Robert Dean II and Ari Nikki have been very quiet since their inn, the Juniper Hill Inn, was featured on Hotel Hell in the year 2012.
Gordon Ramsay’s show, Hotel Hell aired for three seasons between 2012 and 2016 and saw the celebrity chef visiting almost two dozen different lodging establishments.
However, none of the Hotel Hell owners featured on the show made an impression quite like Robert Dean II and his partner, Ari Nikki, who ran the Juniper Hill Inn. This episode was featured back in the show’s first two episodes.
What happened after the Hotel Hell episode was filmed
Robert and Ari’s had an unconventional approach to running their overly-expensive inn.
This includes hand-picking almost all of the guests who were allowed to stay or dine at the establishment, using most of the inn as a storage space for Robert’s (rather disappointing, as it turns out) art collection, and opting not to paying their staff or not giving them the tips that they were owed.
And while it seemed by the end of this now-infamous episode that Ramsay’s patented no-nonsense approach may have just been the wakeup call that the Juniper Hill Inn owners needed to get their act together, this intervention turned out to be much too little, and simply too late.
Robert and Ari lost the Juniper Hill Inn in 2013 and although Robert reported that Ari was dealing with some health issues at this time, there has not really been any update on this couple (or what they have been up to) since then.
Robert Dean II and Ari Nikki’s Hotel Hell timeline
While the Hotel Hell episodes are always conveniently condensed into an excitement-filled 40-minute chunk, longtime fans will know that the process of filming the show takes much longer than that.
All in all, Robert and Ari’s Hotel Hell journey lasted about a year, as follows:
| Date | Event |
| September 2005 | Robert and Ari purchase the Juniper Hill Inn from Robert and Susanne Pearl |
| February 2012 | Ramsay and the Hotel Hell crew arrive to start filming |
| August 13, 2012 | The “Juniper Hill Inn, Part One” episode premieres |
| August 14, 2012 | The “Juniper Hill Inn, Part Two” episode premieres |
| April 2014 | The Juniper Hill Inn closes its doors permanently |
How Robert and Ari felt about their portrayal on the show
The “Juniper Hill Inn” episode originally aired as an extra special double-episode to open Hotel Hell in August of 2012.
And while the world of reality television stardom was still a relatively new concept back then, it seems like Robert and Ari shared the same mixed feelings about the show that many other owners who have followed in their footsteps reported.
The partners shared a message to the inn’s old Facebook page after the episode aired, which, among other things, stated that Ramsay was “difficult” on the hotel, its owner and staff.
However, the former Juniper Hill Inn owners did thank the celebrity chef for his “input” which “directly affected” the inn’s growth.
So it seems like they were not all too disappointed with how the episode turned out in the end.
Why the Juniper Hill Inn closed down
Although Robert and Ari insisted that the Juniper Hill Inn’s phone lines had been ringing non-stop after this episode premiered, it seems like this renewed success was short-lived.
The bank foreclosed on the Juniper Hill Inn in 2013 (a few months after the Hotel Hell episode first aired) and it seems like Robert and Ari were struggling both personally and professionally, at this point.
Robert shared his explanation for why the inn closed with Valley News in April of 2013, stating “Basically, it’s been a terrible economy… Also, my partner’s illness has taken a lot of time away from the property.”
Ari’s rumored arrest
Both Robert and Ari have pretty much kept to themselves since the Juniper Hill Inn closed its doors in 2013. This is unsurprising, as they still get referred to as some the “worst owners” in Hotel Hell history to this day.
However, a thread which appeared on Reddit in 2018, includes what looks to be a mug shot of a slightly older Ari.
This was accompanied by an explanation that he was arrested on July 28, 2015 in Florida and even spent a week in jail before the case was dropped.
Unfortunately, while this would certainly be a compelling turn of events – this case has not been covered by any legitimate news sources and the jury is still out on whether such an arrest ever really even took place.
In the end, no one really has any idea of what happened to Robert and Ari in the last 11 years.
