December the 24th, 2025 – Did you know that Croatia is home to one of the world’s biggest abandoned hotels? Now standing empty and in a state of disrepair, it was once the meeting point of the elite, despite only being in function for six years.
As Putni kofer writes, the pearl of the Mediterranean, the city with a capital “G”, Croatia’s tourism Mecca, a symbol of freedom and one of the most recognisable postcards of Croatia… All this is of course – Dubrovnik, the southernmost and, according to many, the most beautiful Croatian city. The history of this remarkable ancient city is long and turbulent, and today it is visited by thousands of tourists daily. Everyone knows about the famous walls and the fact that it served as a set for the globally popular series “Game of Thrones”. Not many know the entire history of the legendary Belvedere Hotel, which closed its doors after only six years of operation. Croatia is home to this complex, one of the world’s biggest abandoned hotels, and it was once one of the most luxurious hotels on the entire Adriatic coastline. This former paradise for the elite is now falling to bits, overgrown with ivy and weeds, and left to the cruel hands of time and the elements on a dramatic cliff side.
turning the clock back to 1985
This formerly luxury hotel opened at the end of May 1985, and after it was ceremonially presented to the general public, it soon became a symbol of impressive architecture. It fascinated the people of Dubrovnik and their guests every day, particularly with its position, as if hanging off the face of harsh, rugged Dalmatian rock. The Belvedere was worth 2.1 billion dinars at the time, it employed 230 people, had 16 floors, 229 rooms and numerous suites with a total of 393 beds. It had fancy restaurants, elegant cafes, glass-enclosed indoor pools and the popular Trubadur nightclub.
However, the hotel’s history has not been without its challenges. Due to its strategic position on the eastern approach to Dubrovnik, during the Homeland War this fabulous building became the city’s first line of defence. It was the target of many attacks and was shelled on several occasions. Although it was damaged by powerful blows and closed its doors only six years after its grand opening, it remains an indelible symbol of a time, a witness to luxury and resistance throughout Dubrovnik’s often exceptionally traumatic history.
Croatia being home to one of the world’s biggest abandoned hotels hasn’t gone without attention, all the more because it can be found in glamorous Dubrovnik, and not in some forgotten Slavonian village. It has been written about on several occasions by both domestic and international media outlets, and last summer it also attracted great interest on social media thanks to British influencer Justin Murphy paying it a visit. The young Brit, who has almost 100,000 TikTok followers, posted a video about the hotel that garnered more than 40,000 likes in just a few hours. He described the Belvedere as “one of the largest abandoned hotels in the world” and was impressed by the building, while many wrote in the comments that he should visit the Haludovo complex on the island of Krk, once known as the “Croatian Las Vegas” and the “Palace of Sin”.
a hotel ahead of its time in a political system that lagged far behind it
As stated, Dubrovnik’s imposing Belvedere Hotel was one of the most luxurious hotels on the entire Adriatic coast back in the 1980s. Just how far ahead of its time it was best demonstrated by the fact that all kinds of celebrities stayed there. During the former Yugoslavia, the political, entertainment and sporting elite all gathered there.
Its terrace offers an impressive view of Dubrovnik’s old town, the nearby island of Lokrum and Cavtat to the south. Today this dilapidated building is overgrown with greenery, the hotel’s rooms and corridors are filled with various kinds of waste, even construction waste, bits of fallen trees, and graffiti can be seen scrawled all over the walls.
A week’s stay in this hotel for three people back during the late 1980s cost a staggering 1,500 euros. The purchase of the hotel by Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg raised hopes that the Belvedere would shine in its full glory again, but this has not happened to this day. In the once favourite gathering place of the elite, where expensive champagne once flowed in rivers and streams, cats now rule the roost, leading the people of Dubrovnik to often refer to it as Mačkograd, or “Cat City”.
