Monte Palace: The Abandoned Hotel With A Million Dollar View

In 1990, the brand new Monte Palace Hotel won an award for Best Hotel Of The Year. Within a few months, it closed down and never reopened. What happened? I went to explore the story behind one of the world's most extraordinary abandoned buildings...
THIS VIDEO IS HUGELY INDEBTED TO THE FOLLOWING:
This beautifully-written blog about the history of the hotel: sometimes-interesting.com/201...
Jorge Loures' superb 2011 KZbin documentary about the hotel - this is where I got all the old photos and news clippings from:
• Video
The spectacular drone shots are from this video by Irmãos Brother:
• Hotel Monte Palace ( D...
And finally thanks to Atlas Obscura, the website where I found out about the hotel in the first place!
www.atlasobscura.com/places/h...

[@alexbenavidez4500]

*in the middle of nowhere, supposedly miles away from everyone else* German tourists: "oh Hallo"

[@mickeypopa]

lmao

[@joshdavis1637]

They were there to put their towels down before everyone else showed up ;)

[@RioMuc]

@@joshdavis1637 I'm German and your comment is brilliant!

[@misterbeach8826]

A German is always conquering, never tired. Up, up, he goes! Up zere on ze roof, Hilda!

[@theazrael4423]

This is true Lol

[@partlycurrent]

And ones again it's proven: You could be where ever you want in a place as secluded and run down as this, and you'll still meet some German tourists there

[@partlycurrent]

@Shigaru Hömma, mir sind für teuer Geld herjeflogen, jetzt nutze mir das auch und sinn net nur die janze Zeit am Pool. :D

[@terrandroid]

I like germans

[@ls200076]

@@terrandroid But germans don't like you. :Pp

[@alexbenavidez4500]

Germans are friendly af in my experience, I love German and learning the language Just wish they didn't have to be naked at literally every beach

[@terrandroid]

@@ls200076 oh yes they do, you don't know nothing about that

[@Amalunatic]

"Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints." 👌

[@mickeypopa]

Take nothing but diseases, leave nothing but your soul. xD

[@ethanpet113]

Wear a hardhat and a respirator.

[@xCPTxNEMO]

Some excellent pointing going on in this video.

[@TheTimTraveller]

Yes! Finally the man gets the recognition he deserves

[@jl.7739]

xCPTxNEMO i am a Hobby Pointer myself, and I can tell by the pointing he does, he’s a proper professional pointer.

[@The_NSeven]

Quite the quality I expect

[@edwardoleyar9825]

Well good thing it wasn't built in a circular design. He would've been pointing for days!! "For some reason that air duct looks familiar" 🤔

[@joge3031]

He looks like he's showing the place to a potential renter

[@bingonightly]

When the person that conceived the original idea for the hotel said "one day there will people from all over the world coming here, the car parks will be full, people will fly here to make films about the place, it will be a not to be missed tourist destination!" it's probably not what he was thinking.

[@1337fraggzb00N]

...or did he? Hey, VSauce, Michael here.

[@matthewneleigh567]

This looks like the sort of hotel that should have appeared in a Bond movie.

[@captain_barnacles]

I thought exactly the same as the film progresses. Ideal for a Bond badie base...

[@matthewneleigh567]

@@captain_barnacles I was just thinking its exotic location and striking architecture would have made it a good backdrop as Bond's investigations and intrigues played out. Probably Moore's bond.

[@captain_barnacles]

@@matthewneleigh567 there's not been enough epic bases recently. Have volcano > make it a base. Simple really

[@jhfdhgvnbjm75]

It IS very 70's, the sort of place to meet Goldfinger or Scaramanga.

[@pfsantos007]

Not Açores, but Bond was in Portugal. Estoril. He gets married...

[@Goofy685]

I visited in March 2023. The metal gate in front of the main entrance wasn't there anymore, so you could walk right in, and the basement area had been blocked off by a solid brick wall. Other than that, it looked pretty much like in this video. Still a ruin with an amazing view. Don't know what happened to the Chinese developers, I imagine a certain pandemic had something to do with it.

[@TheTimTraveller]

Cheers for the update!

[@CallieMasters5000]

This is like an upmarket version of the Chernobyl tours, minus the radiation.

