Dead Motels USA

AVAILABLE NOW: Dead Motel inspired soft-enamel pins, custom designed by me! They are for sale in my newly opened Etsy shop. You can purchase each one individually or all 3 for a discounted rate.

Spot the differences between these before and after shots.

Besides 70 years between them, there really aren’t too many changes.

Pictured are photos of Capon Springs Resort in High View, West Virginia, then and now. A very alive hotel, one of the best ones I’ve visited.

Stepping on this property is like stepping back in time. The hotel buildings, many built in the 1930s, are obviously well cared for. The grounds are immaculate. Everything feels intentional and timeless.

There are no screens here. Barely any phone service. Everyone eats their meals together in the dining room. You can spend your day laying in the sun, in a mineral bath, by the pool. You can read a book with no interruptions.

They don’t advertise. They really don’t have to. Most guests are long time visitors or a friend of a friend of a friend of someone who started coming here in 1942.

Family owned since opening in the 1930s. Pre-1930s, this land was the site of a grand hotel, which had been abandoned after a fire. What remained were ruins and a mineral spring which still flows today.

Same view, 50 years later.

The last we heard the abandoned Great Gorge Playboy Resort had been sold. Development plans include a brand new resort, spa and 150 residential condos.

There are only 20 years between these before + after photos.

Description and photos pulled straight from the 1980s brochure: The NESTLEWOOD CHALET was designed especially for the two of you! Your own private chalet. Extraordinary in every detail, the NESTLEWOOD CHALET is as contemporary as you are. The decor is a stunning blend of rich soft ones, exotic plants and the world’s warmest colors. And, IN YOUR ROOM - exclusively for you - your VERY OWN private SWIMMING POOL! So, go ahead - swim, splash or simply revel in your sparkling pool-for-two. Then, drift onto your enchanting outdoor garden terrace where you’ll be able to sun and lounge in COMPLETE privacy because, it’s yours alone!

THE NESTLEWOOD CHALET features:

The Lakeside Hotel of Laconia New Hampshire dates back to 1880. It operated as a lodging site, both short and long term, for over 100 years. In 2021, it was transformed into the Winnipesaukee Marketplace and now hosts a music venue, a restaurant called Off the Rails and a few long-term apartments. Though no longer a motel, I’m happy to see this one is still alive and kicking.

And it’s still there, just abandoned and hidden behind the trees. You would never know it by driving by but walk just beyond the overgrowth and you’ll see what used to be the most magical place on earth.

Pictured are then/now comparisons that I had almost deleted due to not being able to get a clear “after” shot… but decided to make a post out of them instead.

1970s postcards vs. the liquidation sale + demolition

Same views, different decades, different circumstances

Dead motels of West Virginia, pictured in Clarksburg, Sulphur Springs, Berkeley Springs, Hinton, Capon Bridge and Welch, pictured before and after.