The holiday resort was partially destroyed during the Croatian war of independence. Photo / 123rf
The holiday resort was partially destroyed during the Croatian war of independence. Photo / 123rf
Hotel Pelegrin was once a luxurious hotel on a stunning beach in a small Croatian village. Now, it tells a sad story.
The beautiful 419-bed complex was one of the biggest on the Adriatic coast and lured thousands of international visitors during the 1980s.
According to The Sun, Hotel Pelegrin was initially part of the Kupari holiday resort for the military elite of the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) when it first opened in 1963.
The military spent a huge amount of money on funding the growth of the resort. As a result, it became a top spot for officers as well as their friends and families.
Non-military travellers, too, could stay, but spaces were more readily available if they had connections within the military.
But tragically, the siege of Dubrovnik in 1991 left the once-glamorous hotel in a state of ruin.
The resort was shelled many times and the damage lingers to this day.
After the destructive attack, the hotel was used as a short-term shelter and base for the Croatian army’s servicemen.
A man standing in the abandoned Hotel Pelegrin with the view of the beach in Kupari, Croatia. Photo / 123rf
However, once they left in 2000, the hotel was completely abandoned and locals stripped the building of anything useful, such as the tiles on the exterior and the copper piping.
Now, the once-breathtaking hotel is overgrown with a jungle of ivy, and visited only once in a blue moon by the occasional nosy tourist.
Spine-chilling pictures show the resort overwhelmed by the elements. Over the past two decades, weeds and grime have spread across the once-pristine white walls, which are now covered in bullet holes and graffiti. Fallen bricks and rubble make the ground nearly invisible.
With its beautiful seaside view, the resort was once bustling with tourists, as seen in old black-and-white pictures of bikini-clad tourists.
The exterior of the old ruined Hotel Goricina in Kupari, Croatia. Photo / 123rf
Now, the hotel is just a hollow shell of what it once was.
The exterior of the building shows deep cracks and large patches of rust covering the metal rails within the structure.
The steps leading up to the hotel have been destroyed by heavy artillery and lay smashed into pieces.
Large holes in the ceilings show wooden and metal railings above and expose the interior bones of the huge building structure.
An abandoned hotel in the former tourist complex of Kupari village, Croatia. Photo / 123rf
What’s more, the Pelegrin isn’t the only hotel on the bay of Kupari that has been neglected for nearly two decades.
Together, there are seven hotels within the resort complex, such as Hotel Grand, Goricina I, Goricina II, Kupari, Pelegrin, Mladost and Galeb — and all of them are now empty shells, rotting with decay and succumbing to the elements.
Back in their heyday, the complex could host 2000 visitors altogether.
It has been reported in recent months that a contract has been signed by Kupari Luxury Hotels to restore the site, now dubbed the “bay of abandoned hotels”.
It is rumoured the Grand Hotel would be kept as the centrepiece, but the other hotels are set to be demolished to make way for new buildings.
Minister of State Property Branko Bacic told Poslovni: “According to the plan of the District of Dubrovnik, a period of 12 months is prescribed during which the investor is obliged to obtain a valid building permit, and within a further period of four years to realise the project.”
