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The Hotel of Kings, Prodromos, Cyprus. What happened?

We’ve heard about it and seen photos but on Friday 3 May 2013 we finally made our way to the derelict Berengaria Hotel to take a look for ourselves.

What a sorry picture it all painted…. Here’s how it used to look:

Berengaria Hotel from the outside

An original postcard

We crossed through Troodos Square and took the road which winds down and behind the road which leads to the Cyprus Ski Club and the “golf balls” on top of Mount Olympus. So in effect, we were heading down the winding road towards Prodromos village.

Prodromos Village

Our vision of the Berengaria Hotel or Veregarria/Βερεγγαρια as we’ve also seen it written shows it perched high and imposing on the mountainside so we were confused for a while as we could see absolutely no sign of it – until, we hit the mini-roundabout by a small restaurant and there it was slightly elevated in front of us. Nowhere near as dramatic as we expected but still unmistakeably the Berengaria Hotel we recognised from photographs.

This is the reality:

Graffiti at the Berengaria Hotel

Inside the Berengaria Hotel

Upstairs at the Berengaria Hotel

Front of the Berengaria Hotel

Grand staircase at the Berengaria Hotel

Poolside at the Berengaria Hotel

Window to the world at the Berengaria Hotel

So, just what is the story behind the hotel and its’ past? I wish we knew! There are all kinds of tales that have come out of the woodwork from it belonging to a wealthy man whose son hung himself in front of guests at the hotel to the wealthy owner dying and leaving it to continue to be run by his 3 sons. Of course we all knew how that would turn out…. the 3 sons all disagreed and cursed by their father, all had a mysterious death. Either way, there are claims the building is haunted by either the dead son or the old man in grief of his beloved home being destroyed.

It was apparently so grand it was referred to as “The Hotel of Kings”. If only they knew…..

More photos of the Berengaria Hotel can be found on my Flickr account: