
and it really annoyed and irritated people,
and they basically started
the dislike Verindar plan.
♪ ♪
TAMMY: It has been a bit of a dictatorship here
with Verindar.
You know, it's either her way or not her way.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
PAUL: Verindar is a control freak.
She is involved in everything.
She will not release or relinquish control ever.
Here is a bowl. You want me to put it in?
MARYANNE: She's not a people person.
She has no people skills.
She just screams out demands,
and she's very rude at times.
Paul! French onion on here, now.
MARYANNE: There is such a turnover with staff
that I don't even know their names.
PAUL: In eight months, I've probably seen
over 50 people go.
Some people come in for one shift,
and they listen to her for five minutes,
and they roll right out the door.
VERINDAR: I wish I had two clones of me,
and believe me, this place would be happy.
♪ ♪
MARYANNE: I feel the Brick might have become,
like the laughing stock of Newtown.
VERINDAR: So the reputation around town is that,
you know, no non... so they call me the crazy lady,
which is fine to me. You know what?
If I'm crazy because I'm trying to save the business, so be it.
CJ: I think we're at that point
where this is really our last chance.
If we don't figure something out,
it's either sell it, get rid of it,
because we can't sustain it.
♪ ♪
(lilting music)
♪ ♪
GORDON: Before I came to town,
I heard the Brick Hotel had a high turnover rate,
so I had my team reach out to former employees
so I can get some information before checking in.
Uh, first of all, good morning.
ALL: Good morning.
I've never met such a large team of ex-employees.
GORDON: Uh... WOMAN: Small showing.
- This is a small showing? - ALL: Yes.
GORDON: What, there's more? WOMAN: There's a lot more.
- WOMAN: Hundreds. - There's a lot more.
- GORDON: Hundreds? - Hundreds.
WOMAN: I would say hundreds. WOMAN: Yes, hundreds.
Um, how much turnover is there with staff?
When I left, Verindar had been through almost 50 managers.
- 15? - BOTH: 50.
- GORDON: 50 managers? - 50.
And the biggest problem with the place is what?
Verindar.
She's been cruel to people. I've watched her.
And she's... she's mean,
and she can be a bully,
and I've seen her reduce people to tears.
Wow, that's terrible.
You know, there's so much neglect
between not only the staff, her managers,
but her customers as well.
Seriously?
I couldn't take it anymore.
I worked the holiday season,
and it was kind of like
the last straw for me.
And what made you quit?
WOMAN: I worked all of those parties
through the whole month of December.
I was lucky to receive some payback, like, in February.
With your tips?
WOMAN: Yeah, she'll cut you a check
in six weeks when she feels like it.
She wouldn't let you go pick up your paycheck.
- So... - She'd call the cops on you.
You said, "She'd call the cops on you?"
- All the time. - On everybody.
- MAN: Numerous times. - (laughs)
Seriously, call the police because you wanted your money?
- Yes. - You were threatening her.
Seriously, I mean, it sounds like a dictatorship
as opposed to a boss that's there to support.
WOMAN: People loved it there. It was very homey.
The opposite of now. All the locals came.
We had a booming hotel business.
- Wow. - It was such a great place.
And then the quality just steadily went downhill,
and I think she had a complete lack of respect for the staff
and didn't understand that your staff is a huge asset.
- What a mess. - Can I ask a question?
- GORDON: Please. - Have you met her?
Uh, no, I... this... I just arrived.
GORDON: Seriously, flew into Philly this morning.
WOMAN: Oh, see you are in for a treat.
I was curious just by the way you were speaking becau...
I thought, "He hasn't met her yet, has he?" And...
GORDON: No, no, no. So calling the cops, you know,
high staff turnover, um, standards dropping...
I haven't got much confidence.
However, I'm gonna tackle it head on,
and you don't look very optimistic, do you?
(laughter)
- I believe that you can do it. - GORDON: Thank you.
- I do too. - GORDON: Well, wish me luck.
- WOMAN: Good luck. - Thank you. Take care.
(light instrumental music)
♪ ♪
Wow, look at the size of this place.
♪ ♪
Oh, dear. What happened there?
Damn. When did that happen?
MARYANNE: You know, it's been here since I've been here.
- Oh, really? - Hi, I'm Maryanne.
- Maryanne, likewise. - It's nice to meet you.
- Good to see you. - Welcome to the hotel.
I get a bit nervous when I check into a hotel
and the windows are smashed.
GORDON: Uh, anyway, how are you?
- I'm good, thank you. - I'm happy to be here.
Are they bullet holes in the wall?
MARYANNE: Uh, you know, they might very well be.
I'm not sure what they are.
We're 250 years old, so...
- GORDON: 250 years old? - Mm-hmm.
- What's wrong with the place? - MARYANNE: I think it's
a beautiful place, but I think it really just needs
some upgrading.