[@bandvitromaniaios1307]

Callie Masters yup

[@austinjoseph8849]

Bald and Bankrupt?

[@samdekruyf7497]

Austin Joseph he’s my dad

[@mickeypopa]

Aww come on, radiation makes all the fun!

[@MsGrandunion]

radiation give the opportunity for night tours, when the building has a gentle glow and ambient light without any electricity.

[@felixrester4637]

Has literally paradise on earth right before his eyes. -The brit: "quite the view isn't ist?"

[@Gmackematix]

@der Führer Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain.

[@bobthomas8175]

"I've seen worse views"

[@EduSanjuan777]

Thats how the Brits are, I live in England. It's actually a form of understated arrogance, they are raised to act like some kind of smart ass Marquis from the XIX century. I hate them.

[@rushdiahmad2435]

@@medler2110 that's what happened here half a century ago, the Brits underestimate the Malayan Communist Party they almost lost, lucky PM at that time W.Churchill realize the situation and conscripted soldiers from Commonwealth nation's, otherwise we became another Communist state in S.E.A..

[@tartrazine]

EduSanjuan777 tit

[@DKTAz00]

That's alot of parked cars for a disused hotel :D

[@irgendwer1409]

Well its right next to one of the most popular view points on the island so the hotel is quite popular as well :D

[@ssbohio]

Slogan for the reopened hotel: "It's not as dismal as Reading."

[@Taladar2003]

Which, ironically, only means something to Brits, who won't be able to afford it in 2021 due to Brexit (its a joke, please don't start a political debate here based on that)

[@denverflatpackjedithornton]

Oi! From Reading

[@DisleyDavid]

I was many years ago in Swindon. I asked a worker in the bus station how I could get to Reading. He claimed Reading didn’t exist.

[@denverflatpackjedithornton]

@@DisleyDavid to be honest I've got no idea if there is a bus that goes to Reading maybe we don't need exist

[@vaporisedair4919]

Fair point!

[@ulrichmuller8519]

Went there last November and now they built some solid walls in front of all the possible side entrances.... fun fact: if you choose the main entrance - which you should always do at a hotel this size - the main gate is ridiculously easy to climb...

[@huswsimonbla]

Security guard was paid for 30 years to walk an empty hotel with the most amazing view. Imaging drinking a beer on top of that roof!

[@troodon1096]

Actually only for 20 (between 1990 and 2010). Then when the funds that paid his salary ran out, he apparently decided not to bother guarding the place for free.

[@ReddoFreddo]

@@troodon1096 So technically he's still the guard there?

[@worldtraveler930]

A 20 year scarecrow gig with all those Perks!?! Hell Yeah!! I'll do it!! 😃👍

[@TheMajkla]

Sounds like a plot of the Shining.

[@davidfernandez9791]

Id smoke a good cigar with the beer. Alone, just the sounds of nature.

[@jvandermolen90]

*music swells as the beauty of the Azores is revealed to the audience* 'I've seen worse views.' 'It's not bad, is it?'

[@JoaoSoares-rs6ec]

The best in the world

[@liamtahaney713]

Is he your old school-friend or your old-school friend?

[@John-hs2xx]

I love the Fawlty Towers tune!

[@seatedliberty]

You've got exactly the kind of dry, sardonic sense of humour that makes Americans like me think that Britons like you are far more clever and urbane than you actually are (unless you are in fact clever and urbane in which case I apologise unreservedly). Subscribed.

[@jyrkimaansiirrotoy1836]

Yea it doesn't take much to make the American think you are clever😂

[@seatedliberty]

@@jyrkimaansiirrotoy1836 And yet I still think that you are not.

[@jyrkimaansiirrotoy1836]

@@seatedliberty It's okay to be confused. Many of you are.

[@seatedliberty]

Not confused, but rather bemused- by the unjustifiable arrogance of a European who knows nothing of America yet feels qualified to judge it.

