Phillip Lovingfoss, the former owner of Hotel Hell’s Monticello Hotel, eventually sold the property and continued to have problems with the law after the episode aired.
There is no doubt that the “Monticello Hotel” episode, which first aired as part of the second season of Hotel Hell back in 2014, is one of the most dramatic episodes to ever come out of the franchise.
The owner of the Monticello Hotel, Phillip Lovingfoss, told a tall tale about how he grew up as a young boy always wanting to work at the hotel and eventually ended up inheriting the property when his much-older girlfriend passed away.
But the hotel’s staff seemed to agree that Phillip’s drinking problem was the root cause of most of the business’s issues.
What really happened to Phillip and the Monticello Hotel after the Hotel Hell episode
Unfortunately though, while most of the over-the-top drama at the Hotel Hell establishments tends to end when the cameras stop rolling, it seems like things just went from bad to worse at the Monticello Hotel.
The Monticello Hotel’s lounge and restaurant closed shortly after the Hotel Hell episode was filmed, reportedly so that Phillip and his girlfriend, Ginger, could focus on other projects.
And while the hotel side of the business remained open in this time, it did end up changing hands multiple times in the years following its on-screen appearance.
Phillip was also involved in yet another legal battle in 2015, this time involving a DUI hit-and-run case, which eventually evolved into something much uglier, and this former Monticello Hotel owner has really kept his personal life fairly private since then.
The Monticello Hotel’s new owners
Phillip eventually placed the Monticello Hotel up for sale and lease online by late 2016, after his debts had started catching up with him.
And this turned out to be the start of a rather dramatic rollercoaster ride which saw the hotel change hands more than four times after the Hotel Hell episode first aired.
Some of the most notable changes to the property over the last few years include:
| Date | Details |
| September 2016 | Phillip Lovingfoss sells the hotel |
| October 2017 | Seattle investors purchase the historic hotel for $2.8 million and start a large remodeling project |
| 2019 | The Monticello Hotel officially closes its doors |
| September 2020 | Marcus & Millichap announce that the property has been sold for $8.22 million, and that it will be turned into apartments |
Phillip Lovingfoss’s continued issues with the law
One of the most shocking moments in Hotel Hell history happened during this episode, when the staff of the Monticello Hotel revealed to Ramsay that Phillip had actually been arrested on DUI charges the day before the filming crew arrived at his hotel.
They told Ramsay the he had only gotten out moments before they started filming the episode.
However, it seems like Phillip’s addiction continued to be a problem, even after all the progress that he had made by the end of the episode, as he was arrested with similar charges just a few years later.
Unfortunately, Phillip’s temper also got the better of him during this trial, and he was sentenced to 90 days in jail for intimidating the Cowlitz County judge who presided over his case, later on.
Are Phillip and Ginger still together?
Since both Phillip and his girlfriend, Ginger, have largely kept their presences on social media to a minimum after this episode aired, it is fairly difficult to determine exactly what this couple has been up to in the last decade.
We know that Ginger took the stand during Phillip’s 2016 trial, but it is difficult to imagine that this couple stayed together after he reportedly threated to kill her, or himself, during the drunken outburst which eventually led to his arrest later that night.
The Monticello Hotel’s rocky post-Hotel Hell journey
Hotel Hell has never had the best track-record for helping these failing lodging establishments to build a brighter future, but it seems like the Monticello Hotel may just take the cake when it comes to bad luck.
Grant Handler (who used to be the bartender at the Monticello Hotel’s long-since closed bar and lounge) eventually purchased this part of the hotel (with his wife, Sherry) in 2019.
But although this seemed to be a real passion-project for the couple, Grant unfortunately passed away early in 2023 after being assaulted outside the restaurant.
And it seems like the owners of the former Monticello Hotel property are not the only ones who tend to get involved in legal battles, as KOIN 6 reported in June 2022 that a man had been hospitalized after a being shot by one of the hotel’s employees.
Also read: Phillip Lovingfoss: Hotel Hell’s most eccentric hotel owner
