7 once the most comfortable resorts in the world that are now abandoned

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Life here once was in full swing, and many vacationers enjoyed their rest in comfortable hotels and sanatoriums, recuperating after working days. But today these stunning places are hidden in the thickets, once cozy rooms are covered with a layer of dust, the walls are gradually crumbling, and the wildlife is gradually reclaiming new areas. Yet these abandoned resorts still retain their charm and amazing atmosphere of seclusion and tranquility.

Chacaltaya ski resort, La Paz, Bolivia

This resort, opened in the late 1930s, was the only ski resort in Bolivia and was considered the highest in the world, as was the restaurant that was located on its territory and became a Guinness Book of Records record holder. During the season, which lasted up to eight months a year, thousands of tourists skied and sledged on the Chacaltaya Glacier.

In the 1990s, scientists warned of a melting glacier that was supposed to disappear in 2015. But already in 2009, the glacier, which had existed for 18,000 years, melted, and now the abandoned ski resort of Chacaltaya resembles a ghost town. Two brothers, Adolfo and Samuel Mendoza, live here almost permanently, who previously served in this place, and today they make sure that few visitors can dine in the shelter near the main building.

Ghost Palace, Baturiti, Indonesia

Also known as Pi Bedugul Taman Rekreasi Hotel & Resort, this hotel is located in the mountains in the Central Bedugal Highlands, 50 km north of Kuta. Its construction began in the 1990s, and the hotel was abandoned even before it opened. However, the pristine intactness of the buildings has attracted ghost hunters and just curious citizens to this place for more than 20 years.

This place is covered with numerous legends and rumors. Almost no one believes in the story of the bankruptcy of the developer, but they talk about the night before the opening of the hotel, when all the workers and guests who had arrived at the event suddenly disappeared. Another legend says how the builders died one after another, because the spirits did not want a human presence in this place.

In fact, it is almost impossible to verify exactly how events unfolded at the Ghost Palace hotel, but the most likely version is about the true owner of the project, Tommy Suharto, the youngest son of the former president of Indonesia, who was convicted in 2002 for the murder of a judge of the Supreme Court of Indonesia. After his arrest, construction was stopped and never resumed.

Maya Hotel, Kobe, Japan

This hotel has been closed several times since it opened in 1929. During World War II, anti-aircraft guns were located on the roof, and the building itself was severely damaged as a result. After the war, the hotel got a new owner, and the hotel opened its doors again in 1961 after reconstruction.

Six years later, an earthquake and landslides caused new damage to the building, and only in 1974 the renovated hotel was supposed to get a second life, now as a student center. However, the Maya Hotel was rarely used, and in 1995 the stately old building was again damaged by the Awaji earthquake. Since then, the hotel has not been used, but it is one of the most famous Japanese haike. Music videos are shot here and used for filming on location TV films.

Abandoned Soviet sanatoriums in Tskhaltubo, Georgia

In Soviet times, Tskhaltubo was considered one of the best resorts in the USSR.19 sanatoriums and 9 baths were erected around the large park, one of which was built specifically for Joseph Stalin. Vacationers from different cities and republics of the Soviet Union came here all year round.

After the collapse of the country, the sanatorium town was abandoned, and when the war broke out in Abkhazia, about eight thousand ethnic Georgians who fled from the conflict zone were resettled in empty sanatoriums. Some of the refugees continue to live here a quarter of a century later. Recently, several sanatoriums have been renovated and today they are again hosting tourists.

Grand Hotel Campo dei Fiori, Varese, Italy

This magnificent hotel was built in 1910 on the top of a mountain above Varese and was designed by the famous Italian architect Giuseppe Sommaruga. To get to the place of rest, tourists had to climb a steep funicular. Luxury and detachment from the world attracted many guests here.

The First and Second World Wars caused damage to the hotel, but even in the middle of the last century there were many people who wanted to visit the old hotel on the mountain. Over time, the flow of tourists has significantly decreased, in 1968 the hotel was closed, and all attempts to reopen it were unsuccessful. In the 1980s, the hotel's roof was rented out to install antennas, and the owners, the Castiglioni family, were the only guests in the once luxurious vacation spot. They also hired technicians to maintain the old building.

In 2016, the Grand Campo dei Fiori was sold to a private company, which estimated the amount of work required to launch the hotel, but did not proceed with the renovation. In 2017, a remake of the 1977 horror film Suspiria was filmed at the Grand Campo dei Fiori.

Hot Lake Hotel, La Grande, Oregon, USA

The construction of the Hot Lake Hotel began at the end of the 19th century, and after that it went from a luxurious vacation spot to a madhouse. The hotel was opened in 1903, and in 1934 after a severe fire it was gone out of business, and already during the Second World War it was used as a training center for nurses and pilots. During the period when the typhoid epidemic began to rage in winter, the hall of the empty hotel turned into a place for storing the bodies of the dead, since it was impossible to bury them in frozen ground for several meters.

In the middle of the twentieth century, the Hot Lake Hotel became a nursing home, later - a home for the insane. In the 1970s, a restaurant worked here for a short time; in the 1980s, a bathhouse was opened in one of the corner rooms. But already in the early 1990s, the building was completely abandoned and given over to the power of the elements and vandals, and there were many rumors about the hotel itself related to ghosts and the spirits of the dead. In 2001, the hotel was shown in the ABC television series The Scariest Places on Earth. and in 2003 it was acquired by a family who are currently actively involved in its restoration, and the hotel is already receiving its first visitors.

Abandoned hotels in Kupari, Croatia

Once this resort complex, consisting of five hotels, was a favorite vacation spot for the Yugoslav military elite. Since its opening in the 1960s, more than one and a half thousand vacationers could live here at the same time, enjoying the clear waters of the Adriatic Sea and comfortable conditions.

During the Croatian War of Independence in the early 1990s, hotels were looted, destroyed and abandoned. Today, nature is the rightful owner here, although the beaches themselves are still an attractive place for recreation for both locals and tourists.

Abandoned places have become so popular lately that sometimes there may be too many tourists there to really feel the desolation and remoteness of the city. A completely different story with the abandoned islands, where there were once settlements, and now there is not a single living soul left. It is much more difficult to get to the islands, and therefore the feeling of abandonment is felt there in a special way.