[@dyslexicbatnam1350]

@@seatedliberty Imagine using the word bemused

[@andreasmartiny8859]

The Fawlty Towers theme song was a nice touch

[@matthewmcree1992]

The Azores are still (somehow) one of the best kept secrets as a naturally stunning travel destination. I literally have a geography degree and even I didn't really know what the Azores actually looked like until around the time of my college graduation almost a decade ago. Even with the constant overcast and rain, the Azores have this wild imposing sort of beauty from the large mountains, the valleys between them, and the stunningly gorgeous calderas that exist in the islands' interiors. Then add the numerous endemic plant and animal species that exist in this one archipelago and it becomes clear just how unique the Azores really are. Other important point: being located in between Europe and North America means relatively short flights for a huge number of people. I want to visit them so badly.

[@Luboman411]

You're describing the Canary Islands--which I've visited--but not overrun by tourists and exceptionally rainy and green. The landscapes on the Canaries are some of the most stunning I have seen anywhere in the world, especially in Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. Exactly as you described. The Canary Islands, however, get far less precipitation, thus are far sunnier, and the climate is much hotter, which helps with attracting snowbirds from all over Europe during the long winters. The Azores have, unfortunately, the same gloomy climate as the British Isles. Hence why they're still off the beaten path and relatively untouched despite the gorgeous landscapes--most tourists try to get away from British Isles weather, not go toward it, especially in the winter. Tourists also have a sun-filled, dry, beach-ringed alternative to the Azores--the Canary Islands. They go there instead.

[@percheronphenom]

*Why doesn't this man has like millions of subscribers, the quality of stories he is doing is amazing

[@alankelly-hamm2702]

I was at the Monte Palace Hotel in 2018. We were out exploring and stumbled on it by accident. It is in its own right another tourist spot. There were perhaps a dozen cars there and maybe 30 people exploring while we were on the grounds. It was great to hear the story and see the pics. Its very hard to believe it once looked like the pictures. Now it is all barren mossy concrete and pools of puddling water. Great video. Thanks.

[@repletereplete8002]

8:05 that's not a gents i.e. urinal. It's where a sink and counter top were.

[@TheTimTraveller]

Yeah - we realised that afterwards!

[@repletereplete8002]

@@TheTimTraveller Could have been used as the world's most unsavoury footbath had it been. Great videos by the way. I came across your channel yesterday and have been going through quite a few already.

[@proudvirginian]

Spray paint sales on the island can only be for one thing I'd think.

[@jhfdhgvnbjm75]

I'd be surprised if there wasn't a tourist booth outside selling spraypaint, grapling hooks and crowbars XD

[@Fedaykin24]

It looks like an abandoned In-Gen facility from a Jurassic Park sequel!

[@RobertThz]

That's an acceptable view.

[@TalenGryphon]

"I've seen worse views." "It's not bad, is it?" Lol! #SoVeryBritish

[@trevorstewart3904]

"Swindon is a huge hole" Having lived in Oxfordshire, and worked for a research council whose unified HR department was based out of Swindon, this sounds about right.

[@headforthehillsuk]

As a Nottinghamshire based worker of a partner research council with the same unified HR department you're damn right about Swindon. At least the modern bit.

[@AM-kr4pv]

I've only ever been through it on coaches/trains and it struck me as... a place.

[@tiagoprado7001]

Though I'm aware that this video is nearly a year old, I feel the need to point out how this reminds me quite a lot of the Panorama Hotel in my home town of Niterói, built roughly one decade after, and with quite a similar story, albeit a much shorter one, given it never actually got finished, and is now just an empty (and probably safer*) shell in the woods next to the creatively named Parque da Cidade, or "City Park" for the Anglophones. *-BTW, when I say "safer", I mean the structure itself, since it's not full of debris, not the neighbourhood or the town as a whole.

[@TheTimTraveller]

Cheers for the comment, I just googled "panorama hotel niteroi" and it looks amazing! I'm adding that to my list of places to visit if I ever make it over to Brazil :) Is it easy to explore the hotel, or is it guarded / fenced off?

[@tiagoprado7001]

@@TheTimTraveller As far as I know it has been completely abandoned for over 30 years now, and judging by the number of people who go there, it's not fenced off, or at least not that well. But honestly, I have no idea. The closest I've ever gotten to it was going up to the aforementioned park nearby.

[@TheTimTraveller]

@@tiagoprado7001 ok, thank you :) If I ever get the chance to come over there, I will investigate further...

[@johnmcclellan9020]

Tim you have a great sense of humour.

