Around the world stand empty hotels that symbolise the loss of prosperity and the death of dreams. Lavish resorts and small hotels which were once filled with life and activity are now abandoned and filled only with decay. Expensive hotels that began to be erected in areas of the world where development was anticipated now remain half-built in areas of the world where tourists rarely go. Abandoned hotels range from decrepit to like-new and exist everywhere from remote parts of the globe to modern urban cities. Following are some of the most interesting of those spots that serve as reminders that even the best laid plans don’t always work out over time.
Bokor Palace Hotel and Casino, Cambodia
Bokor Palace Hotel and Casino: There is a small French town in Cambodia that was lively throughout much of the 20th Century but is now completely abandoned. Built in the 1920’s, it became a partying hot spot for backpacking travellers during the 1960’s. The centerpiece of these parties was the Bokor Hill Station, a hotel which now stands abandoned. Tourists interested in taking a major trek in Cambodia can go tour the ruins today.
Aptera Beach Resort, Crete
Aptera Beach Resort: A series of beaches in Hania, Crete are welcoming to tourists from all around the world who are drawn in by the warm Mediterranean waters and the Greek way of life. However, a small beach called Aptera Beach has been abandoned and the resort that is left empty there is more than a little bit creepy.
Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
Sinai Peninsula: This part of the world is famous specifically because of the abandoned hotels that stand isolated here. At one time it was believed that this was going to be a booming area for growth and investment was made to start the construction of several elaborate five star hotels. However they never came to fruition, investment was abandoned and the hotels are just sitting there, half-finished in their concrete forms. Their only purpose has been as the architectural subject of a in Vienna. Investment was poured into the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, but mostly around Sharm el Sheikh.
Hotel Fife, Scotland
Hotel Fife: Talk about eerie. This hotel in Scotland was abandoned specifically because the owners of the hotel kept experiencing what they could only describe as poltergeist activity. Built on the remains of an old hospital, it is said to be haunted. The still image slideshow (above) comes from a paranormal investigation completed there.
Randall Park Hotel, Ohio
Randall Park Hotel: There’s a strange old hotel which was abandoned near Randall Park, Ohio back in the early 1990’s. It appears to have been damaged in a fire but what’s strange about it is that it’s filled with items that are marked with price tags, probably after an inventory of items was made for an insurance claim. Significant fire and smoke damage can be seen throughout.
Budomel, Poland
Budomel: In West-Central Poland is a city called Poznan which is one of the oldest cities in the country and a place where many historic landmarks can be found. You’ll also find this abandoned hotel there.
Graham Hotel, Georgia
Graham Hotel: You don’t normally think of people seeking out gold in Georgia but that’s exactly what happened in the town of Auraria before everyone started to head west. When the California gold rush happened, Auraria became a ghost town just like many western towns eventually became. There remain a few 19th Century buildings there today, including the abandoned Graham Hotel sometimes just called the Auraria Hotel.
Shreveport Hotel, Louisiana
Shreveport Hotel: Visitors spending time in Shreveport, Louisiana have many opportunities to enjoy a stay in a historic hotel since there are a number of these hotels still operating in the area. There are, however, some hotels that didn’t last through their heyday including this abandoned hotel.
Pines Hotel, Catskill Mountains
Pines Hotel: Whereas the Sinai Peninsula is a case of hotels that were never completed, the Pines Hotel is an example of a hotel which was once vibrant with activity and is now desolate. Located in New York’s Catskill Mountains, it was once a bustling ski resort complete with an ice skating rink and multiple swimming pools. It was closed ten years ago and has been sitting empty ever since. The video (above) gives you a close-up look at what the hotel has turned into since that time.
Baker Hotel, Texas
Baker Hotel: This hotel in Mineral Wells, Texas was a favorite of numerous celebrities in the first part of the 20th Century including Lucille Ball, Clark Gable, Judy Garland and President Lyndon B. Johnson. The owner closed the hotel in 1963 on his seventieth birthday, leaving all of the employees out of a job and all of the people who loved the place out of a hotel. The hotel was re-opened for a short time but then closed again; eventually it re-opened for tours which have since been cancelled. No one knows for sure what will end up happening to this place over time.
Ryugyong Hotel, Pyongyang
Ryugyong Hotel: This hotel in North Korea is an example similar to the hotels of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula where construction began on a building that never ended up being used. Three thousand rooms and seven revolving restaurants were planned for this massive concrete structure which has been dubbed ‘The Worst Building in the History of Mankind’ as a result of its failure to ever open for business. Construction was deadlocked in the 1990’s so the outer structure is complete but it’s an unsound building that doesn’t have any windows or interior to speak of. At 105 stories, it would’ve once been the tallest hotel in the world and is certainly the tallest abandoned hotel standing today.
Disney’s Pop Century Resort: Legendary Years, Florida
Disney’s Pop Century Resort: Legendary Years: Travel to Florida and you’ll find a set of Disney ‘value resorts’ which includes the Pop Century Resort. You can stay at this resort today in the rooms that were constructed in the first phase of the building process. However, there is a visible hotel on the property on which construction was halted in 2001 and never resumed. Reportedly Disney felt that after 9/11 there wasn’t enough tourist interest to justify completing the hotel.
