Photographer Dmitry Rzhannikov has shared images from inside the abandoned £3.66 billion Holiday Area Eco Dream Club Sea Resort in the Antalya-Kemer region of Turkey
One photographer shared these eerie photos of an abandoned house. “eco-hotel” which cost £3.66 billion dubbed “Disneyland for the crazy”.
Dmitry Rzhannikov (56) a St Petersburg-based journalist discovered this unusual hotel while visiting Turkey.
In the early 2000s, the venue – located in the Antalya-Kemer region and known as Holiday Area Eco Dream Club Sea Resort – was booming with guests, and was once known as one of the most popular tourist complexes in the country.
However, the hotel unexpectedly closed its doors in June 2014 and since then the building had become dilapidated – yet its haunting beauty and unique history still attracts thousands of visitors every year.
Dmitry says the hotel has a rich history and a romantic story.
“A German billionaire fell in love with a Turkish beauty and built the hotel for her as a gift,” he said.
“Construction cost over $5 billion (£3.66 billion) but then the beauty either died or fell out of love with him and the hotel went to a Turkish businessman.
“He scored loans for the development, didn’t pay them off and fled abroad or perhaps died.
“The quarrelling heirs couldn’t share the property and during this time, the economy fell into despair.”
According to the photographer the hotel filed bankruptcy, and the complex was left to rot.
Dmitry visited the haunting location with its bizarre exterior and decorations, which include giant frogs as well as a worn-out replica of Noah’s Ark.
One image shows a treehouse that is worn and decaying. The overgrown trees hide its appearance.
In another shot, three rusted life-sized monkey sculptures sit staring into the abyss – signed ‘speak no evil, see no evil and hear no evil’.
Other notable features include giant bugs scattered throughout the complex and a piece literature on a marble plaque that has been lost.
“I noticed some strange figures flashing between the trees in the window, but these were the sculptures of animals on the premises,”Dmitry also added.
“I was excited, as it looked really fantastic – like a scene from a movie.
“Seeing the beauty in all this ugliness and devastation is not immediately obtained.
“You can visit the abandoned hotel rooms and gaze into the romantic treehouses.
“You can go up the stairs to the amphitheatre, among the chairs in which admiring spectators one sat and float between the imaginary tables of the former cafes and restaurants.”
Due to its location up the slope of a mountain, which is overgrown with pine trees, the hotel is known as an ‘eco’ venue – also due to its impressive inclusion of nature throughout.
There are so many attractions at the complex that it is nearly impossible to see them all in one visit. Explorers therefore often take multiple trips to the site.
Some of these fun experiences included toy trains and cable cars as well as a mini-zoo, farm, and toy train.
Dmitry said: “The children’s sector of the complex is especially striking, as guests were either greeted by a lion peeking out from behind a column, or giant gorillas lurking in ambush.
“Instead of a fence, a giant caterpillar winds and ‘fruits’ grow on artificial trees – in which, some are indistinguishable from others.
“Its psychedelic architecture is amazing to the imagination.
“Eco Dream is a Disneyland for the crazy.”