And, uh, which part's beautiful? Help me.
GORDON: Certainly not the entrance
with the smashed windows.
Well, I think it could be beautiful.
GORDON: Yes. MARYANNE: It's been neglected
for awhile.
What happened here?
MARYANNE: Oh... (laughing)
- Oh, my. (laughing) - Damn.
- (laughs) - MARYANNE: Oh, my.
Oh. (laughs)
That looks much better.
- Oh. - Wow. Dear, oh, dear.
I don't know; Verindar's not gonna be too happy.
- Damn. - I can't believe he just ripped
the wallpaper down. That was fantastic.
What time's the owner calling in?
She might be here.
- I can check for you. - I'd love to meet her.
Oh, he's bringing Verindar up.
MARYANNE: Verindar. VERINDAR: Hi.
- How are you? - Good. How are you?
Very well. A little nervous.
The smashed glass, what happened there?
It's been there since before I bought it.
Oh, how long have you had the hotel?
- Ten years. Yeah. - Ten years?
And you didn't think about replacing it?
First impression as customers walk through the door?
- It's original. - Have you been drinking?
(scoffs and laughs) You look like I drink?
Did you run a hotel before you bought this ten years ago?
- No, never. Never. - No?
- No. - Now, what did you do?
Therapist for children.
I did that for 20 years, so that was my practice.
GORDON: Wow, okay, uh, 201.
I'll see you, uh, shortly.
I'm gonna go and check in and, uh, unpack.
VERINDAR: Okay.
Ah, place is filthy.
(soft dramatic music)
Ugh.
♪ ♪
What in the [bleep]?
- Maryanne? - MARYANNE: (speaks indistinctly)
I need a rag, uh, napkin...
- MARYANNE: Okay. - Or housekeeping, please.
- (chuckles) - GORDON: God.
MARYANNE: Oh, my. GORDON: What...
Is that... ugh.
- [bleep], oh, [bleep]. - Oh.
MARYANNE: Let me get housekeeping for you.
Housekeeping? Call fire brigade.
- Hello. - Are you the housekeeper?
I'm not. I'm looking for her.
- I'm... I'm Caitlin. - Caitlin, pleased to meet you.
Sorry, my hands are dirty, so I'm just going...
- To shake hands like that. - Excuse me. Yes.
I don't want to shake hands like that.
- Sure... no. - When was the last time
this place was cleaned?
There's dust and [bleep] everywhere.
Uh, Talaya's here every day.
Uh, so I would assume...
- Right. - Cleaning.
I mean under here.
Look, I'm not talking about
a couple of weeks of dust;
I'm talking years.
And behind here as well, look.
CAITLIN: Hi, Talaya. GORDON: What?
- Hi. - Oh, jeez, how are you.
Oh, hi.
- GORDON: Are you good? - Yes, I'm fine.
GORDON: Fine, right. What do you do?
- Yes, housekeeping. - GORDON: Stop.
- Which house? - This house.
GORDON: Come over.
GORDON: Look at the mess down there.
What's that? What's that?
- Fabu... - Fabuloso.
Let's get the place cleaned fabulous.
GORDON: Let's just have a little test here.
Mm, look at that.
GORDON: Look at that.
Do you have a program that you clean floor by floor?
A program?
- No. - No.
Uh, where is my room, 2... what is that?
- CAITLIN: 201 is... - [bleep].
GORDON: No, what's that up there.
(whimsical music)
- Who sits here? - (chuckles)
- Aesthetics? - Is it a [bleep] tea party
for rats or Stuart Little in for dinner tonight?
What the [bleep] is that?
- TALAYA: Oh, my. - What is it, like, pet corner?
We drop our cats off for dinner here?
Who... who...
[bleep].
Man, who does this?
You care to join me? Come up.
(all laugh)
- Go. Go for it, my dear. - (laughs)
(laughing) Come on. Let's... let's sit...
- In the veranda. - Sure.
Let's talk about your cleaning habits; take a seat.
I don't think I can fit right there.
- No, no, I ca... I'm... my... my... - Okay.
My butt's way bigger than yours, so take a seat.
- May we have some menus please? - CAITLIN: Oh, sure.
- GORDON: Yeah. Yeah, it's... - Absolutely.
So what in the [bleep] is going on?
♪ ♪
I actually said something about that,
but, you know...
- You comfy? - Absolutely not.
No, all jokes apart... forget the mice party,
tea party, Stuart Little [bleep] hangout...
what is the biggest problems here?
- 'Cause I'm not... - Things like this.
- The mold, the... - The mold?
Whoa, whoa, whoa. We got rid of the dust.
What do you mean the mold? Where's the mold?
Oh, right, yes.
- Take me to the mold. - Oh, okay.
- All right? - Thank you.
- Excellent. - It's up this way.
- What, where? - Let's go this way...
- To the mold, first. - We're going up.
