COEUR d'ALENE - John and Tina Hough have always considered their Roosevelt Inn a comfy getaway.

But earlier this year, it was a hazing ground.

The inn owners were yelled at, derided, insulted. The business plan for their quaint bed and breakfast in Coeur d'Alene for the past 14 years thoroughly trashed.

And hopefully, they'll be the better for it.

That's the general idea behind "Hotel Hell," the new Fox reality show that will feature the Coeur d'Alene couple and their hotel in an episode airing at 8 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 3.

"It was kind of a hellacious experience, to a certain degree," admitted John, who said the couple hadn't been allowed to discuss the shooting of the episode until this week. "It's one of those experiences you sit down and go, 'Wow, that was bizarre.'"

He has been warned that things might get crazy after viewers take in the episode.

The show follows a familiar reality TV concept: Famous chef Gordon Ramsay, known from shows like "Hell's Kitchen," drops in to revamp the business plans for small hotels, including finances, rooms, services.

Ramsay was in Coeur d'Alene for several days in February to shoot the episode.

"We kind of knew what we were in for," Hough said, adding that he and his wife had watched a few episodes of Ramsay's shows. "At the same time, it's a little dramatic."

A reality show might seem an extreme step. But the Roosevelt Inn needed the boost, Hough said.

Like many similar businesses, the inn had taken a hit from the recession that left fewer able to vacation, John said. The business was facing some financial difficulty.

"We felt there was something more we could do to turn our side of it around," he said. "We didn't know where to go."

When the couple learned the show was taking applications, and that they fit the requirements with their 15 guest rooms and resort town location, they took a chance.

What they got, John said, was humiliated. A lot.

"They come in and basically abuse us to no end, and that's just loads of fun there," he said.

A TV studio was suddenly dropped on their heads, cameras and cords set up throughout the historic building on Wallace Avenue. The Houghs wore mics from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, John said. They had cameras in their faces for just as long.

Then there was Ramsay.

The chef mocked everything, John said, naming things right and left as "completely, total, f-ing rubbish." He dubbed John an "unfeeling husband" because his wife never takes vacations.

"That's his shtick," John said, adding that the rain of abuse wasn't a surprise. "I was kind of his whipping boy."

But the show was also helpful. A hotel consultant was brought in to review all the company's finances and give suggestions.

Ramsay gave useful tips like raising rates - which the Houghs hadn't done in several years - sprucing up the breakfast buffet and adding a dinner experience for guests.

The show created an impressive new website for the business. The Houghs, who live at the Roosevelt, were even put into a hotel for two nights while staff remodeled two of the bedrooms and the meeting room.

"That was one of our focuses. (The meeting center) was an area of our building that was not producing at all," John said, noting that the show didn't reveal how much the remodeling cost.

The real surprise came after they toured the new rooms, John said. Ramsay announced that the couple was going to host a $49,000 wedding at the inn in three hours.

"The warm and fuzzy feeling went away," John said with a laugh. "The nice thing was, most everything was already pre done."

The couple has already seen a difference since the show, John said.

They have attracted conferences, and this July's revenue was $68,000, compared to last July's $48,000.

"That's extremely helpful for our business," he said.

The Houghs have been able to hire on eight new full-time, part-time and seasonal employees, he added.

"What they were reawakening in us is that it's all about the guests," John said of the show staff. "It's about what the guests want, what their needs are, and that's what we're here for."

The Roosevelt Inn plans to host a viewing party the night the show premiers, he said, with a question-and-answer period afterward. For more information, call the inn at: 765-5200.

Ramsay had insinuated he might return down the road, Hough added, to check up on how the couple has done.

They'll be ready, Hough said. Or at least he will be.

"My wife said she's going on vacation if he decides to come back," he said.