(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 3 | View All Season 3 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: July 19, 2016
Beachfront Inn and Inlet Address: 110 S Ocean Dr Fort Pierce, FL 34949
Episode Recap
Beachfront Inn & Inlet was a Fort Pierce, Florida hotel featured on Season 3 of Hotel Hell.
Though the Beachfront Inn Hotel Hell episode aired in July 2016, the actual filming and visit from Gordon Ramsay took place in late 2015.
It was Season 3 Episode 7 Hotel Hell.
Beachfront Inn and Inlet is in Fort Pierce, FL.
The hotel is named the Beachfront Inn and then the restaurant is named The Inlet.
The hotel is in a prime location on Florida’s coast and is owned by Brian Paul.
If you’re not familiar with Fort Pierce, it’s on the east coast of Florida, straight up from Miami and West Palm Beach.
In 2012, Brian used the money from his family’s fishing business to open the inn.
Liza is the hotel’s manager, and she doesn’t believe Brian has any experience in the hotel industry.
Gina is a server who says that although Brian is at the inn physically, his mind is elsewhere.
Sous chef Joey thinks that Brian is too lax and needs to step up as a leader.
James runs the restaurant and says the lack of consistency from the kitchen is a cause of the inn’s problems.
Ben, a hotel executive, thinks the menu is too vast.
Basically, all the staff are quick to volunteer reasons why the Beachfront Inn Hotel Hell episode needed to happen.
The hotel has a party reputation.
Guests are known to party well into the morning, but other customers complain about this issue.
Gordon Ramsay loves the hotel’s area, but the inn itself looks like it is closed.
Lisa greets Gordon at the front desk, where they sell pieces of driftwood for $22.
I guess that’s a smart business?
But I don’t think I would be buying one.
Gordon Ramsay is taken to his room in the Caribbean building.
The bed is outdated and uncomfortable, and the rest of the room smells musty.
Later, Brian meets Gordon, who informs him he has no prior hotel experience.
Brian does tell Gordon they use fresh fish from a fish market, so Gordon heads down to the kitchen.
The menu Gordon Ramsay is given is too extensive.
He orders lobster mac and cheese, chicken wings, and a burger.
The tuna burger is frozen, and the mac and cheese uses penne pasta, so it can’t technically be called mac and cheese.
Gordon asks Brian about the frozen tuna because he claimed they used fresh fish.
Brian did use fresh fish from his brother’s fish market, but now he owes his brother money, so he will no longer allow Brian to purchase fresh fish from him.
This has forced Brian to use frozen fish.
At dinner that evening, Gordon asks the customers if they expect fresh or frozen fish.
Obviously, everyone thought they weren’t getting frozen fish.
Gordon Ramsay inspects the kitchen and finds a disgusting walk-in cooler.
There is cooked and raw chicken stored together, a health hazard.
When Gordon asks Brian, who is in charge of the kitchen, he is told that Ben, the executive chef is in order.
James tells Gordon that Ben is not in the restaurant a lot of the time, which is why the state of the refrigerator is disgusting.
Brian defends Ben to Gordon, but Gordon tells Brian that Ben is dragging down the hotel.
Gordon walks to the front desk to sit with Liza.
While he’s there, a phone comes in from a guest with a dust allergy.
That’s some great reality TV producing, haha.
Brian and Gordon go up to the guest’s room and encounter another guest with an issue with her air conditioner.
Gordon then sees the air conditioner has not been cleaned for some time, so the guest is moved.
Eric, Brian’s brother, meets with Gordon the following day.
Eric tells Brian he has to pay him back $30,000 or he will be cut off even further.
Brian arrives at work the next day dressed in shorts.
Gordon makes him change so he will look like a leader.
The hotel staff is shown the renovated hotel, and the kitchen will now use fresh fish.
The mayor comes for dinner, but Brian wanders around aimlessly instead of introducing the chefs to the mayor.
Brian also messes up the mayor’s order, and he is left waiting a long time for his food.
Gordon Ramsay leaves the service disappointed in Brian and wondering about the prospects of success at Beachfront Inn.
He gives a monologue about all of the hotel’s issues while packing his suitcase.
Then, we get a shot of Gordon Ramsay walking away at the end of the episode.
So did Brian beat Gordon’s doubts, and was the Beachfront Inn Hotel Hell episode a success?
