Reviews mean everything
Why ‘Hotel Impossible’ star likes a good roadside motel
You’d think a guy like Anthony Melchiorri, host of Travel Channel’s “Hotel Impossible,’’ would settle for nothing less than luxury hotels when he travels.
But Melchiorri, entering his seventh season as the fixer of failing hotels, says he’d just as soon stay in a roadside motel if it’s got good reviews online.
“Those are mom and pops that are working their butts off,’’ Melchiorri said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “They live in the back of the hotel, they get up in the morning, they put out fresh flowers, they make you breakfast ... I can’t wait to meet that owner. I can’t wait to have their breakfast. I can’t wait to sleep in that bed.’’
Melchiorri, who’s got a new show called “Extreme Hotels’’ in the pipeline, also offered advice for getting good hotel deals and reflected on growing up poor. Here are excerpts from the interview, airing Wednesday on the AP Travel podcast “Get Outta Here!’’
“I actually grew up really poor. My dad died when I was 2 years old. My mom struggled to make a living . ... We were on welfare, had the block of cheese. She couldn’t afford college. So I went into the military and got my college degree and got some hotel experience. It was the best way to grow up because you understand the struggles so when you do have some easier times, you still work like you’re getting a block of cheese on Thursday.’’
“I started my career at the Embassy Suites in Times Square. Then I was fortunate enough to work at the Plaza Hotel. At that time the current president (Trump) owned the hotel and it was in bankruptcy. We were brought in to help come off that, went to work at the Algonquin Hotel, the Lucerne Hotel and turned those hotels around with some of the greatest teams ever . ... Even before I was on television, I was always the guy they called in when things couldn’t be fixed.
“People say, what’s your secret. It’s that I can identify talent . ... A kid that worked for me at the Plaza, who worked for seven years at McDonald’s, and no one would give him a shot as a bellman. Patrice. He was the best bellman I ever had in my career. The ability to recognize talent has been my key.’’