[@JulieWallis1963]

My husband I happened upon this hotel n our way to the Caribbean. I immediately recognised the hotel and was mildly excited. Out tour guide was trying to point out the crater lake beyond the fog/cloud but I couldn’t see the lake, so I took photos of the abandoned hotel.

[@elizabethmelson1083]

The “view” was absolutely breathtaking! Thanks for showing it to us!

[@stepheneyles2198]

There's nothing more assuring when you're in a place you shouldn't be than seeing others who also shouldn't be there!! ;-)

[@ksthebest]

Still can't believe your subscriber and view count is so low... So many people are missing out on this great content!

[@TheTimTraveller]

It's one of the great mysteries of our time Koen! But thank you, and if you get the chance, please do share it with your friends / social media / reddit / dumpert / the neighbour's dog, and hopefully one day the world will wake up :)

[@98d31]

@@TheTimTraveller well, that escalated quickly ;)

[@TheTimTraveller]

@@98d31 Koen's got a lot of friends, it turns out :D

[@davidcharles533]

Piercing reportage from investigative journalists at the top of their game. Also pointing. Superb.

[@Steroumel]

Great one! I didn’t know Azores were that beautiful! Also the extra minutes were very welcome!

[@TheTimTraveller]

I didn't either until about a month ago! And then I stumbled across an article about the hotel online, saw a photo of the view, and basically booked flights immediately :D

[@Steroumel]

The Tim Traveller that’s the best way to travel, gg

[@zanelindsay1267]

Incredible that so much was built with high expectations but ultimately abandoned in a rather short time.

[@Cherb123456]

Very cool! Love this structure and the surroundings it is embedded into. Thank you for your effort!

[@tomhouseman9483]

This is my new favourite channel! Your doing a great job, keep it up!

[@topshagger7467]

Andrew is the greatest pointer I've seen in my life, pig props goes out to him!

[@vladmelnyk4388]

This channel is amazing, keep up the good work:)

[@crstothard]

Basil Fawlty would be proud that you'd used his music! Greetings from NYC!

[@shanidar]

Sad story and some beautiful photography. Thanks Tim Traveler

[@MaryOKC]

Amazingly beautiful.

[@andymaxwell2338]

Thanks Tim and Andrew for contextualising the place with your astute comparisons to the Hexagon in Reading and the entire town of Swindon. 😹

[@adrianaspalinky1986]

Took my breath away. Literally hugs 🤗

[@OrangeAgent5]

again - beside the infos and everything - perfect editing on music and pictures...well done!

[@ajinkyamehere5365]

This is my kind of traveling!! Loved it!

[@RobSchofield]

Exquisite! You have just put a big smile on my face... great video.

[@awiesozial]

Thanks for the memories, I've been there in 2014!

[@captainie1]

Another fascinating video thank you so much. Really really interesting, I'm really delighted that I have discovered your channel. Greeting from Ireland

[@benzlick]

What a beautiful view! Thank you 😎👍

[@alexbenavidez4500]

"*He's highly trained at pointing*" Sounds like my mum.

[@ZGryphon]

"We'll have this place done up and ready for tourists in 2021," they said. Welp!

[@johnny_eth]

Ah, in 97 I visited the island being 13 years old and we drove past the hotel a couple times. I had no idea what that was about. The Azores is a beautiful place to visit.

[@rjfaber1991]

I visited Sao Miguel in 2019. Never got to see the hotel, but I certainly saw no shortage of abandoned houses in the towns just east of Ponta Delgada, several of which I'd love to buy, do up and live in if I had the money (and somehow got a job over there).

[@mpy1202]

Great place to explore, lovely video. I agree about the hexagon roof, wasn't expecting that reference though.

[@beechface1]

Amazing video as usual Tim.

[@erikvonthein3039]

You deserve a lot more subscribers! Hope you keep up your great work

[@nwcitroen2222]

Another great vid, Tim. And I really like how you have been slipping the Wish You Were Here tune in to these too. Chapeau!

[@TheTimTraveller]

Haha, thank you, and well spotted! I've put a few little Easter eggs in my videos for British TV viewers to find :)

[@mastertrams]

@@TheTimTraveller I seem to be reading this comment on a rather appropriate day then.