Keep reading to learn what happened next and if the Inlet hotel is still open in 2024.
Beachfront Inn and Inlet Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the Inlet Hotel Hell visit, let’s talk about what happened to the hotel after Gordon Ramsay and his crew left Fort Pierce, FL.
After the episode, it seems like there weren’t a ton of improvements, as reviews were still generally mixed.
There were some positive reviews of course, but there were also a lot of negative reviews that suggest issues from the Hotel Hell episode were still ongoing.
For example, consider this one star review:
This is the filthiest rat trap I ever checked into.
Black mold on bathroom baseboard, rust in tub, outlets dont work, broken lamp, disgusting.
The shrew at front desk yelled, Merry Christmas as I checked out early!
Here’s a sampling of a few other The Inlet reviews from after the visit from Gordon Ramsay…
1 star Yelp review from May 2018:
It is not an Hotel!
It is a loud and noisy bar, with a mediocre restaurant!
If you plan staying in the Hotel BEWARE!
We moved out the first night because the music was until 2 am!
Outrageous!
And the owner looks like ballet parking or bartender, totally unprofessional.
1 star Yelp review from July 2017:
Sadly, if you want to know about this place…
Just know it was featured last season on Fox Channels “Hotel Hell” with celebrity guest chef Gordon Ramsey from Top Chef…
All the rooms were remodeled by the shows crew, but the episode literally ends with Gordon Ramsey giving up on the owner, Brian, who didn’t have a clue for operations, staff needs, kitchen expectations, etc..
All for folks making up their own mind against this review, but these yelp reviews are to stand warning against customers deciding where to spend hard earned money, time, and vacation experience on a place that was literally given up on, by a show called
“Hotel Hell; beachfront Inn episode”
—- which conveniently Hulu.com has it featured for streaming—–wow, sad Gordon Ramsey walked out on you guys, after having so many chances to better it all…
That does not happen on that show… beware!
2 star Yelp review from June 2019:
After a return visit , well a few actually this place is going downhill.
It’s getting dirty and more rundown.
Clientele and workers look the same.
Unless they do any great updates I wpnt be back.
The chair on the balcony was so rusted it crumbled.
I fell and hit my head and they did not want to give a refund or I would have went elsewhere
Again, there were certainly some positive reviews mixed in.
But – overall – the reviews were very negative, which is evidenced by the 2.5 star rating.
Given those reviews, you can probably guess where this story is going.
Is Beachfront Inn and Inlet from Hotel Hell still open?
Beachfront Inn and Inlet closed in 2019, which means it survived for around four years after the actual Beachfront Inn Hotel Hell visit.
The hotel and restaurant closed because the owners sold it.
The new owners rebranded the property into a new hotel and restaurant.
As of 2023, the old Beachfront Inn and the Inlet Florida location is operating as Sunrise Sands Beach Resort.
However, reviews for the new hotel are not very good as it has just a 2.5 star rating on its TripAdvisor page.
It seems like problems continue at The Inlet Fort Piece property, despite the rebranding.
Hopefully the new owners can get things back on track!
Here’s what the Inlet Florida location looks like in the most recent picture from Google Maps street view – you can see the Sunrise Sands sign at the entrance to the property:
If you still want to test it out to see the property that Gordon Ramsay visited, rooms at Sunrise Sands Beach Resort start at around $125 per night.
Beachfront Inn and Inlet was the only Florida Hotel Hell episode.
If you want to see some other nearby hotels, the closest hotels are Hotel Chester in Starkville MS and Town’s Inn in Harper’s Ferry WV.
The latter hotel is not very close but it’s the closest – Gordon didn’t spend much time in the south.
And if you want to share your thoughts on the Inlet Hotel Hell episode, please do so using the comments section below.
Thanks for reading!
More Information
https://www.yelp.com/biz/beachfront-inn-fort-piercehttps://www.facebook.com/InletBeachBarAndGrille/
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And don't forget to check out the full Hotel Hell open and closed list.
Last updated: 2023-04-30 06:40
It kind of seemed to me like the owner was high on something. Super dilated eyes. In complete denial as well.
He was high on Chef Ben. I think they were more than friends. He got his brother to buy him a hotel so he could be close to his honey and be his boss. What a sad waste of money for his brother. Hopefully they got it back when the place got sold.
