Hotel Hell opened for business last week, and it drew a crowd: More than 1.5 million viewers tuned in to Global TV to see Gordon Ramsay sort out a pair of obstreperous innkeepers in rural Vermont.
That proved two things. It showed viewers were willing to return to a normal summer routine after watching 17 days of GrecoRoman wrestling, rowing heats, bad soccer calls and ninth-place finishes. And - perhaps more important, given that Ramsay is about as ubiquitous as mosquitoes and summer heat waves right now - it showed that viewers are willing to see a different side to Ramsay than the shouting, remonstrating rageaholic he appears to be on the (still popular) Hell's Kitchen.
Despite its title, Hotel Hell has more in common with Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, in which he uses charm, common sense and the power of persuasion to convince failing restaurateurs to change their ways, than in Hell's Kitchen, where Ramsay holds cooking contestants' feet to the fire, as it were, to prove they have what it takes to run a high-end, fast-paced kitchen.
In tonight's second instalment - and, make no mistake, Hotel Hell will once again draw a crowd - Ramsay checks in at the seemingly bucolic Cambridge Hotel in Cambridge, New York. The inn was established in post-Civil War 1885 and claims to be the birthplace of pie à la mode - though the name suggests it was more likely to have emerged from the French-speaking part of the New World.
The Cambridge, of course, has problems. It claims to house a ghost, a little girl called Alice, but what might've been a selling point to the Henry James/Stephen King crowd, Ramsay sees only as an excuse to let things slide.
"Character" is one thing; dilapidation is another. Instead of the Overlook, Ramsay finds a down-market dump. The hotel has gone to hell, but not in any way that might draw ghosthunting tourists.
By now, the Ramsay Kitchen Nightmares/Hotel Hell formula is well-known. Ramsay arrives at a struggling establishment - carefully pre-screened and chosen by his staff - and is shocked, shocked by what he finds.
An argument ensues - it always helps the TV spectacle when the owners are miffed by Ramsay's pushy presumption - followed by much soul-searching on both sides. Viewers get to see a kinder, gentler side of Ramsay as he applies gentle reasoning, sympathy and common sense to cajole people into doing things his way. Invariably, as the hired help goes, the owners eventually follow.
Hotel Hell, like Kitchen Nightmares before it, usually ends on a positive note, with the newly refurbished establishment looking forward to a (hopefully) brighter future, thanks to an attitude adjustment and a spiffy, overnight makeover.
Of course, the real test comes later, and depends on whether the innkeepers stay with the new style.
8 p.m., Global, Fox
