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Hotel Monte Palace

Hotel Monte Palace
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São Miguel
25-05-2025
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www.GreslePhotography.com
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#HotelMontePalace #abandoned #Azoren #Azores #Portugal #hotel #GreslePhotography #nikon #nikonphotography #travelphotography #AtlasObscura #protectedbyPixsy

Hotel Monte Palace

This abandoned five-star hotel is now a five-star urban exploration destination.

Perched on an isolated mountaintop in the Azores, the Hotel Monte Palace is the dead-eyed shell of a former five-star hotel that only seemed to operate for a couple of years before simply being abandoned.

Built in the 1980s as a speculative draw to tourists who had not yet caught on to the Azores as a vacation spot, the hotel is a massive, multi-floor behemoth designed with sharp, terraced roofs reminiscent of a pagoda. Overlooking a picturesque lake, the grand hotel featured a cavernous indoor courtyard and winding spiral staircases leading to the 88 rooms. Every type of amenity was provided as well, from two restaurants, a bar, a bank, a hairdresser, and even a black-lit nightclub. Everything a traveler on holiday might want or need was provided right at the top of the mountain. That is of course, should anyone want to make the trek in the first place.

Unfortunately, it seems that not many people did. After opening in 1989, the hotel only operated for a little more than a year before shutting its doors. According to reports, for about a decade the empty halls were patrolled by guards and dogs, but with no one interested in paying them any longer, it seems that they simply disappeared sometime in the mid-2000s. Now urban explorers who are willing to make the trek to the mountaintop resort can explore its desiccated ballrooms and crumbling halls seemingly at their leisure.

Update: In 2017, the real estate group Level Constellation purchased the property with the intent to rehabilitate the property. It is slated to reopen in 2021.

Update July 2023: At the current time the property hasn't had any rehabilitation. one and is still a deteriorating shell. It is still accessible to explorers.

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#HotelMontePalace #abandoned #Azoren #Azores #Portugal #hotel #GreslePhotography #nikon #nikonphotography #travelphotography #AtlasObscura #protectedbyPixsy

Taken on: May 25, 2025

Tags:

Hotel Monte Palace

abandoned

Azores

Portugal

hotel

Gresle Photography

Nikon

Nikon Photography

Travel photography

Atlas Obscura

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Sets appears in: • Atlas Obscura

Camera: Nikon D610, f/14.0, 1/800 sec, 28mm, ISO 1250 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D610
Lens:	28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6
Aperture:	f/14.0
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/800)
Focal Length:	28mm
ISO:	1250
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Auto, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Not Defined
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	High gain up
Contrast:	High
Saturation:	High
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 14.4 (Macintosh)
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