(exhales) Mold.
So I guess it starts... I don't know exactly where it comes,
but it comes from somewhere on the shower curtains.
I asked her, "Can we change it?" She said, "No."
There is mold. Did you tell the owner...
- To change these out? - Yes, sir.
- And any response? - She'll get to it.
Ugh, look at this.
(tense music)
Look at that. Come over.
TALAYA: Is that mold? GORDON: That is mold.
- Yes, I said that. - That's mold.
- GORDON: See it? - Mm-hmm.
Bloody hell.
When was all the linen last changed?
Look at the color of this.
How much sweat is on there?
- Oh, man. - Look.
- Oh. - Look at the color of that.
So that's what that is? Sweat?
That's sweat. And then is that a...
is that a tube television?
How old?
Uh, you... have you ever heard of a flat-screen?
Yeah, I got five.
- You've got five flat-screens? - At my house.
For... uh, what a mess.
What's that in there?
What...
A empty box of tights?
Silk Perfections.
[bleep].
Does the owner ever come into these rooms?
Since I've been here,
I've probably seen her in here maybe once.
Once upon a time, these were white, right?
You see these?
Look at the color of them.
How gray and dirty.
- God, they stink. - Oh, you can tell.
They supposed to been white. Oh, man.
I was... I was worried about your eyes for a second there.
- Where's my room, please? - 201.
Please tell me it's not worse than this one.
201.
♪ ♪
GORDON: Bloody hell. What a mess.
Dust everywhere, and all this.
What is this?
Terrible.
TALAYA: Girl... CAITLIN: How you doing?
TALAYA: He found all the nasty. CAITLIN: Oh, no.
No, I thought that the curtains were gold.
CAITLIN: (laughs) TALAYA: No, for real.
They were supposed to be white.
PAUL: Oh, my goodness. TALAYA: I am appalled.
And then, just underneath it all,
right now, it's pretty obvious that
the owner doesn't even put
a cent back into this room...
even into the hotel.
But when an owner can't be bothered
to change a smashed window in reception,
I don't hold much hope for the rest of the hotel.
And look at up there.
What's that?
Check out time 11:00 a.m.
Yeah, I'll check out way before that, my love.
(dramatic music)
♪ ♪
Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Tammy.
Likewise, Gordon. Good to see you.
- Good to meet you. - Um, and you're...
Sales and event coordinator with the Brick.
Rumors has it, you do a lot of events.
- We do a lot of events. - Wow, how many a week
- on average? - About 350 a year.
Sounds like this is the oxygen that's keeping this place alive.
Unfortunately, that's the truth.
Wow, what other problems are there?
- Help me. - Uh, staffing is... terrible.
Why are there so many staff going through the door?
- What is it? - Um, Verindar is firing them.
Often, I'll come in on Monday
and see who didn't make it through the weekend.
She's very tough to work for.
The bottom line is, the problem is the owner?
Yes, there's nobody else here. It starts at the top.
I appreciate your honesty, thank you.
Well, we appreciate you being here.
GORDON: After learning the hotels revenue
is strictly from events,
I want to see how bad the food really is.
Seasonal, local, fresh, hmm.
I ordered a couple of items,
the French onion soup, which was tasteless...
That's so bad. Terrible.
So I opted for something
with a little more flavor.
(scoffs)
♪ ♪
- Mmm, that tastes better. - Mm.
GORDON: Then I ordered something
I've never heard of before,
a cauliflower steak,
which by name, I should have known better...
That is a mess. Who put it on the menu?
- Verindar. - GORDON: And a crab sandwich,
which maybe I would expect to be frozen,
but not from a can.
Product of China. Fresh.
- Mm-mm. - Seriously?
Are we done? Is there a... did I...
- You've got your burger still. - Do you know what?
- Cancel it. - Absolutely.
'Cause if it's coming from the same kitchen...
- Forget it, yeah? - Got it.
Tell the chef I travel light and I haven't got
that many [bleep] pairs of knickers.
- Thank you. - CAITLIN: Oh, my gosh.
Oh, my gosh, he's freaking out.
PAUL: What happened? CAITLIN: He's freaking out.
CAITLIN: Cancel everything else.
No more. No more.
He said, "Enough."
♪ ♪
- Uh... - Hi.
Take me to the kitchen. Introduce me to the team.
GORDON: Place is huge.
Kitchen is massive.
Uh, so where's the chef?
- Mac... Macio. - Hello.
- MACIO: I'm not the chef. - You're not the chef?
How you doing? Nice to meet you.
You are a chef, though. You got a jacket on.
- Yes, sir. - That's how chefs tend...
- To dress. - Yes.
- Macio. - Nice to meet you.
- And this is Barry. - Likewise.
Good to meet you too. And this is?
- VERINDAR: Barry. - Barry Sexton.
- Barry, so you're the chef? - You got it.
