2 January 2023 - THE SAD TALE of CHATEAU LAURIER - OTTAWA

 

THE SAD TALE 

of 

CHATEAU LAURIER 

- OTTAWA -

G'day folks,

The mastermind behind this palatial hotel perished on the Titanic weeks before its grand opening. 

With its elegant turrets and enormous size, this riverside hotel looks like it could double as some sort of fairytale castle perched atop a European hillside. The nearby canal even makes it seem as though a moat surrounds part of what could easily be mistaken as a stoic fortress.

The architectural beauty isn’t a palace at all, though it has had a few brushes with royalty. Many famous figures, prime ministers, and royalty from around the world have stayed within this 429-room hotel.

 

Its insides reveal early 20th-century hand-moulded plaster decorations, original Tiffany stained-glass windows, and walls made with the finest Indiana limestone. When it first opened in 1912, a private room cost a whopping $2 per night.

Yet despite the hotel’s grandeur, its story is tinged with sadness. The palatial Château Laurier was commissioned by Charles Melville Hays, American millionaire, philanthropist, and president of the (now long-bankrupt) Grand Trunk Railway System. But unfortunately for Hays, he died before he could see the hotel’s grand opening.

 

Hays, anxious to return from London to Ottawa for the Château’s big opening, booked a ticket on the famously ill-fated RMS Titanic. Strangely, he reportedly prophesied an “appalling disaster” on the very night the ship collided with the iceberg and met its demise. Hays sadly perished when the ship sank.

Notably, the Château has a second connection to the Titanic. Hays commissioned French sculptor, Paul Chevré, to create a bust of prime minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier for the hotel’s official opening. The bust, still located in the hotel foyer today, was transported aboard another ship, La Bretagne. Chevré and Hays boarded the Titanic, but unlike Hays, Chevré survived the sinking.

15 November 2022 - THE FAMOUS PERA PALACE HOTEL - ISTANBUL

 

THE FAMOUS PERA 

PALACE HOTEL 

- ISTANBUL -

G'day folks,

This historic hotel preserves many treasures from its heyday hosting passengers on the Orient Express. 

The luxurious Pera Palace Hotel, the oldest European hotel in Istanbul, was built in the 19th century to host passengers traveling east on the famous Orient Express. Its rooms have housed such prominent figures as Ernest Hemingway, King Edward VII of England, Alfred Hitchcock, and Jackie Kennedy. Today, some rooms are preserved to look just as they did when they hosted these prestigious guests. 

 

One very interesting example is Room 101, which was stayed in by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey. The room preserves the old furniture and decoration from Atatürk’s stay in 1917, and some of the president’s personal belongings. One of these is an old clock whose hands stopped ticking exactly at the moment of Atatürk’s death.

Room 411 is better known as the Agatha Christie room, and it is one of the most requested rooms at the hotel. The Queen of Crime stayed in this particular room several times between the years 1926 and 1932, reportedly while writing one of her most famous novels, Murder on the Orient Express. Several urban legends tell that during the 11 days when the writer went missing, she was here at the Pera Palace Hotel. 

 

Located in Istanbul’s “Little Europe” district, Beyoğlu, the hotel’s exterior combines elements of art nouveau with oriental and neoclassical style. For many years, guests arriving in the city via the luxury passenger train would stay at this hotel, which is why both it and the train have the same symbol, a crest of golden lions. The historic elevator can still be seen inside the hotel, with its curious structure of wood and wrought iron and the unmistakable arrow that indicated the floors. In the grand lobby, you can admire other gems of yesteryear, like the old wooden telephone with two bells and an earphone, and the palanquin that used to transport people from the Sirkeci railway station, the eastern terminus of the Orient Express.

7 April 2022 - HOLMES MILL BREWERY HOTEL - ENGLAND

 

HOLMES MILL 

BREWERY HOTEL

 - ENGLAND -

G'day folks,

This historic former textile mill now houses a brewery, hotel, and what's believed to be the longest bar in the United Kingdom.  

This former textile mill was the last working cotton mill in Clitheroe, Lancashire. It was steam-driven until 1973. Since its redevelopment as a brewery, hospitality, and retail complex, much of the steam infrastructure has been retained.

 

The old steam engine has pride of place in the room known as the Engine Room, but perhaps the greatest current claim to fame is the bar in the German-style Beer Hall. It claims to be home to the longest bar in the United Kingdom. There is also a cinema, a hotel with 39 bedrooms, and a food hall.

Holmes Mill grew over the 19th and 20th-centuries. The first steam engines were beam engines (at least two were operating together at one time) were replaced in 1910 by a horizontal compound engine, which was used until the mill closed in the 1970s.

The redevelopment of the closed mill took place from 2015 onwards and the site is regularly used for special events The brewery produces a wide range of craft beers and brewery tours are available.

Clancy's comment: What a fabulous way to utilise a building.

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25 July 2021 - ABANDONED 10,000-ROOM NAZI HOTEL NEVER USED

 

ABANDONED 10,000-ROOM 

NAZI HOTEL NEVER USED

 

G'day folks,

There is a 10,000 room beachfront hotel that no one has ever stayed at. 

A hotel so huge it stretches over a staggering three miles and has 10,000 bedrooms all facing the sea. That is because this beach resort named Prora was built by the Nazis between 1936 and 1939 on Hitler’s orders. Prora lies on an extensive bay between the Sassnitz and Binz regions, known as the Prorer Wiek, on the narrow heath (the Prora) which separates the lagoon of the Kleiner Jasmunder Bodden from the Baltic Sea. 

 

The buildings extend over a length of 4.5 kilometres and are roughly 150 metres from the beach. The coast offers a long flat sand beach, which stretches from Binz to the ferry port. This beach was thus an ideal location for the establishment of a seaside resort. During that same period, Hitler was making preparations for war which ultimately took priority, and the massive building project was never finished.

The buildings extend over a length 3 miles (5 km) and are roughly 500 feet (150 metres) from the beach.

 During the few years that Prora was under construction, all major construction companies of the Reich and nearly 9,000 workers were involved in this project, but with the onset of World War II in 1939, building on Prora stopped and the construction workers transferred to weapon factories.

  The eight housing blocks, the theater, and cinema stayed as empty shells, and the swimming pools and festival hall never materialized.

After the war, Prora was used as a military outpost for the East German army. But since German reunification in 1990, the buildings have stood empty.

 

Clancy's comment: If they'd spent less time on these sorts of things, and the holocaust, they may have been more successful in war.

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19 November 2020 - ABANDONED LUXURY HOTELS IN DUBROVNIK

 

 ABANDONED LUXURY HOTELS IN DUBROVNIK

G'day folks,

Filip Molcan  spent a few days this year in Dubrovnik exploring surrounding places and villages, not to capture the beauty of the Adriatic sea, but looking for abandoned places after the conflict in former Yugoslavia. He used his iPhone to shoot one of the most luxurious hotels in Dubrovnik before the war and other hotels in Kupari only a few minutes from Dubrovnik.

When you’re exploring abandoned hotels in such a touristic location, you realize that the conflict ended just a few years ago (1995). One of the hotels is famous as a film location in Game of Thrones. 

 Here are his photographs ...

Clancys' comment: Sad, eh? What a superb view, but these look so lonely now.

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