Desperately needing to get Alexander out for a walk and to tire Edward who had a bit too much energy, Julian took the 2 boys for an adventure. Across the road from where we are staying, we noticed what looked like an abandoned hotel, so re-branding it THE GHOST HOTEL suddenly made it very exciting.
Walking around we found the front door. It had a beautiful big reception area, with smashed up sliding doors, completely abondoned and destroyed. Then walking through some corridoors, we found an abandoned toilet, a room with a cage and some graffitti leading outside. It felt very spooky and haunting thinking this was a bustling hotel in the past.
Walking through the garden, nature had taken over each of the bungalows, but with all the doors missing and most windows smashed, we could see all the bed frames still intact and what looked like lovely bathrooms.
Then the outdoor area lead to a pool with a beautiful view over the lagoon. It was full of murky muddy water and what would have been the outdoor bar area also smashed up. We rushed back home to tell the rest of the family about it and bring them along too.
We eventually found out that was the old Hotel Serena, and that in 2005, the whole area of Puerto Aventuras got completely destroyed by Hurricane Emily shortly followed by Hurricane Wilma. Most of the buildings were damaged but this one clearly hadn’t been protected well enough, they hadn’t paid their insurance that year and it was cheaper to let it go than to fix all the damages. Although I do desperately hate the endless winters in Sweden, I have to say living in a country where the weather is dependable and isn’t going to destroy your home is a real privilege which we hadn’t truly appreciated. This trip is also reminding us constantly how unbelievably fortunate we are to have time together as a family.
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