- I'm not the chef. - No, you're the chef?
- A chef, but the not the chef. - A chef.
- There's two of them. - There's two of them?
- They're the ones, uh... - But where's the head chef?
Well, we have both of them in charge.
GORDON: No such thing. Your set of rules
and your set of rules doesn't benefit the customers.
I'll come back to the food in a minute.
GORDON: I'm in shock.
GORDON: Before I got here,
I met a dozen of your ex-employees.
- Okay. - I couldn't believe
the amount of staff that have left this building
in the last two years.
Why are you going through so many staff?
- I don't know. - GORDON: You don't know?
I think I hire people, and, uh...
Oh, so it's them not good enough for you?
Yes.
(tense music)
When you have a young member of staff
that is owed money
and they won't leave the building
till you pay them and you call the police on them,
what kind of business are you running here?
Who said that?
Are you saying now that they're lying?
- Please? - I don't know because I've...
GORDON: Are you saying they're lying?
- Simple yes or no. - I cannot tell people...
- If they're lying. - GORDON: You cannot tell?
It's inaccurate, though. I do...
- It's inaccurate? - Yes.
CAITLIN: I have witnessed Verindar call the cops
on a number of people.
She has a close relationship
with the Newtown Police Department.
Do you care about this hotel?
It's not funny. I mean, I am not here to laugh.
Let's get that right.
Let's move on to my reception when I walked in,
and there's dust and [bleep] everywhere.
When I say dust, I'm talking dust that's been embedded
for years,
and there's mold on the carpet.
GORDON: I'm a little bit lost for words.
Ever sat down in the restaurant and had dinner?
- No. - GORDON: Right.
Top of your menu, it's,
"Fresh... seasonal... local."
- GORDON: It's canned food. - I'm not a chef,
and I don't know all these things.
What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?
No, I need to take something out of the oven, chef.
Well, you take it out of the oven.
What is this? Tomorrow's chicken?
- (laughs) - See, you laugh.
What is this?
GORDON: A game?
You have to [bleep] wake up.
(dramatic music)
WOMAN: Hi. JESSICA: Hey, guys.
JESSICA: How are you? WOMAN: Good, how are you?
- Excited? - Yes, we're checking in.
♪ ♪
JESSICA: No problem. Bye-bye.
- Hi, how are you? - Hi, how are you?
- BOTH: Nice to meet you. - Likewise, first name is?
- I'm Jessica. - Jessica, good to see you.
I heard you had a great time today.
- Great time, not, but, uh... - JESSICA: (laughs)
Yeah, let's wait and see, yeah? Who's that?
JESSICA: That is CJ. That is Verindar's son.
- Oh, CJ. - CJ: Hi, yes.
I'm one of the co-owners as well.
Good to meet you. How many times a week you here?
I'm here, right now, probably less than once a month even.
I've got another job that I pretty much do full time.
GORDON: Okay, what do you do? CJ: Uh, manage IT.
IT, wow. Why did you buy this?
Why did we buy this?
It was an investment opportunity.
When we first got into it,
we were told that it was turnkey, hands-off.
- So that was ten years ago? - Yes.
Have you seen any return on that yet?
- Zero. - Zero?
When do you think it's coming?
- (laughs) - JESSICA: (laughs)
Well, I have been talking about that
quite a bit over the last six months...
- Right. - Because, uh, it's getting
difficult to keep putting money in.
Wow. In your mind...
forget him... what's wrong with the place?
I'm very sorry, 'cause I know this is your mom...
- It's okay. - But I can't... I can't deal
with how she treats me.
It's like when we don't need her here,
she's here, and she's on me about the smallest things.
- Wow. - (exhales)
Do you have one foot in their camp
or one foot in your mother's camp?
Um, I'm split between the two.
I've actually had employees tell me,
"Why aren't you around more?
Because you're pleasant to deal with."
How's this gonna get turned around
if she's still micromanaging and dictating to everybody
about how this place should be run?
She says if she's not here,
it's... things will fall apart and it won't get done.
That sounds right. (chuckles)
GORDON: Oh, here's customers. JESSICA: Hi, guys, how are you?
GORDON: Good evening, welcome. MAN: Good, how are you?
- How are you? You well? - You guys have a reservation?
Yeah, Weinstein.
Sorry about the smashed window.
GORDON: And the crab's from China.
- The crab's from China. - JESSICA: Okay.
- Good crab in China? - JESSICA: You guys can follow me.
- No... - (laughs)
I don't go to China for crab.
(laughter)
♪ ♪
PAUL: Gentlemen, I have one order for you.
It's just a first course on the first table.
It's just two soup of the days.
PAUL: Thank you.
♪ ♪
VERINDAR: Okay, who's next?
MACIO: Apple.
VERINDAR: First thing is this.
It's, uh, apple pear, no bleu cheese,
and a eggplant stack.
