The British Queen, the Pope, and James Bond have all stayed here. An abandoned hotel in the Alps is a social media hit.
It's hard to believe that the Hotel Belvédère was once one of the most elegant establishments in this part of Europe, hosting travelers, royalty, movie stars, and even the Pope. In fact, James Bond himself stayed here. Today, it's deserted, lost to progress, climate change, and its own, forgotten splendor.
The abandoned Belvédère Hotel - the birth of a legend in the shadow of a glacierThe history of this extraordinary place began in the second half of the 19th century , when the Furka Pass road, connecting two mountain valleys, was opened. In 1882, Josef Seiler, son of Albrecht Seiler, a pioneer of the Alpine hotel industry, built a small, modest inn here for travelers and their horses. Due to the growing interest in the region, it was expanded in 1890, with the addition of a gable roof and two stories. This gave the building its current form, although it still lacked electricity and running water.
The view was so spectacular that renovations began quickly. By 1903, the Belvédère was a luxurious Belle Époque hotel with spacious rooms and a terrace from which one could almost touch the Rhône glacier – which at that time flowed majestically right up to the windows.
The abandoned Belvédère Hotel in the Alps - one of the region's biggest tourist attractions. Photo: Andriy Baidak / ShutterstockIt's worth pausing here for a moment to mention the location itself, which made Belvédère unique. The hotel was built at a spectacular point in the Alps, over 2,400 meters above sea level – the Furka Pass. Even in the 19th century, it attracted not only courageous travelers seeking mountain adventures, but also artists seeking inspiration, scientists studying Alpine nature , and aristocrats seeking a thrill.
In the days before comfortable roads and cars, simply crossing the pass was a feat, and a visit to the hotel —whose name literally means "beautiful view"—was a reward for the effort expended in conquering this extraordinary destination. It was this combination of rugged mountain scenery and difficult accessibility that made this destination so desirable.
The road to the abandoned Hotel Belvedere in the Alps. Photo: uslatar / ShutterstockOver the following decades , the hotel experienced its "five minutes of fame." Its heyday was closely linked to the development of the automobile and the emergence of new means of transportation – a postal bus service operated here from 1921, and in the 1930s , the Furka Oberalp railway and the iconic Glacier Express opened, particularly popular with wealthy tourists wishing to explore the Alps. Thanks to this infrastructure, the hotel was a popular starting point for hiking and mountaineering trips.
After World War II, when car tourism boomed and the mountains attracted crowds of drivers traversing the winding, scenic routes, Belvédère became a must-see stop on the way to admire the glacier. Notable figures, including Pope John XXIII and Sean Connery, and previously Queen Victoria, appeared here.
In 1964, the hotel gained worldwide fame thanks to a scene in the film "Goldfinger," in which Agent 007 cruised the serpentine FurkaPass in his Aston Martin DB5 and stopped at the iconic building. It was then that Belvédère became known worldwide.
As the glacier disappears, the legend fadesThe idyll was short-lived, as inevitable changes arrived. The glacier, the area's biggest attraction, began to retreat at an alarming rate —it had receded 1.3 kilometers in 120 years. The view from the hotel windows lost its former charm, and the costs of maintaining the building in the harsh, high-altitude conditions were mounting.
Although erosion had destroyed one of the area's most remarkable natural assets, the decisive blow to the once-thriving hotel came with the construction of the Furka Base Tunnel in 1982. This meant that traffic no longer had to pass through the pass, even during the few short months it was open. Travel across the Alps became faster and more convenient, and tourists began to treat visits to the area as a short stopover, forgoing longer stays.
The abandoned Belvédère Hotel in the Alps - the region's most interesting attraction. Photo: Alberto Garcia Guillen / ShutterstockThe Belvédère closed and reopened several times. The first time was in 1980, when the Valais canton took over the property with plans to build a reservoir—an idea that was later abandoned. In 1988, the Carlen family, owners of the nearby "Eisgrotte" ice grotto, purchased the property , and after a thorough renovation, the hotel reopened in 1990.
Philipp and Rosmarie Carlen ran it for a dozen years, but the costs again became unbearable. Belvédère was closed for six months of the year due to unfavorable weather conditions, and repairing the damage caused by the winter took a tremendous amount of time and money.
Rosmarie Carlen , who managed the building with her husband, told the Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung:
"People have a completely wrong idea of what it's like to run a hotel here. It's like a circus—demolish, rebuild, demolish, rebuild."
The abandoned Belvedere hotel in the Alps - the most interesting attraction of the region. Photo: Andriy Baidak / ShutterstockThe Belvédère Hotel was secured from vandalism and permanently closed in 2015. It has remained empty ever since. Its silhouette against the serpentine roads and Alpine peaks is somewhat eerie, but it is also a symbol of the place and a bygone era.
Despite calls for renovation and ideas to transform it into a museum or educational center, the building is falling into increasing disrepair, and its future remains uncertain. Today, it is mainly visited by tourists, photographers, influencers, and lovers of abandoned places seeking unique shots and atmosphere.
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