John and Tina chose not to take all of Gordon Ramsay’s Hotel Hell advice on board, and yet The Roosevelt Inn is still open for business.
Few people can grin and bear it quite like the established chef, Gordon Ramsay, when it comes to quirky owners that he meets on his show, Hotel Hell.
But that does not mean that owners like John Hough from season one’s Roosevelt Inn get to fly under the radar.
John and his wife, Tina, have become some of the most talked-about owners ever featured on Hotel Hell.
Not only because of John’s penchant for impersonating Sherlock Homes, but also because he seemed to have been entirely serious when he threatened Ramsay with physical violence during the chef’s critiques.
What happened to John and Tina Hough after the episode aired
However, if you expected John and Tina’s cozy Coeur d’Alene-based school-turned-inn, to go down the same road as most of the other Hotel Hell businesses, you are in for a surprise.
It turns out that even though the Houghs have been quite outspoken about their displeasure with the show, and they simply disregarded many of Ramsay’s suggestions after the fact – The Roosevelt in is still in business today.
What is more, the reviews for the inn are so good that it seems like they may just be doing better than ever more than a decade later.
The Houghs’ history with The Roosevelt Inn
If you watched this episode, then you will already know that The Roosevelt Inn used to be a school (John’s elementary school to be exact). John and Tina’s history with the building now spans over two decades.
All of the most important key moments in this history can be summarized as follows:
| Date | Event |
| 1994 | The building is converted into a five-story bed and breakfast |
| 1999 | John purchases The Roosevelt Inn, without informing Tina until the papers were already signed |
| February 2012 | Ramsay and the Hotel Hell crew arrive to start filming |
| September 03 2012 | “The Roosevelt Inn” episode premieres |
The Houghs felt set up by Gordon Ramsay and Hotel Hell
Brent and Tina reflected on their Hotel Hell experience just after the “Roosevelt Inn” premiered in 2012.
Brent actually admitted to the team at The Spokesman-Review that they thought they knew what they were getting themselves into at first.
However, this couple was still caught off guard by the entire experience. According to Tina, the show is highly staged and “they definitely manipulate you to where they want you to be.”
The owners claim that all but two guests who were staying at the inn during the filming period were pre-screened by the Hotel Hell production team and that even when they were told to be ready for dinner at specific times, guests would often show up early or late.
This would ultimately result in even more criticism from the show’s sharp-tongued host.
Ultimately though, John and Tina did get something in return for their “hellacious” experience with Hotel Hell, as their revenue had increased from $48,000 in July 2011 to $68,000 in July 2012.
The Houghs are still the owners of The Roosevelt Inn
John and Tina have reportedly attempted to sell The Roosevelt Inn quite a few times over the course of the last few years.
However, it seems as though these sales ultimately fell through, as John and Tina are still listed as the inn’s current owners on its website.
John is even still hosting his murder mystery parties, as confirmed by the recent October 2023 post on The Roosevelt Inn Facebook page. And Tina responded to some of the inn’s reviews as recently as April 2023.
What The Roosevelt Inn’s reviews have to say
The Roosevelt Inn is one of only a few Hotel Hell establishments which have managed to keep their doors open all these years, and the reviews seemingly indicate that it is not going anywhere anytime soon.
The Roosevelt Inn currently has an impressive 4 out of 5-star rating on Yelp, and an even more impressive 4.5 out of 5-star rating on TripAdvisor. Furthermore, 455 patrons have agreed to give the inn their “excellent” seal of approval.
And while Ramsay did not seem to believe John’s claim that their dogs are one of the inn’s highlights, it seems like this was actually a very true statement indeed.
John and Tina decided to ignore Ramsay’s advice to remove their dogs from the inn’s communal areas, and there are several reviews from the last year that make it a point to gush about how pet-friendly the business is.
So, it seems like the Houghs may have just proven Ramsay wrong, after all.