♪ ♪
Where's the apple pear? Can we get this out?
Why is she doing this? Is she always on the hot plate?
PAUL: She is. She's never quiet.
VERINDAR: Which ones are done? Can you guys take those down?
- Is this done? - BOTH: No.
I've taken my stuff down that's done.
- CAITLIN: Yeah. - Wow.
VERINDAR: Guys, waiting on the eggplant stack.
BARRY: It's coming Verindar. It's coming.
We're working it hard. You making us nervous.
Oh, my goodness. Carly? Carly?
What? I'm coming.
- What is that? - Put those here.
- Take this. This is yours. - No, that is my New York strip.
(scoffs) No, it's not.
CAITLIN: This is craziness.
Who's doing the cauliflower?
GORDON: Are you cooking the cauliflower now?
VERINDAR: Yes.
- She's [bleep] nuts. - I know she is.
- (laughs) - Swear to God.
Macio, can you flip this?
♪ ♪
- And what's she doing cooking? - I have no idea.
- Does she normally cook? - Yeah.
GORDON: This is crazy. Absolute crazy.
♪ ♪
[bleep]. What a mess.
♪ ♪
Wheels are stuck,
and it was just sliding on the [bleep] grease.
Ugh, God.
That is gross.
- Verindar, you got two seconds? - Sure.
GORDON: Just stand behind there, will you?
- Oh, my goodness. - No, please stand behind there.
- I'm... I'm... - What is this?
♪ ♪
Macio, you guys just cleaned this.
Is this from today?
I don't even know what's back there, Verindar.
What? When was that cleaned?
It's... they just cleaned it two days ago.
VERINDAR: They just spilled everything there.
Come here.
I know hand in heart
that is not from yesterday.
That is not from yesterday.
GORDON: What's that up there?
Seriously? Watch your eyes.
Who cleans this [bleep]?
GORDON: Who is it? MACIO: Since I've been here...
- No one's cleaned it. - Since you've been here...
- No one's cleaned it. - I appreciate your honesty.
- Verindar? - Yeah?
- They say they... no. - Since he's been here,
he's never cleaned it.
This place is disgusting.
♪ ♪
And this?
Well, I... well, Gordon, I don't come and do this.
- You don't what? - I trust them
that they will clean where they are.
You... you guys cleaned the floor the other day, didn't you?
We cleaned the line the other day.
- We sweep the line. - You said you guys took out...
- No, no, no, no, stop, stop. - I never said that.
You're just trying to make excuses.
Yes, you are. Aren't you embarrassed?
- Very. - At least you told
the [bleep] truth. The owner's in denial.
That hasn't been pulled out for [bleep] months.
That wasn't pulled out.
What a [bleep] mess.
What is this?
♪ ♪
Bloody hell.
Holy crap.
No, no, no, no, don't... don't put in there.
Oh, my God, what in the [bleep] is that?
That's grease from the hood.
Can you stop lying?
GORDON: That was not cleaned yesterday.
I'm telling you, this is grease from the hood,
but they haven't cleaned it.
Do you have any idea what'd happen if that caught fire?
Well, I don't...
No, do you have any idea if that caught fire?
Yeah, I do.
GORDON: What're you doing?
(dramatic music)
You stopped caring.
No, that's not true.
- I mean, I... - That's the sign
of an owner that cares?
I want an answer.
I'm going upstairs; by the time I come down,
I want an answer.
♪ ♪
CJ, is he gone?
I don't know where he went.
[bleep].
Oh, my God.
Right.
♪ ♪
I'm unconvinced that this place is clean...
♪ ♪
So I want to run a quick bacteria test.
It looks disgusting.
And I don't think these vents have been cleaned for years.
Time will tell.
- Did you talk to Ramsay? - No.
He came down here looking for you.
In she goes.
Now, 10 to 20's deemed as sort of clean, respectable.
Anything over 30 is unhygienic,
dangerous.
And this is reading... (machine beeps)
[bleep].
573.
(knock at door)
- GORDON: Come in. - You were looking for me?
- Uh, sit down. - CJ: What is that?
This is a very simple hygiene test.
Anything above 30 is in the danger zone.
- Okay. - 573
from the air conditioning unit.
(tense music)
(exhales) I don't have an answer for that.
Sorry. That's...
- CJ... - Yeah.
573.
Let's do another one.
How long has this chair been here?
I believe since we bought the place.
Have you seen the stains on it?
- See the stains there? - CJ: Yeah.
Let's see what that says.
Do you ever stay here?
Uh, no, I've never stayed here.
You've never stayed here in ten years?
- No. - Wow, so you bought a hotel.
You invested in it with mum, and you've never stayed here.
I'm amazed.
(machine beeps)
446.
♪ ♪
And you've got no idea it's like this.
What's the bathrooms like?
Oh, my God.
