Even celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay couldn’t work enough magic to save this hotel and restaurant after it was featured on his Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares TV programme in 2005. Just two years later in 2007, the once-popular family-owned spot in England’s Midlands shut its doors for good and the site lay abandoned for years. 

There’s hope for the building now though as new owners have purchased the site. However, with some significant structural issues, including one of the floors collapsing, it’s likely the whole building will be torn down and redeveloped. 

Salton Sea in California used to be home to bustling resort towns in the 1950s, including Salton City and Bombay Beach. While its name might suggest a coastal spot, it's actually a lake located in the desert to the southeast of Palm Springs that formed in 1905 when the Colorado river breached a canal and filled a parched basin. 

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After a series of unfortunate events, which began with Hurricane Kathleen in 1976, killed the lake the resorts died a death too as tourists stopped coming and most residents cleared out. Now, only remnants of its empty diners, abandoned motels and boat ramps remain. However, the ravaged desert community has enjoyed an artistic renaissance recently.  

In the coming decades the hotel was turned into a senior citizens’ home until it was closed in 1997. Rumours that the site would be redeveloped into flats have circulated for years, but currently the historic high-rise remains untouched. 

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Originally opened in 1953, this resort became extremely popular after it appeared in the 1961 Elvis Presley film Blue Hawaii. It was closed in 1992 when Hurricane Iniki swept across the island. However, the luxury resort reopened in 2018 under Hyatt ownership.

Since 1945, when the Soviet Army took over, the complex was subject to various uses. Somewhat controversially, the buildings have now been repurposed as a residential development and holiday resort, which includes the world's largest youth hostel. A section has also been bought by the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to house a museum about the complex's dark past.

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Sadly, it closed when its co-founder Frances Paolillo died in 2009 and the county took over the estate due to unpaid taxes. It was abandoned for many years during which time it was vandalised and ravaged by various fires. Due to safety concerns, demolition work began on the once-popular stop on Route 447 in 2021. 

However, its Moorish beauty remains, with colourful tiling and murals throughout. Now privately owned, it's off-limits to visitors although you can read more about the property here.

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Before the Turkish invasion in 1974, Varosha – situated in the southern quarter of Famagusta – was a thriving holiday destination filled with resorts and hotels. Thanks to its stunning sands, it once attracted celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor and Brigitte Bardot. Take a look at these vintage photos of Hollywood stars' vacations. 

Located just above the seashore, with views of Dubrovnik and the island of Lokrum, this sprawling resort has fallen victim to vandals. However, part of the hotel was used during the filming of season 4 of Game of Thrones. There are plans for the site's demolition and redevelopment. 

One of the first high-rise buildings in the city, the Divine Lorraine first served as a luxury apartment complex before it reopened as a hotel in 1900. In 1948 the hotel was bought by spiritual leader Reverend M. J. Divine (or Father Divine, as he was also known), who turned the hotel into the first fully racially integrated hotel in the USA. It closed in 1999 and was reduced to a hollow shell, with no windows, doors or floors remaining. The building has recently been renovated and now houses 101 luxury apartments.

The ghostly five-storey building, which is located on São Miguel island, just above the village of Sete Cidades, was bought by real estate group Level Constellation in 2017 with plans to redevelop the site as a luxury hotel. 

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Captured here by urban explorer and photographer Yannick Vandermolen, Villa Cannaert used to be a 4-star luxury hotel and restaurant. It was sold to private investors, who have since fled the country after being caught for tax evasion. “The place has been seized by the authorities and is now up for auction. While this beautiful place is waiting for a new owner, it makes the joy of urban explorers,” Yannick said in 2014.

This Belgian hotel was built in 1904 and could hold up to 80 guests in its once-luxurious rooms. When Yannick photographed the building, he met the owner too: “He told me that it closed because it went bankrupt, that no one volunteered to take over the hotel and that he wasn't able to afford the cost of maintenance. He seemed very sad about it. This hotel must have been a big part of his life.” Demolition began on the hotel in 2020.

Built in 1868, this spa resort (once known as a thermal institute) closed when a new spa resort opened up nearby. Interestingly, the hotel never had a name, so it was given one. “Urban explorer (urbex) community loves to give strange nicknames to the abandoned places, so the guy who found it called it Alla Italia, probably due to the beautiful painted ceilings and the columns that somehow reminded him of Italian architecture,” Yannick explained.

Another urban explorer and photographer Brian, who runs the website preciousdecay.com, captured this dilapidated scene at a former boarding house in Germany. Little is known about the property, but Brian has given it the name Mold Hotel – and it's clear why.

Untouched for 20 years, this ski resort in Saxony was frozen in time as soon as it was abandoned. During Brian’s visit, he captured not only the deteriorating inside but also discovered a room still filled with old ski equipment.

Also photographed by Brian, this castle in Germany – known as Villa Woodstock thanks to its glorious wooden interior – used to be a hotel and spa built in 1883. From 1990 it was used as a home for the elderly until it closed in 2012 and was left abandoned.

The hollow shell of the once-thrumming Royal Hotel is all that remains of Linda, a ghost town in western Tasmania. The abandoned mining town had thrived in the late 19th century, but when the mines closed, the settlement fell into decline. 

Royal Hotel, which gained notoriety for its raucousness and one serious brawl in particular, eventually shuttered in the 1950s too. Now its crumbling carcass is a reminder of the town that once was. However, the abandoned building was bought in 2020 and plans are afoot to open a café here.

You can find more of Australia's abandoned buildings here

These days, the site is used as a headquarters for the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus, but much of the former terminal building and its contents still exist, including signage and seating. While the future of the airport is uncertain, plans have been floated to re-open it under UN control and even transform the site into a special tax-free industrial zone.

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Luckily, things are looking up for the ill-fated ghost airport. In 2015 a consortium of investors snapped up the site for £37 million ($50m) and plans are afoot at last to redevelop Ciudad Real Central for commercial use. Most recently it was used by cargo planes to transport medical equipment during the coronavirus pandemic in May 2020 and some airlines stored their parked planes here too. 

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Now a complete wreck, the airport has been totally abandoned and proposals to rebuild the hub have been vetoed by the Israeli authorities.

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