The haunted hotel

If you drive north on the coast road along the Mediterranean Sea from the Spanish town of Port Bou you drive up over a ridge (the very end of the Pyrenees Mountains) and cross the boarder into France. You look down on the southernmost French town, Cerbère, and can see that it is dominated by a railway switching yard. But what is that distinctive structure to the right, jutting up from where the railway tracks curve northwards out of view?

The closer you get, the stranger it looks. In this view it almost looks like the building is right on the railway tracks. (Incidentally, if you're wondering why there is such a large railway yard in Cerbère it's because the Spanish railway system uses a different track guage from the rest of Europe, so goods have to be transferred from Spanish freight cars to European ones here and in Port Bou. Train fans will find this web page interesting: http://www.bueker.net/trainspotting/stations_cerbere.php )

Now you can see that it's an old derelict hotel, built right beside the railway tracks. Some think it looks like a ship setting out to sea. Some think it looks scary! (Try to ignore the electrical masts and wires - they weren't there when the hotel was built back around 1930.)

The hotel looks weird to start with, and photographing it with a very wide-angle lens (11 mm on an Olympus E-System camera, equivalent to 22 mm on a 35 mm camera) makes it look even weirder. And maybe scarier?

You can still read the name in the faded paint: Hotel Belvédère du Rayon-Vert. This hotel has definitely seen better days.

Believe it or not, when this hotel was built it was a luxury hotel! Rich tourists would stay here to make a break on the long railway journey from northern parts of Europe to and from sunny Spain.

But wait, what's this? Are those plants up there on the balcony? Could it be that someone (other than ghosts) actually lives here? Is the hotel still open for business?

Oh, my, the door is open! Is it safe to enter a haunted hotel? Do we really want to find out?

Wow! Inside the hotel still retains a bit of it's lost elegance. The floor of the entré is marble and you can see the bottom of the long marble stairway up to the first floor. Let's give it a try...

This building has very, very high ceilings, so it's a long way up to the first floor. And there's no elevator.

Like I said, it's a long, long, long way up to the first floor. Do we really dare go up there?

Finally (pant, pant), we made it up to the first floor. And here's the reception area. Do we want to check in to the haunted hotel, or should we take a look around first?

Behind the reception counter is this high-tech communications center. I'm guessing that there used to be a telephone in every room, and that that was a real luxury in the old days.

Another high-tech gadget from days of old. For those viewers who are unsure as to what this is (but are probably on your third or fourth iPod), this device was known as a "record player". You placed a bakelite (a plastic-like material) disc on it and it rotated the disc at 78 rpm. The arm on the right has a needle that was placed in a spiral groove on the disc. There were tiny modulations in the cutting of the groove that caused the needle to vibrate, producing a tiny electrical signal that, when amplified, sounded sort of like music.

Beyond the reception area is the huge dining room / ballroom. As well as being used for dining and dancing this room was used for parties, celebrations, weddings, etc.

Another view of the dining room / ballroom. One of the best things about this room is unfortunately not apparent in these pictures: The large windows have a magnificent view out over the Mediterranean Sea, and there is a large balcony where you could sit and enjoy your after-dinner coffee.

This is a collage of the four wall paintings in the dinning room / ballroom. These paintings were apparently done by an artist who was a good friend of the architect who designed the hotel. Taste is very individual and I know nothing about art, but my wife thinks they're pretty awful. Not to mention the fact that they are in very poor condition.

This is the bar where you could enjoy an apéritif before your meal or have a beer between dances.

The wall paintings in the bar are in better physical condition than the ones in the dining room / ballroom. The artistic condition is about the same...

The most amazing thing about the Hotel Belvédère du Rayon-Vert was that it included a huge cinema, which could also be used as a theater. This was a completely new and exotic attraction for a hotel in the 1930's.

As can be seen there's even a balcony. The lady who takes care of the hotel and who gives guided tours wouldn't let us up there "for reasons of safety".

Time to move on to the second floor. This is the hallway alongside the long stairway, leading to the stairway upwards. This part of the hotel is in very good condition, and a huge contrast to the exterior. One curiosity: Take a close look at the painting hung high on the wall. It depicts the hotel with railway tracks on both sides! One wonders what inspired the artist to do this, as there have never been railway tracks on the east side of the hotel.

Here's the long, long, long stairway up to the second floor. (The ceilings are really very, very high in this building.)

This building is full of surprises! Here's the view from the top of the stairs to the second floor: A large internal courtyard with a ceiling made partially of glass tiles that let the sunlight shine in. The hotel rooms are around this courtyard. The ones on the left (east) are the good ones because they have a beautiful view out over the Mediterranean. (The ones to the right just have a view over the railway tracks.)

Another view of the internal courtyard on the top floor, emphasizing the ceiling. When the hotel was new there was a tennis court on the roof! Unfortunately, tourists are not allowed up on the roof now, "for reasons of safety".

So, what about the hotel rooms? Well, there's good news and there's bad news. The good news is that it is still possible to live at the Hotel Belvédère du Rayon-Vert. The price isn't too high either, for example in the off season it costs €350 for one week. And for the rooms on the east side there's the beautiful view from the balcony. The bad news is that the hotel is not really a hotel anymore. At some point all of the rooms were refurbished as vacation apartments with small kitchens. (This may be considered an advantage for those who prefer to do their own cooking.) The apartments are only rented by the week, i.e., you can't just stay for one or two nights. Each apartment is a different size so it's not possible to say anything generally applicable for them all. The biggest apartments have two bedrooms and the others have one bedroom. Some of the bedrooms have bunk beds for children. Everything is fairly old and sometimes the water heater or the refrigerator doesn't work, so you have to talk to the lady who takes care of the building. She only speaks French, by the way. My wife and I have stayed there 4-5 times over the last 10 years. We like it, but it is a rather special place and isn't for everyone.

Here's another view of the kitchen / living area of the largest apartment, so you can get an idea of the standard. Note that it was taken with a very wide angle lens so it makes the room look larger than it really is. Note also that because these apartments are rented out as furnished vacation apartments you have to have your own bed linen with you. (There are pillows and blankets, but not sheets or pillow cases.) You are also required to clean the apartment before you leave, or else pay a bit extra to get the lady who runs the place to clean it for you. I hope you found this little photo-story interesting. If you ever do get around to visiting "the haunted hotel", or staying there, say hello to Mme. Roubaise from M. Petersen of Denmark.