♪ ♪
Do you know the shower curtains have got mold on them?
No, I did not.
Your housekeeper pointed it out.
Oh, there's hairs there.
At this rate, I really should be wearing gloves.
Oh, dear.
(machine beeps) A shower curtain.
♪ ♪
(machine beeps)
What?
5,680.
What in the [bleep]?
Seriously?
♪ ♪
I-I don't have an answer
for that at all.
5,680.
That is the volume of live bacteria.
♪ ♪
I'm gonna wash my hands. [bleep] hell.
(exhales)
♪ ♪
5,000. What in the hell's going on?
♪ ♪
I'm gonna go and just check 301.
(knocks on door)
- Sorry to disturb you. - (gasps)
- Are you up? I'm so sorry. - Come on in.
Do you mind? Listen, we've got some issues
downstairs and found some pretty horrific stuff.
I know you're getting ready for bed; I'm sorry.
- WOMAN: That's okay. - I honestly didn't think
they were gonna put anyone in here today.
[bleep]. Oh, my, look.
- I'm sorry. - WOMAN: What is it?
MAN: Oh... GORDON: That's mold underneath.
(gasps) No, you did not.
Did... no, you did not. Really?
No... ooh. Gross.
That is disgusting,
and I did a bacteria test; I've been doing them all day.
On my shower curtain was mold.
(gasps)
MAN: I just took a [bleep] shower.
GORDON: [bleep].
Will you just give me two minutes, okay?
Oh, my God.
(door slams)
(exhales) What a joke.
This is insane.
[bleep] it. I'm done.
(alarm blaring)
GORDON: Let's go.
GORDON: Come on, let's go. CAITLIN: Oh, no. Oh, my God.
Leave your bags there.
GORDON: Make your way down to the front, please.
Leave the phone. It's not important.
GORDON: Customers are way more important.
- I have to get that. - Leave the phone.
- Alarms... - Customers out.
- VERINDAR: It's alarm... - Customers out.
- GORDON: Let's go. Out. - Barry, drop what you're doing.
Go off the premise, please.
We're not gonna be serving this anyway.
Quick, let's go. You've got to move.
GORDON: Faster than that. Let's go.
Everybody stand in the front. Just wait two seconds.
CAITLIN: Is everyone out? This isn't a drill.
WOMAN: Oh, my God.
First of all, I just want to apologize.
GORDON: There's no fire.
More importantly, over the last three hours,
all I've done is a bacteria test.
CROWD: (groans) Oh, my God.
I want to apologize to all of you,
but I want to stop right now what I tried endlessly
to get through to the owner, who's totally oblivious.
Is that the owner? 'Cause she's smiling.
- This is the owner. - We all ate here.
We were all planning on staying here,
and you're smiling, like a smirk on your face.
(alarm blaring) (dramatic music)
What I'm not gonna do is just allow this lady to laugh at me,
you guys to pay good money and eat,
and I'm certainly not letting paying guests
stay to sleep here. I'm done.
GORDON: My team will assist you getting your stuff out of there.
Relax, there is no fire, but we are not gonna continue.
I want to stop right now and shut this place down.
CROWD: Oh, my God.
GORDON: I'm so sorry.
I need you, now.
Thank you.
(alarm blaring)
♪ ♪
When are you gonna get real?
When are you gonna stop, close the [bleep] door,
and take a good look at yourself in the mirror?
If I say anything, it's not believed.
- So what's the point? - What do you mean,
it's not believed? What is wrong with you?
- Well, I can... - What is wrong with you?
- I've... - What is wrong with you?
There's nothing wrong with me. It's just, after ten years...
I'm here every single day.
They don't like me, and they insult me,
and they disrespect me every second they work here.
They steal from me.
They're on their cell phones for four hours a day.
You're disrespecting every member of staff.
You're blaming everybody for what you've created.
Somewhere you switched off
and ignored all the problems and took it out on the staff.
If that's what they're telling you.
Yes, that's what they're telling me.
- Okay. - Right now,
I'm gonna tell you something you've never heard before.
You're out of your depth.
♪ ♪
GORDON: Last night, after shutting down the hotel
and seeing Verindar had no communication with employees,
I organized a staff meeting.
Anyone down there?
But Verindar was nowhere to be found.
♪ ♪
There you are there, there. I've been looking for you.
They said that you'd run away.
VERINDAR: No, I'm not running away.
GORDON: You don't want to be in front of the staff.
VERINDAR: No. GORDON: Why not?
My biggest problem is that
you have shut down,
and you refuse to let anybody in.
VERINDAR: I walk through my doors,
people steal from me every single day.
And so you had some incidents with some bad staff years ago,
and then you think everybody that comes through your door...
is... is exactly the same.
No, they're not.
It's not about a one-on-one anymore.
You can't just focus on one individual,
and you've done that brilliantly in the previous career.
Running a team, managing a hotel...
