Urban Exploration - The Orange Hotel, a luminous wonderland

We received photos from a traveler and compiled them into a historical summary.

This is a visit to an abandoned hotel in the Puy-de-Dôme department. This former establishment is located in the "Diagonal of the Void," or rather... in the ultra-intersidereal-void of "nothing-at-all," to be slightly dramatic. Yet, the area has many tourist assets: nature, a bucolic river, and absolute calm. However, the region is sinking into undeniable distress. As for the few remaining active establishments, rooms are practically given away, and even then, the lack of visitors is massive.

I’ve called this place the Orange Hotel because of its oversaturated colors. This was shot at daybreak in the middle of summer. In my view, this magic only lasts about ten minutes early in the morning. Outside of this fleeting moment, the place would hold no interest whatsoever. I can just imagine this building on a grey day; you might as well stay home and watch a bad Netflix series. But these rays of light bring an incredible enchantment to a place that is, frankly, unstable. It is in a state—and what a state it is!

A Ruin in Total Implosion
Information is hard to come by for this establishment, which has been closed for a very long time. The hotel opened on January 1, 1978, and closed on January 31, 2006. The proprietor was Marie Berthon. I searched for her records, but I found dozens upon dozens of namesakes in the same area. It is therefore impossible to determine if the closure was due to a death or a bankruptcy.

In 2016, following a court-ordered liquidation, the property was put up for public auction with a starting price of 50,000 euros. It found no buyers. This speaks volumes about how much this region is collapsing. Since then, the roof has caved in, the floors followed in a crash of tangled junk, and the building is in a state of total implosion: it is a ruin.

A Fleeting Magic
Located right by the road, it’s impossible to miss. It’s glaringly obvious. And yet, I haven't seen this place featured anywhere else. Is it out of disinterest, because one has to be an early riser to benefit from this dawn magic? Is it ultimately due to the hotel's radical isolation? Have you known about it for a long time? These questions will likely remain unanswered. In any case, I am happy to present to you this fleeting orange magic.