Abandoned Hotel

5 photos · 2012–2024

5 photographs tagged Abandoned Hotel, 2012–2024.

Flamingo Motel in Wisconsin Dells with pink neon sign, vintage structures, and Noah's Ark Waterpark billboard visible behind the property. — The Flamingo Motel sits along the strip in Wisconsin Dells, a stretch of Highway 12 lined with vintage motor lodges built to catch travelers heading to the area's waterparks and attractions. Its pink flamingo sign is a holdover from the mid-20th-century roadside motel era that once defined the Dells as a Midwest vacation destination. Noah's Ark Waterpark, advertised on the billboard behind the property, bills itself as America's largest waterpark and draws much of the tourist traffic that motels like the Flamingo were built to serve.

Abandoned Flamingo Motel in Wisconsin Dells with pink-roofed guest wings and empty parking lot overgrown with weeds. — The Flamingo Motel sits along the Wisconsin Dells strip, a stretch of Highway 12 once lined with mid-century motor courts built to serve the tourist boom that followed the rise of the Dells as a vacation destination in the 1950s and '60s. Its low-slung guest room wings, pink-and-gray trim, and rooftop flamingo sculpture reflect the theme-driven roadside architecture that defined the area's early motel row. Many of these independent motels closed or were demolished as larger waterpark resorts came to dominate Dells tourism starting in the 1980s and '90s. The cracked, empty parking lot points to the property's closure, one of several vintage motor lodges left standing but vacant along the corridor.

The Flamingo Hotel, a mid-century motel in Wisconsin Dells, features pink-trimmed windows and doors on its light blue brick facade. — The Flamingo Hotel sits along the strip of mid-century motels that once defined tourist lodging in Wisconsin Dells, a resort town built around the Wisconsin River's sandstone gorges. Properties like this one catered to family roadrip travelers through the mid-to-late 20th century, when the Dells marketed itself heavily on roadside attractions and themed motor inns. Many of these older motels have since closed as newer waterpark resorts drew visitors elsewhere in town and bought up and demolished the motels.

Abandoned swimming pool with stagnant water at the Flamingo Hotel in Wisconsin Dells, surrounded by vacant two-story motel buildings. — The Flamingo Hotel sits along the Wisconsin Dells strip, a stretch of Highway 12 built up through the mid-20th century with roadside motels catering to tourists visiting the area's rock formations and water attractions. The property has since closed.

Clermont Hotel Motor Hotel vintage sign at sunset in Atlanta, Georgia. — The Clermont Motor Hotel sign stands above Ponce de Leon Avenue in the Poncey-Highland neighborhood of Atlanta, next to the Clermont Lounge. The Clermont Hotel opened in 1937 and later became known for the basement bar, which has operated since 1965.

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