10 Abandoned Hotels That Will Give You Chills

Small town gets smaller

On Adelaide Street in the tiny municipality of Birdsville, Australia, you’ll find the ruins of what was once the Royal Hotel, built circa 1883. The Royal operated as a hotel for only 40 years, and for a brief period in the early 20th century, it was used as a hospital and nursing home by a religious mission. When the mission left, the town’s population dwindled (in 2023, the population was only 115), and the building was left to deteriorate.

Red tape in Cornwall

Built in 1910 in Cornwall, England, the Fistral Bay Hotel thrived throughout the first half of the 20th century but declined in popularity thereafter. This once-grand hotel also served as a convalescent hospital for the British army, air force and navy during World War II, according to Cornwall Live. It was set for redevelopment in the mid-1990s, but those plans went nowhere and the hotel finally closed its doors for good in 2006.

Economic crisis to immigration crisis

Once thriving, the City Plaza Hotel in Athens closed its doors in 2010 amid the Greek financial crisis and was then abandoned, at least for commercial purposes. From 2016 through 2019, it was used as a squat house by refugees fleeing persecution in the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan, but now the status of the abandoned hotel is in limbo.

Train derailment and rebirth

The Canfranc railway station was one of Spain’s grandest, housing a luxury hotel that brought the King of Spain and the President of the French Republic to its grand opening in 1928. During World War II, the station was the site of espionage, arrests and even gold trafficking, according to CNN. Known as the “Titanic of the Mountains,” all of it fell into ruin after a 1970 train derailment that destroyed the bridge that provided access to it.

But this abandoned hotel story has a happy ending. In January 2023 it and the station reopened, welcoming guests back to luxury suites, a wellness center and other amenities.

The remains of a ghost town

Bodie, California, established in the late 1870s, was once a boom town near the Nevada border during the Gold Rush. In its heyday, the Dechambeau Hotel served not only as a hotel but also as a health club and a place of worship. By 1915, Bodie was already largely abandoned, but the last mine didn’t close until 1942. By 1950, Bodie had a population of … zero. Today, the entire ghost town is a California state park.

Another boom town bust

Hank’s Hotel in Calico, California, has a story quite similar to that of the Hotel Dechambeau, except Calico rose and fell on the heels of the silver rush. Calico was established in the early 1880s, but before 1900, silver had lost its value and the town went into decline.

In the 1950s, the town was restored to look as it did in the 1880s, and in 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed Calico to be a “Silver Rush Ghost Town.” Today, Calico is part of the San Bernardino County Regional Parks system, but of course, the hotel in this ghost town has been long closed.

War-torn Olympic venue

The 1984 Winter Olympics were golden times for host city Sarajevo, in the former nation of Yugoslavia. But in the years since, to say that times took a turn for the worse is quite an understatement. By the mid-1990s, the bobsled and luge track used in the Olympic Games had been taken over by the Bosnian military, and the hotel pictured here had been abandoned. Today, it’s covered in graffiti and is a skeleton of its former self.

War’s collateral damage

Another ruin in the former Yugoslavia, the Haludovo Palace Hotel in Croatia was once a high-end resort. Built in 1971, the midcentury modern structure exemplifies space-age design of the times, with a “monolithic quality typical of Communist-influenced architecture,” according to Atlas Obscura.

Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione even pumped $45 million into it, hoping it would catch on as a luxury destination. Though he went bankrupt soon after, the resort remained open for another 20 years. But the war in Yugoslavia, which started in 1991, derailed its tourism industry, leaving the hotel to crumble into ruins, which is how it remains today.

Abandoned Civil Rights Era icon

The Ben Moore Hotel and its Majestic Cafe, pictured here, opened its doors in 1945 and in 1951 became the first hotel in Montgomery, Alabama, to welcome African Americans as guests. It quickly became an important meeting spot for civil rights leaders, and played host to music icons including Tina Turner and B.B. King.

But over the years, hard times set it on a course toward disrepair. Long-abandoned, this history-filled abandoned hotel sits waiting for someone to come up with a plan to restore it, and the money to make it happen.

Fallen by the wayside

The Grants Motor Lodge opened along Route 66 in Grants, New Mexico, in 1945, and was a fairly run-of-the-mill place for many years. The hotel changed ownership and names several times, each time bringing it closer to its ultimate fate as the now-abandoned and appropriately-named Wayside Motel.

Why trust us

Reader’s Digest has published hundreds of travel stories that help readers explore the world safely, easily and affordably. We regularly cover topics such as the best places to visit (and the best times to visit them), tips and tricks to zoom through airport security, flight-attendant secrets, hotel-room hacks and more. We’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

Sources:

• Rita’s Outback Guide: “Birdsville Australia”
• Guardian: “Common wealth: how Birdsville adapted an age-old English custom for the outback”
• Cornwall Live: “Inside the eerie derelict Newquay hotel that has been left to crumble for more than a decade”
• Duke Trinity College of Arts & Sciences: “City Plaza Hotel—Athens, Greece”
• CNN Travel: “Abandoned train station transformed into spectacular hotel”
• Bodie: “Dechambeau Hotel and I.O.O.F. Building”
• Sun: “Inside abandoned ‘Haven of Hedonism’ hotel left to rot once owned by US porn baron & frequented by Saddam Hussein”
• Atlas Obscura: “Abandoned Haludovo Palace Hotel”
• Montgomery Advertiser: “Montgomery’s Ben Moore Hotel has a complicated past, uncertain future”
• Never Quite Lost: “Goodbye to the Wayside Motel”