The Cambridge Hotel ended up closing before its Hotel Hell episode even aired, but the owner, John, quickly moved on to an entirely new career.
Gordon Ramsay helped dozens of hotel owners, motel owners, innkeepers and guesthouse owners over the course of Hotel Hell’s three seasons, but there are a few owners from the show who have just always stood out for some reason or another.
One of these owners is John Imhof, the owner of the Cambridge Hotel, which Ramsay tried to save in Hotel Hell’s very first season.
Both the Cambridge Hotel and John have become infamous figures in the Hotel Hell fandom for a variety of reasons.
But perhaps one of the main reasons why fans just cannot seem to stop talking about this memorable episode is because Ramsay’s makeover turned out to be entirely inconsequential – as the Cambridge Hotel closed its doors permanently just five months after the celebrity chef’s visit (and before this episode could even air).
John’s timely change of career
However, it seems like John found a different outlet for his, shall we say, micro-managing tendencies, before the bank foreclosed on his failed hotel venture, and moved on pretty quickly to an unexpected new job.
It turns out that John actually accepted a job in the Pentagon office that supervises the operation of military commissions at Guantanamo Bay in the few short months between Ramsay’s intervention and the Cambridge Hotel’s foreclosure.
Furthermore, one The Outline article from 2018 proves that he stayed there for quite a few years.
And, while the timing of this decision may bring up some questions about John’s loyalty to the hotel, he did insist that he and his wife, Tina (who had accepted a teaching job at Guantanamo Bay) were not “running away” from their problems.
Rather, they were doing something that he “felt was important for [his] country” when he spoke to the Albany Times Union shortly before their departure in 2012.
How John came to own the Cambridge Hotel
John purchased the Cambridge Hotel alongside a group of investors in 2013. But even after their initial renovations, the Hotel Hell makeover and more, the hotel was still placed under foreclosure before the Hotel Hell episode could air.
However, this was not the first time in the Cambridge Hotel’s 130-year long history that it had been foreclosed on. In fact, this unlucky property had been forced back into the bank’s hands quite a few times through the years, including:
| Year | Description |
| 1990 | The Cambridge Hotel’s first owner sold all of his assets and closed the hotel shortly before it was foreclosed on for the first time. |
| 2005 | Glens Falls National Bank foreclosed on the hotel again after the attempts to revive the hotel had failed. |
| 2012 | Glens Falls National Bank foreclosed on the property a third time after John and Ramsay’s attempts to pay off the hotel’s mounting debts failed. |
Why John’s daughter did not take over the hotel
You may recall that Ramsay sent John’s daughter, Shea, up to speak to him as a last-ditch effort when he would not stop meddling in the Cambridge Hotel’s dinner services.
And while John apparently did plan to have Shea take over his duties at the Cambridge Hotel initially, he shared with the Bennington Banner that “The bank made it almost impossible to make the hurdle.”
The bank had reportedly refused to reinstate them at a lowered 8% interest rate after the show, which would have placed Shea in a “precarious position.”
Are John and Tina still married?
John and Tina Imhof’s business venture did not work out quite the way they planned.
But fortunately, it seems like their relationship was strong enough to survive the trials and tribulations which they endured since they purchased the property in 2007.
In fact, John recently celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary via a sweet Facebook post, which he ended with a simple “Here’s to many more years together with my very special wife!”
What John and Tina are up to now
It seems like John and Tina may have moved to Texas after his ‘stint’ at Guantanamo Bay ended.
But his Facebook page reveals that this lawyer, turned reality television star, turned Guantanamo Bay supervisor, now seems to be happily retired in and living in Florida.
While John does not post about his personal life very often, it seems like he enjoys scuba diving, travelling, knitting and even advocating for the causes that are near and dear to his heart these days.
These include animal welfare, veteran support, LGBTQIA+ issues and more. And it seems like his new “clean living” philosophy includes much less stress and running around.