I still want to know how long it took Brian to get it together with that overdone chicken salad? He looked SO lost, like he had no idea what to do with that plate.
LOL! I was wondering the same thing too.
I’m thinking that he ended up serving it to someone anyway…
Haha Ikr! He was standing there like a sad puppy, he didnt even talk to Ben about it
You are our favorite person on the internet! Thank you for all of your research
This is Florida. Sleazy, creepy owner, employees and guests. Bad rooms, bad food and gross people.
Speaking for yourself? what a moron posting a review on a recap site
Really? You’re calling them a moron? This is for comments and reviews not for insults and nasty name calling! That is pathetic that you have to do that to make you feel better about your shitty life!
Pot meets kettle @@
How dare you? Florida is ours to make fun of. You yankees stay out of the South’s business. You have America’s armpit, New Jersey, to degrade in public comment sections.
As a local no business will survive here. The jetty rats are like New York city and it’s not a good place for a restaurant. The hotel just compounds the situation. Because of it’s proximity. Literally on top of this place. Avoid.
Ramsey seems to be nitpicking everything possible to make this fit on the show – and it’s far from a hell. Sand by the door, some of the merchandise being odd, owner wearing a nametag, etc. This is far from the ritz but it’s also far from the hells that we’ve come to expect from the show. Hell, I’ve stayed in worse chain hotels before. But he’s going to be just as dramatic as he was in the mold episode.
What color is the sky in your world? Are there unicorns flying over rainbows in there?
You obviously have extremely low standards and expectations. Gordon Ramsay spends an absolute fortune helping these businesses but unfortunately he sometimes is up against brick walls. You are so focused on name tags etc. – what about the sea of dust in the air con in bedrooms, soaking floor in another bedroom and the worst was the cross-contaminated food- with people like you calling this not too bad is why “rat holes” stay open. Omg shame on you excusing these standards- are you by any chance Brian???
Most shitholes stay open because they’re national chains with financial backing. Independent establishments go under.
I know one data point is not a representative sample, but when I was a kid, we went to Baltimore for a game and stayed at the Days Inn near Camden Yards. The staff was shocked that we demanded a different room due to our first-floor broken window being band-aided with cardboard and duct tape. All I can figure is they thought that was acceptable or “normal.” Yeah, standards and competent leadership matters, especially in the hospitality industry.
Liza was a hot milf. Brian was a loser.
The best thing about the place was the girls working there
Can confirm.
The owner is 33?
That’s a rough 33.
Yeah I’m thirty three and I thought Brian HAD to be early to late forties.
I think Brian has Asperger’s or something on the spectrum. He would repeat the same phrase 3-4 times, walking around aimlessly, couldn’t give direction at all to employees. When hearing bad feedback from customers, he said “You guys rock!” and high-fived them. He has zero people skills or read a room. Couldn’t even make eye contact with his brother. I feel bad for him.
That really makes sense. He just had a lost look the entire episode.
I felt the same. I can’t diagnose anyone, but I kept thinking that something must be wrong with Brian – his reactions were just always inappropriate to the situation, from his meeting with past customers to not knowing what to do with the dry chicken. He didn’t seem to understand Gordon’s questions either, and was at a loss to answer. I felt kind of bad for him because he really was clueless. The best thing was to sell, and I hope the brother got his money back.
Khaki shorts and tennis shoes; bro looked like he was a country club attendant circa 1999.
I live in Jupiter Island and frequent that area to have breakfast at Jan’s. This hotel I would never stay in. As for the bar and package store next door? Disgusting AF. Cheap liquor, always Ft Pierce white trash hanging around looking all methed out, the beaches are nice but the people are pretty gross. It’s another drug infested daytona beach clone. Which is super sad cause the beaches are great and there are some nice people there but far n few…. Try Jan’s tho. You’ll LOVE it! It’s breakfast only and worth it!
That was a brutal episode. The issues weren’t that big, at least compared to other episodes. The brutal part was how common sense was the real fix for everything and the owner had none of it. I swear to God, I was expecting him to come back in a full blown pinstripe suit and tie when he went to get changed. lol.
I heard the owner is still standing on the beach in front of that hotel —which is under new management— holding onto that chicken salad and staring blankly at the whitecaps.
You just made me laugh for the first time today. Thank you.
“It’s gone off! You fucking donut!” – Gordon Ramsay, probably
🤣