[@k.jamescarters9557]

More of This sort of content. Great find and great views

[@ridbensdale]

Oh! Where the stairs are!! Brilliant!

[@northeastoutrider2124]

The architecture looks strikingly like they work of John Portman of Atalanta. He was quite famous for designing many hotels around the world. And most didn’t close after a year.... Edit: And after a quick google search, John Portman was indeed not the architect of record even though the Monte shares several iconic elements developed by Mr Portman. Which means, the person who did design the building stayed at one or several of John’s hotels and thought “this looks like a good idea” then plopped the design down in a place that no one wanted to go to for a stay.

[@TheTimTraveller]

Oh interesting - good spot! I just googled John Portman and looking at those atriums I see exactly what you mean. The Azores are one of the closest bits of Europe to the US, geographically, so perhaps that was a deliberate choice to try to appeal to the American tourist.

[@luisantos1996]

The main reason this hotel closed is because of constant foggy weather and ofc rain, reason never gain attraction to tourists. Idk if it's still good ideia someone buy this place and reopen it. Now Azores has much more affluence of tourists than it had 20 years ago.

[@TintagelEmrys]

"Oh, where the stairs are" is my new favorite line from all of youtube.

[@TomLuTon]

10:02 looks like a scene from a Star Wars movie.

[@ajinkyamehere5365]

It definitely does!

[@dontspikemydrink9382]

Why do you spell generic like Star Wars?

[@doublecupz]

I love the longer videos like this

[@daddylongjohn99]

I've just discovered your videos and I'm enjoying them immensely, including your commentary. I'm curious now. What wonderfully odd place are you going to visit next? J :-)

[@robdavies82]

I went there in April! Rumour has it the site has been bought and they want to convert it into a new hotel

[@veryboringname.]

Yup! I think it was bought by a Chinese real estate developer. They supposedly want to reopen it in 2021. It really doesn't look like any work has started yet though, and it's already 2019! I'm guessing Tim wants to see the inside before it gets refurbished and he can't afford it anymore. If anyone wants to visit the Monte Palace, you'd probably want to catch a flight (www.azoresairlines.pt) to Ponta Delgada, the main city on the island. Once you're there, the best way to get there is to hire a car and ideally get a friendly bloke called Andrew to drive you. :)

[@ivanj.conway9919]

@@veryboringname. : Well, it seems to be reasonably, structurally, sound so it could be a viable option. Given the tourist it seems to be getting as a wreck, why the heck, would it not be profitable as a proper, renovated, hotel?! Right? My Best. Out.

[@nanianmichaels]

@@veryboringname. "It really doesn't look like any work has started yet though, and it's already 2019!" Well, the amount of redtape needed to even get the permits necessary to start renovations will be baffling to just about anyone, and possibly need a year or more of thumb twiddling. If they manage to start construction next year, they'll be lucky. Of course, then there's the "slight" issue of managing to find enough workers to actually build the thing (no small feat even in the continent, every reputable contractor I've talked to in months keeps telling me finding people even remotely decent is extremely rare, and most of those who can actually do decent work either request absurd amounts of money, or just decide "meh, can't be bothered, I have enough for this months' expenses" and no-show after a while), so who really knows when that thing will be finished... Which is a damned shame, really.

[@mickeypopa]

The view from the roof is great don't get me wrong, but no way in hell I'm paying for 5-star accommodation in the WOODS when I can get that where I am for free and only an hour's drive out of town. All I'd need is a sleeping bag on the back of my motorcycle and a couple of day's worth of food and drinks. Sure it's not 5-star experience but if I wanted that, I'd want a white sand beach and a crystal clear ocean to go with it for that amount of money.

[@natalyaporter5730]

And then covid happened...

[@originaluddite]

I would find it more exciting if it was older or had 'lived' longer. As it is I find the story of wasted effort rather sad. I'm fond of this too-young-to-yet-be-heritage architecture and wish the hotel had either succeeded (possibly by getting made a bit later) or never been made at all.

[@ronaldl9085]

Excellent pointing!

[@meesterJos]

I like this one. Keep it up!