- Is completely different. - VERINDAR: All right. Okay.
GORDON: We need to get the team back on side,
and they need to believe in you, and you need to believe in them.
It's a two-way thing.
And it's a process too.
- It is a process... - Yeah.
But if you don't walk back through those doors
and face the music
with me,
then I'm gonna go as well,
because I can't do this without you.
VERINDAR: I-I don't know how. GORDON: Let me show you how.
(pensive music)
♪ ♪
GORDON: Uh, well, first of all,
um, thanks for coming in early this morning.
GORDON: Um, listen. This is hard.
There seems to be a massive conflict.
How do we get the trust back in the room?
What would you like to see change?
TAMMY: We just did a funeral last week, 90 people,
and there was two servers, zero bussers, zero bartender.
Well, of course, it's a money issue.
It's a budget issue, so I took it over.
VERINDAR: And that is why. MACIO: But we had a schedule...
on Monday for the cooks.
We come back Tuesday, the schedule's completely changed.
- Do you do the schedule? - Mm-hmm.
But that should be the chef's job.
- Absolutely. - You need to be responsible
for your own departments.
I mean like Macio's responsible for the kitchen,
Tammy's responsible for the events.
You have to offload the work from you
and give them the responsibility.
I guess that's a mistake.
When was the last time you all had a meeting?
We had a servers staff meeting in here
that we get yelled at, and it just gets hostile,
and people get up, me included, and walk out...
PAUL: And it just doesn't... GORDON: Yeah, have you...
- Help anything. - VERINDAR: No, no, stop there.
We're not... this is not a complain-fest.
But this is why... this is why no one wants to...
no one ever says anything.
VERINDAR: If you want a manager...
Because you can't get your voice out.
- VERINDAR: My vo... wait a minute. - But you must understand now
that's the wrong way to handle things.
GORDON: There seems to be a really bad vibe in the room
that we can't shake off.
(tense music)
VERINDAR: But if you want to clear the air,
people need to turn their phones off
when they walk in and clock in and leave their phones...
Can I... can I say something about the phones?
In the car. I have said that million times,
"Please, do not bring your cell phones in here."
And invariably, I come in at 2:00;
I see you guys outside on your cell phones.
- VERINDAR: That is a break. - You've never seen me...
- On my cell phone. - GORDON: No, listen to him.
But you're not listening to him.
Okay, fine. I mean, you know, maybe you're not doing it,
but other people are doing it.
GORDON: Why is there so much distrust in this building?
It's people stealing from me,
drinking on the job.
Doing shots over here.
GORDON: That's not now.
We're talking as if it's present...
It's not happening today, yes, but there is...
- I mean, you know. - But these guys aren't
taking shots.
But what I'm trying to say, you're... you're accusing them
of somebody else's bad practices.
GORDON: What you need to stop doing
is blaming them for the past.
Can you trust your team?
♪ ♪
Yes.
- Tell them that. - Okay, I'll try.
- Please. - But I can... I can't promise.
- Well... - I can only try.
Look at that smile. That'll go a long way.
We all know it's not gonna change overnight.
VERINDAR: It's a process.
So we need to embrace that process,
and we need to install confidence.
VERINDAR: I'm open to the change
that he wants me to follow
if that's what's going to make this place a success.
(light instrumental music)
GORDON: I feel like the staff meeting was
a step in the right direction.
Verindar seems to be coming around,
but I want to make sure she is 100% committed.
Morning. Uh, thanks so much for coming.
I really need to talk to CJ privately
because he's the one person who can help get through to her.
♪ ♪
GORDON: Uh, CJ, I'm gonna be honest,
I'm gonna be up-front.
I'm not dealing with a hotelier.
Um, I'm dealing with your mum.
- CJ: Mm-hmm. - And I'm sure she holds
a special place in your heart,
but unfortunately, she's running around like a dictator,
and she's not letting any of the staff breathe.
She's stifling the business.
I've had conversations with her
about a few things similarly.
I've told her,
um, "The way we were brought up and raised in India,
that tone and conversation doesn't work here,"
and, uh, she's struggled, to be very honest,
adapting to that part of it.
Um, you adapted brilliantly, coming to this country,
but she's one tough cookie. You know that.
- Yeah. - She is nitpicking the staff.
And then she's not giving any of them responsibility.
She needs to be less hands on...
- Okay. - And more supportive.
Yeah, I know. I know.
This is crazy.
Mid-60s, she shouldn't be...
- Running around like this. - No.
She was very honest with me last week.
She told me, "I want to spend more time with the kids,
and my time is running out,"
and I haven't heard her say that ever.
Right. But she needs to let go.
Okay. So how can I help?
I need a commitment from you.
Got to be there to support her.
We need to get rid of that stubbornness from your mum...
- Mm-hmm. - And make her understand that
this business can be fruitful.
