Vanda and Rina Smrkovski will perhaps forever be known as the most spoiled owners in Hotel Hell history, especially since they cannot seem to sell the inn.
It is certainly not rare for the staff members of Hotel Hell’s various failing hotels, motels, guesthouses and inns to share a few brutally-honest truths about the owners of these establishments.
But few owners have come out at the end of an episode looking quite as bad as Vanda and Rina Smrkovski, the owners of the Calumet Inn.
The Calumet Inn and its owners on Hotel Hell
The “Calumet inn” episode opened with an explanation that sisters, Vanda and Rina, received the Calumet Inn as a gift from their father (and that Vanda had disappeared on a ‘vacation’ for three months just weeks after receiving this gift).
This already did not place the sisters in too favorable a light. But, as the episode progressed, things went from bad to worse for these spoiled sisters.
Not only were Vanda’s and Rina’s claims that their staff were the inn’s biggest problem and their “You’re welcome” attitude shut down within moments of Gordon Ramsay’s arrival.
But after it was disclosed that the sisters’ parents still cooked and cleaned for them, and the almost-unending crying sessions, the Smrkovski sisters truly had nowhere left to hide by the end of the episode – and Ramsay all but chased them out of their own business.
The Calumet Inn’s Hotel Hell journey
The historic Calumet Inn was built in 1887. And, while Vanda’s and Rina’s time as the owners of this inn has only been a minute part of its history, it has certainly been one of its most talked-about periods and can be summarized as follows:
| Event | Date |
| August 2012 | Vanda and Rina receive the Calumet Inn as a gift from their father |
| January 2013 | Vanda and Rina agree to appear on Hotel Hell |
| May 28 to June 1, 2013 | The “Calumet Inn” Hotel Hell episode is filmed |
| August 2014 | The “Calumet Inn” episode premieres |
Vanda’s ‘Life lessons and confessions’ editorials
Usually, owners’ thoughts on their Hotel Hell experiences are condensed into a few sentences in a local newspaper or a short Facebook post.
However, Vanda Smrkovski, one half of the sister duo in charge of the Calumet Inn, agreed to write an entire three-part editorial for the Pipestone County Star when her experience meeting the world-renowned Gordon Ramsay had concluded.
This three-part essay discusses everything that happened during Vanda’s time at the Calumet Inn and eventually also details several life-lessons that this inexperienced inn owner learned whilst filming for the show.
Among many other things, Vanda clarifies in Part III of this editorial that filming for the show “felt like walking from one bear trap into another”, but that if given the choice, she would probably do it all over again “because of the incredible ripple effects the entire experience triggered”.
The Smrkovski sisters did not reach out to the Hotel Hell team
Vanda was pretty forthcoming about the fact that they treated going on Hotel Hell as one, big “publicity stunt” (in her own words).
However, she revealed in the final part of her editorial that they were actually not the ones who reached out to the show.
According to Vanda, the Hotel Hell producers actually reached out to her and her sister just a few months after they purchased the Calumet Inn, and asked if they would be interested in being featured on the show.
Apparently, Vanda agreed, after receiving a resounding “Do it!” message from the inn’s former General Manager and immediately halted all plans to renovate or upgrade anything at their new business.
The Smrkovskis have not managed to sell the Calumet Inn just yet
The “Calumet Inn” episode from Hotel Hell is one of the rare instances where Ramsay ended the episode by recommending that the owners (the Smrkovski sisters) consider taking a step back from the business.
And while Vanda and Rina may have wanted to follow this hospitality expert’s sage advice, they have just not been able to sell the inn.
The Smrkovski sisters first tried to get rid of the hotel in 2015, but this sale fell through after a number of back-and-forths.
The sisters then tried to sell the hotel again in 2018, this time to one of the inn’s employees, Tammy Grubbs.
However, although they entered into a contract for deed with Grubbs at the time, the Calumet Inn was condemned by the city of Pipestone shortly thereafter in 2020.
Heliocentrix LLC (Vanda’s company) was still listed as the sole owner of the property when they ended up suing the city, as a result, in 2022.