Hundseck Hotel, Black Forest
Hundseck Hotel: In Black Forest, Germany is a stunning hotel that looks worthy of reservations today except for the fact that there are no people there to operate it. The eeriness of it makes it seem as though it could be something straight out of a Stephen King novel.
Yashima, Japan
Yashima: Yashima is a plateau on the Japanese island of Shikoku. A temple there draws in tourists, a fact which encouraged significant investment in building up tourist infrastructure there in the 1980’s. Several hotels were built and used for a short period of time but the area was never realised as a major tourist destination and the hotels are now abandoned.
Lake Mutirikwi, Zimbabwe
Lake Mutirikwi: In Zimbabwe is a small town called Masvingo which derives its water from Lake Mutirikwi. Sitting on the shore of that lake is an abandoned hotel complex. It was likely once used by tourists visiting Great Zimbabwe and the Lake Kyle Recreation Park but now they stay elsewhere if they trek to the area.
Betoota Hotel, Queensland
Betoota Hotel: Built in the 1920’s, the Betoota Hotel was operational until 1997 when the owner decided to retire and leave the area. It’s no surprise that he didn’t want to live in this Queensland, Australia city anymore considering that it has only a seasonal population and he was the last remaining permanent resident in the area.
All throughout the world lie the scattered remains of hotels that once stood magnificent in their beauty, but which are now decaying and decrepit. We recently took a look at sixteen of the world’s most amazing abandoned hotels but there are many more of these strange wonders out there.
The urban explorer may discover these architectural monuments of history on a trek in nearly any part of the world. From hotels that were only half-built and then abandoned mid-project to hotels who fell from their glory into a state of decay, here are eight more of the most interesting abandoned hotels in the world.
King Edward Hotel, Calgary
King Edward Hotel: The King Eddy, as it is affectionately called by those who want to revive it, was a hotel created in the 20th Century under the reign of King Edward VII. It was Calgary’s oldest continuously-operating hotel until 2004 when the site was condemned due to an infestation of cockroaches and an overgrowth of mold. A new owner had ambitious plans to re-open the hotel but it appears they may have taken on a project that’s bigger than they can handle as it continues to simply decay.
There are hopes that the historic building will still be brought back to life (and suggestions have been made that it could be turned into a venue for live music) but it’s unclear at this time whether it will ever make a return from its state of abandonment.
Hotel Regina Maris, Belgium
Hotel Regina Maris: This hotel located on the coast of Belgium in De Panne appears to have causes some confusion inside the travel industry. Hotel Regina is listed in several hotel directories but appears by all photographic accounts to actually be abandoned. Built in the 1920’s, it is not completely falling apart but has been the victim of extensive interior and exterior vandalism.
Diplomat Hotel, Philippines
Diplomat Hotel: This abandoned hotel in the Philippines is a historic attraction on the verge of being turned into a museum after decades of stagnation (unless you count the creatures that reportedly haunt the place). The building has served many purposes throughout the years including being a refugee camp, housing for Dominican friars and a first-class hotel. Its current state of disrepair is said to make the place incredibly spooky, so consequently it is a place of both notoriety and great interest to the world’s ghost hunters.
Palace Hotel, Jerusalem
Palace Hotel: The Palace Hotel was built in 1929 and once was the home of the Industry and Trade Ministry. Abandoned in 2004, it has been empty for several years. It isn’t going to be empty much longer, though; in 2010 this site is going to be home to the new Waldorf-Astoria luxury hotel.
Hotel Durant, Michigan
Hotel Durant: This grandiose hotel is named after William Durant, the founder of General Motors. That’s quite apropos considering that it is located in Flint, Michigan. This city used to be a thriving hotbed of automotive industrial activity, but has been in gradual decline due to the outsourcing of labour. The abandoned hotel serves as a symbol of the remains of a once-bustling area now fallen from its prime.
North Point Surf Resort, Barbados
North Point Surf Resort: Over thirty years ago there was a luxurious resort built on the Caribbean island of Barbados. With an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a dramatic staircase leading to the beautiful ocean beach, the North Point Surf Resort was poised to be a major tourist attraction. Unfortunately, the remote location didn’t appeal to travellers and the developer’s grandiose plans fell through. North Point Surf Resort is now a hangout for skinny-dipping Rastafarians but there are suggestions that it may soon get a renovation.
Dream Island
Dream Island: The site of this abandoned hotel looks like paradise and it could have actually been a dream come true if the region where it is located had been of any interest to tourists. Since that wasn’t the case, it’s simply just another spot marked only by some stunning, if not eerie, abandoned ruins.
Ramada Hotel, Louisiana
Ramada Hotel: The Ramada Hotel chain decided to move one of its Lafayette, Louisiana businesses to a new location and abandoned the old building. Sources say that it took less than two years for the abandoned hotel to fall into this somewhat shocking state of disrepair.
From: ProTraveller
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Pingback on Nov 11th, 2008 at 4:29 am
[...] fascination continues across abandoned hotels, towns and cities. There’s even a place close by in Japan I would like to [...]
October 21, 2008 at 4:45 pm
where is this ‘Dream Island’?