- She just has to step back. - Okay.
GORDON: We can't continue like this.
It's do or die, and we need to step up.
Okay. All right.
I'm gonna have a talk with her today.
Please. We get one more shot at this.
♪ ♪
GORDON: After spending time with CJ,
he clearly sees the issues his mother has,
and I have asked him to reinforce the changes
she needs to make.
CJ: What we should talk about is,
how do you let go?
CJ: The responsibility is shifting,
which means you don't run around doing things.
If it's Macio's kitchen, if you're making that decision,
it's not your problem to deal with.
Let Tammy and the kitchen chef do everything.
I learned it the hard way at my job.
I was working 70 hours a week, Mother.
VERINDAR: Yeah, I know.
But when I got the team in place and I stepped away,
I only get involved when there's an escalation.
Okay.
All right, I mean, you know, I can do that.
And, you know what? Let's see what happens?
(rousing orchestral music)
GORDON: With Verindar on the right track,
the next order of business is
starting the renovation process.
The Brick Hotel needed drastic changes,
so my team worked through the night
to get the hotel ready for relaunch.
Welcome, to the new Brick Inn.
- Wow. - Oh...
TAMMY: What? Oh, my God.
Wow... (laughter)
WOMAN: Oh, wow. WOMAN: Oh!
TAMMY: Oh, my God, it's beautiful.
- WOMAN: Oh, my goodness. - It's amazing.
(laughter and applause)
Would you like to come up and see my room?
ALL: Yes.
TALAYA: Ho! (laughs)
ALL: Oh, wow.
VERINDAR: Wow. TAMMY: Oh, my God.
(laughter)
CJ: Wow. MARYANNE: Oh, my gosh.
TALAYA: I'm about to take a nap.
I'm taking a nap.
I think I might have to come check in now.
No joke.
TALAYA: Everything about these rooms are amazing.
Wow.
I'm excited to come to work and clean.
GORDON: Come on, Verindar. Jump on that bed.
- TALAYA: Go ahead. - Go on. Jump in. Go on.
TALAYA: If she don't do it, I'ma do it.
- Ohh. - TAMMY: Oh, my goodness.
Very nice. Thank you so much.
- Oh, you're welcome, Verindar. - TALAYA: Oh, yes.
♪ ♪
GORDON: After updating the Brick Hotel with a modern look,
I gave them a classic menu that is perfect for the town
and can better accommodate catering
for the large-scale events that take place at the hotel.
- Hi. - Hi, good evening.
Welcome to the Brick Hotel.
GORDON: As for the relaunch,
I invited the locals not only to dine at the Brick...
How are the first couple bites of everything?
- Very good. - Oh, fantastic.
They're the best scallops I've ever actually had in my life.
GORDON: But to tour the renovated rooms as well...
(gasps) Mike, look at this.
- Oh, wow. - Oh, my God.
- Look how nice this is. - Ahh.
GORDON: While on the hotel side
everything has been well received.
The kitchen is running smoother than ever.
Meatballs, arancini, sprouts.
Yes, one at a time.
Yeah, 86 brussels sprouts, please.
- 86 brussels sprouts. - That's a good sign. Thank you.
GORDON: And with CJ having a presence...
We ran out of brussels sprouts. Nice.
- Should I go get them? - What do you mean, go get them?
GORDON: He's able to prevent his mother
from slipping back into her old habits.
- It's okay. Let it go. - Do you... do you know?
He said it's a good sign.
- That is a good sign? - Yes.
GORDON: Now she can focus on her duties as an owner.
- Looks fantastic. - Yeah, it looks great.
- Well, thank you. Thank you. - They did a great job.
- Customers are happy? - BOTH: Yes.
First of all, it's so nice to see you smile.
- Yes. - You have to walk
around this town with your head up high.
VERINDAR: Well, I apologize
for the difficulty I gave you initially.
Okay, and the only thing I want to see you do is,
from time to time, come in here and walk around
like you did all night tonight, with charm and grace.
- Okay. - I've told them that you are...
- Banned from behind that line. - Okay.
- Okay, good. - All right, I promise you
all this stuff will happen.
- Promise me? - Yes, I'll...
- Pinky promise. - Pinky promise.
I'm not a person who expresses joy
or in a... you know, jumping up and down,
and things like that, but really, really wonderful.
It's given us a lot of oxygen for a second life.
Best wishes. Take care.
ALL: Bye. BOTH: Thank you.
♪ ♪
(exhales)
Wow, what a week.
(sweeping orchestral music)
GORDON: After leaving the Brick,
the reputation of the hotel
was on the mend.
CJ became a more visible owner,
and Verindar stayed true to her word
in trusting her staff to do their jobs,
and her employee turnover is at an all-time low.
With these changes in place,
the Brick is well on its way
to being what it once was.
Sync and corrections by explosiveskull www.addic7ed.com