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Kupari Tourist Complex is a unique place on the Croatian seaside. It is also called as the Bay of Abandoned Hotels. It was not our first or not last abandoned place we visited.

A little history

In the 1960s the Bay of Kupari served as a luxurious military resort for the Yugoslavian military officers. Several hotels such as Pelegrin, Kupari, Goričine, Goričine II and the Grand Hotel have been built. Also, an auto camping was opened to accommodate more guests. Hotels had almost 2000 beds while the camping had the capacity for 4500 guests according to the governmental report.

As the country needed foreign currency, the complex opened up in front of wealthier guest from abroad in the 1980s. And in 1991 the Yugoslavian War started and severely damaged the resort as well. The biggest hotel, Kupari, had a fire after shelling. The Pelegrin hotel was directly hit more times and it also accommodated the Croatian army during the war. The interior of the buildings nowadays is empty and full of debris. Most of the usable and movable objects are taken away or damaged.

After the war, they were never in use again, but there are talks to renovate the buildings are use their precious location.

Our visit to Kupari

We planned to arrive during the daytime, while at least some natural light is around, but we were a bit late and arrived at the place in darkness. As I have heard from others, there might be constructions going on and not sure if it is still possible to visit the place. My last info was from the previous summer.

We parked near the main road as we have seen construction signs. I got disappointed, but after a short walk, we realized it was just some hole on the road and people were entering the road to the hotels.  We aimed for Hotel Pelegrin for the night. We used our flashlights (and phones, as some of the headlights batteries weren’t charged) and went to explore the surroundings and the building. The ground floor is full of broken glasses, but as you go higher (applicable for all buildings) the floor gets cleaner. And we were not alone. We have seen other people’s lights on the opposite side of the building, but we never met anyone. We spent a night there, listening to animals and the sea. It was a bit scary!

Hotel Pelegrin

 

More abandoned hotels

Next day in brightness we explored all the buildings. By that time several cars parked around the hotels and other tourists with photo and video cameras arrived as well. As we expected, everything is devastated, but some details were still pretty. Some rooms had carpets left and were used as party places, in other buildings we have seen even whole bathtub and room decorated by doodles and drawings of some shy artists. We have also seen the remains of the Grand Hotel after the fire, the war scars especially on Hotel Pelegrin, the swimming pool, elevators, the restaurant, the beach buffet and the view of the bay from the top.

Grand Hotel

And even some more…

 

This was one of our most memorable abandoned building(s) we have ever visited. They literally occupy the whole bay. Not sure how long these hotels will remain like this as quite many constructions are going on nearby. Better to hurry up if you would like a little exploring!

Need a place nearby? Book it now!

 

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