Exploring Abandoned Hotel

2019 Was a wild year, it brought many new friends and new adventures and a lot of urbex Exploring. Our (my friends over at ‘The need for exploration” and I ) last big trip of the year was in mid December (because we don’t let the freezing new England temps hold us back) we took roughly four and half hour drive one direction and ended up at an epic abandoned hotel. This area was once a popular vacation destination but has since dried up and most of the surrounding area is farm country and small towns with little population, to some it sounds like a drag but to my friends and I this is a prime exploring spot. This hotel was originally built in the early 1920s with 473 rooms it was very popular for wealthy families to stay throughout the summers, it had some rather notable guests stay in its suites and preform in its amazing theater such as Janyne Mansfeild, Jack Dempsey, and Bob Hope. It was even thought to of been the inspiration behind the summer resort in the movie Dirty Dancing. By the mid 60s it was well know as one of the areas signature hotels. Unfortunately the by the 70s and 80s the decline of business and traffic caused many hotels and tourist venues to struggle financially. The hotel like many others in the area attempted to keep with the times and converted from hotels to “luxury townhouses” which worked for a little while but in 1988 the owner was forced to step down and file for bankruptcy protection. November 11th the hotel/resort would close for season and never reopen. A real estate developer purchased the land and renovations began in 1997, it was converted into condominiums with most of the amenities like the pool and theater preserved , new people moved in and called this interesting place home for a time. While exploring you could really see the different eras that impacted the designs and decor of the buildings. In 2010 the city was threatening to condemn due to several fire safety violations but with promises to fix the problem they were allowed to remain open. This proved to be a mistake. On April 14th (a day that seems to bring tragedy throughout american history) 2012 the building caught fire. Originally starting in the boiler room by the time the flames were extinguished it had burned 7 of the 9 buildings as well as 20 acres of woods and is now remembered today as one of the biggest fires in the area to date. Over 100 residents had to leave everything behind in the blaze though none seriously injured, it took 43 companies and 300 fire fighters to put out the flames. Due to the immense damage done by fire and water shortly after the remaining buildings were deemed unsafe to reenter due to asbestos crumbling walls and burnt up hallways, no one was ever allowed back in to retrieve their belongings and because of arguments over responsibility and claims of historical significance it remains today sitting on the side of the road just begging for an explorer to come inside. It was pretty easy to enter as it didn’t seem to get boarded up and was left for nature to take over. Once inside one of the few remaining buildings we had over 100 rooms across three floors to check out. Every room was different some simple, others at the ends of the hallways were the more expensive suites with beautiful old furniture and big glass mirrors (mostly smashed) there was some evidence of vandals, spray paint intentionally broken glass etc but over all for being set on fire was the place was in great shape. As with the painters house the residents here had to leave everything behind which is sad as I have lost many things from moving frequently and know what its like to miss your photo albums. Despite the sad nature it was pretty amazing digging through this place and its past. We found all kinds of stuff from kids toys, old records clothes, shoes, photos, birthday cards, pretty much all the things you would imagine being in someones house, even the spices were left in cabinets and rotting food in the refrigerators. The rooms themselves were a lot of fun going through but the thing that blew me away in this explore was the theater. A massive room with a big beautiful stage and mostly intact crystal chandelier hanging overhead, all the tables and chairs were left there like they were just waiting for someone to sit down for a show, there was even a little latter which lead up to the control room for the spotlights that were still sitting in their place. I would of loved to spend more time shooting, though we were there for a few hours but the cold started to sink in and the and the hand warmers were losing strength so we headed out for pizza and long drive back. Going through the photos and editing later I found some cool things I didn’t notice before, like the love song written on the sheet music or mold patterns on the walls, things like that make these places special and one of a kind.