During a trip to the Alps, I photographed a series of extraordinary abandoned grand hotels, many dating back to the Belle Époque. These once-sumptuous buildings were created for a golden age of spa tourism, with marble staircases, ornate plasterwork and vast ballrooms designed to host guests seeking the healing properties of mountain waters.

As travel habits, heating standards and tourism patterns changed, many of these historic hotels became too costly to modernise. By the late 20th century, a surprising number were left empty, their interiors frozen in time. What remains today is a quiet, compelling form of decay – powdery curtains, sunlit corridors and rooms where light settles gently, like a memory.

Alongside abandonment, there is also a growing story of renewal. Across the region, sensitive restorations and boutique reinventions now exist alongside buildings that remain untouched. This tension between renovation and ruin is central to my work and was a key reason for photographing these sites.

Grand Hotel Ruins – Behind the Scenes

This particular abandoned grand hotel was originally built in the mid-1800s to replace a small tavern. Over time, it expanded into a vast complex of more than 200 rooms in a town that once thrived on Alpine tourism. By the late 1990s it was operating as a spa for public servants, but long periods of vacancy both before and after mirror the fate of many hotels in the area.

Photographing this building was a rare experience. Its scale and architectural detail set it apart from other abandoned hotels I’ve visited. Bedrooms ranged from completely empty spaces to rooms still filled with personal remnants, each offering fragments of past lives. Walking through the silent corridors and richly decorated public areas naturally invited speculation – who stayed here, and what did this place once mean to them? It was impossible not to think of The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Access was challenging. Icy pipes, steep climbs and unstable conditions made parts of the building difficult to navigate, but the visual rewards were extraordinary. From expansive Alpine views to intricate details left behind, every space revealed something unexpected.

Bedroom – available in my shop

Bedroom captures one of the hotel’s many abandoned rooms, a quiet, frozen moment in time. Some rooms were empty, others full of decay and forgotten belongings, creating a haunting yet poetic atmosphere. This is available in 3 sizes; Small, Standard and Museum.

Small Size
Edition of 15 with 2 artist proofs
Unframed size: 64.96 x 44.64cm
Framed size: 79 x 58cm
From £1050 unframed