[@agingmillennialmainer]

Your chemistry is excellent. Very entertaining

[@julcaos]

I like your narration and editing style... goret job... subbed

[@dudamonas2450]

I also went to São Miguel in Easter, it was really beautiful!

[@squarewheelsorguk]

When I was a kid, my family went to the Sete Cidades during our camping holiday. It must have been 1990. We stood outside this open yet empty hotel that proudly advertised its nightclub. The only other tourist ambled over. He was American, and summed up the mystifying faut-pas of this white elephant: “I guess they made a booboo there!”

[@kijkuitvoordathoofd]

Cool and unique place you visited!

[@151CHAVIN]

Please do more of these videos 👌 its brilliant narrating 😂 and very well informed

[@rud]

I remember seeing it back in 2007. There we a few lights on inside, which makes sense if there was a guard there back then. I liked the Azores, but as you showed, the weather changes a lot through out the day. We had a storm one morning and had thought that it was a day wasted by half an hour later it cleared up and it was a great day. Still, it's a good idea to bring a raincoat when you are out walking.

[@markshaz8691]

Love this channel

[@lennartmiau6504]

11:29 Extremely confident and proud at the start, but VERY quickly growing meek and trailing off :D Gotta love it 'Twas a good attempt though: "Wie kommen wir [nach] da obe[n]?" One of your best videos yet btw! EDIT: Also, 888 subscribers! 112 to go! :)

[@TheTimTraveller]

"confident at the start but VERY quickly growing meek and trailing off"

[@gormster]

@@TheTimTraveller holy cow, I did not realise you were down in the triple digits (!) as recently as two years ago?! I thought when you made this video you must have already gone full time. Amazing.

[@rachidsalout9916]

i like your vids, keep up the good work

[@Z33force]

Congrats on 10k

[@oddsandwindsocks5905]

What a beautiful location , shame there's no tourists to fill it. Loved the drone footage.

[@austinjoseph8849]

You deserve more views!

[@BenTvHowman]

I love your videos, I never would have known of strange Belgian borders or suspended railways. I look forward to seeing your other videos :) You should come to Australia and find some weird and wonderful things the locals here don't know about

[@emanuelayuki82]

I LOVE YOU THIS VID MADE MY DAY YOU ARE HILARIOUS ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

[@haugstule]

if i was this security guard i would at the end of my pay claim ownership of the hotel and rented out rooms for airbnb. bet he could have been profitable enough to sustain living for some time longer...

[@IronShocker77]

But the guard's payment ended around 1990, before internet was as widespread as today

[@haugstule]

@@IronShocker77 10:20 2010. pretty sure the internet existed then. if not airbnb then craigslist or something...

[@peterscotney1]

Wow !...I need to visit here !

[@craigdavidson2278]

Nice video. ...thank you

[@blafaard]

Your content and editing is of high quality, keep it coming :)

[@TheTimTraveller]

Thank you! I'll try to keep it that way...

[@BowWowVideo]

Well worth my time.

[@brookeg5979]

I've watched this video a few times and "ooooh, where the STAIRS are" never fails to make me laugh. Really one of my favorite things.

[@Mountain4]

I loved Saõ Miguel. The volcano lakes are beautiful.

[@umasrisankarlal]

Andrew is a real, proper, professional, good-looking pointer

[@nitt3rz]

I like that you put on the Fawlty Towers theme

[@crillesryggsack2860]

Amazing

[@argirizorbas5559]

Cool video. Been there my self and up the roof

[@LadyAnuB]

Tim, I just found out my mom saw this hotel on her cruise that stopped at this island. She also talked with someone that has visited it on this same cruise. I don't expect her to visit this as she's had enough problems with buses in Europe. (Losing her knees getting on board one.)

[@EspadinhaTube]

Glad your longest video was taken in my country here: Portugal (Azores) :)

[@kxlot79]

Imagine if it were made into public housing when it first went bankrupt instead of being left to rot.

[@VineFynn]

Public housing on top of a mountain lmao.. something tells me it wouldve been cheaper to build new houses than to maintain it

[@calciumvaughan3519]

Just stumbled across your channel and am really enjoying your content. I'm a bit picky with travel channels but you've got a good thing going. Keep the great content coming - sub'd and like'd :)

[@shrikant1989ful]

I like your videos! Love from Mumbai