World's Scariest Hotel, Abandoned Village & UFO Houses | Lost Places | Free Documentary

the hotel is located in the mountains in malaysia one hour from the capital kuala lumpur our reporter paul bobrovsky was actually able to book a room in advance [Music] the pictures on the online booking page actually look pretty good but the mostly negative reviews like never stay at this hotel or creepy give the impression that all may not be well it should be here somewhere but it really doesn't look inviting our reporter has doubts whether he can really stay here overnight fortunately the hotel is signposted there is no mobile phone reception in the mountains and visibility is bad that seems to be it the amber court hotel is actually only 25 years old but the 23 floors on both towers look completely run down and quite deserted from the outside can we really check in here we try to get into tower b via the parking lot it looks more like the apocalypse than a relaxed holiday hotel and who just leaves their car behind in a hotel car park the car next to us has probably been parked here for years it's even covered with moss well i'm not sure if this is such a good idea to park here wouldn't want our car to look like this [Music] what has happened here on our way through the car park we don't meet a soul but we do meet more discarded and looted vehicles we try to find a way into the building but even the stairs have seen far better days oh god on the next floor we find our first hot trail next to dozens of rusting motorbikes [Music] but they really do seem to be people still here but who hangs up the laundry in the underground carpet quite bizarre but a glimmer of hope nevertheless most doors and floors are locked or lead to a dead end and then finally the lift according to the booking page the lobby is on the fourth floor but it looks like paul got his hopes up too soon really strange the display changes constantly but the keys are dead somehow the lift doesn't seem to stop here an emergency exit paul finally gets to the fourth floor well it looks like there's a lot of action here is that the hotel lobby the lobby check-in there we seem to be in the right place there's even more business than expected but instead of a hotel lobby we find a small shopping street from a clothing store to a hairdresser a kiosk and a laundry are these all hotel guests who are shopping here paul gets to talk to shopkeeper sham sheet hard to believe but he's been running his little shop here for years most of those who come here a local construction workers the prices in the center are too expensive for them they can buy cheaper from me there are ghosts here my buddy told me once that he was alone in his room and suddenly he heard children's voices but there are neither children nor families here that's why i never leave my room when it gets down a possible explanation for why the building is half deserted but now we really do want to find the hotel reception there is no one there but in the corridor we meet a hotel employee who opens a separate room for us to check in she assures us that the hotel is popular with weekend tourists for example there are many chinese and japanese people who stay but mainly malays only now because of the pandemic almost no one is here but in december or on holidays we are actually always fully booked the hotel acquired a kind of fame three years ago and since then it also seems to attract horror fans this is because in 2017 it was the backdrop for the asian horror movie haunted hotel well they probably didn't need to change very much for that so far we haven't met any other guests in the corridors paul cautiously looks into his room on the 22nd floor oh yeah well i'm positively surprised sure a bit old-fashioned but much better than expected we really didn't expect that two spacious rooms with a bath and a shower and even a small fitted kitchen and a big clean bed crossed penide about 30 euros the highlight two large balconies with a view one second to the next a massive cloud suddenly covered everything and you can't see a thing above all it's really spooky here even during the day i can't wait to see what it's going to be like at night night follows our first day of exploration we give up the search for other guests for today let's see what a night at the nightmare hotel has in store for us well i've had a rather mixed and above all cold night because unfortunately there's no heating here the atmosphere in the room is almost a horror movie cliche the doors have been rattling all night long but that's probably more because of the coal mounting wind whistling through my room the whole time after an adventurous night we continue our search for other hotel guests from amber court and want to find out what brings them to this unusual place in front of the main entrance we discover a group of young men one of them is malik the 35 year old tells us that he has been living in the same tower as poor for a year and a half and invites us to his room on the way there he explains that there are many permanent guests like him living in amber court despite the fact that there is a creepy room on the cursed 13th floor this is the room we had that have inside something you see the sign of chinese people they put sign they've done magic or rome the ghost will can't go outside actually this is not allowed but we have to make quick quick and go back no one knows what exactly happened in that room since the last resident reported paranormal activities five years ago the room has been locked malik lives five floors up and his room is really [Music] busy but this place does not look like a hotel room at all [Music] in this room we're leaving six people i never sleep alone in hotel room because we heard about the ghost like this we are failed malik works for a taxi company in the ginten highlands and has rented a permanent place in this shared hotel apartment together the six pay the equivalent of 300 euros per month the amber court offers not only hotel rooms but also apartments for people who work here in the area but malik's taxi colleagues don't like that idea if after midnight some uh he get passenger for amber court they don't have to come here could be because of the apparently bloodstained facade malik leads us to the balcony and shows us that the hotel operators are already restoring and repainting block a across the street [Music] malik explains that the frightening red spots are only the result of the humid climate up here the whole complex is infested with red algae just like many of the abandoned cars in the copper they're here because some of the owners have disappeared they could no longer pay their car tax or were illegal immigrants and got caught then he tells us most holidaymakers come to the ginting highlands to gamble in the only casinos in the country the amber cord around the corner was also supposed to benefit from this at least that was the plan but the huge first world hotel is right next to the casinos so others can hardly compete with it that's why there aren't enough guests at amber court either only the income from permanent guests like malik saves the building from complete decay but even if amber court was soon to get a makeover malik and his friends just don't trust the place and even adjust their leisure plans accordingly during the day we've no problem going outside actually we only go out to work otherwise we play cards up here green card here so you don't don't go out when it's dark yeah yeah okay it's safer here so the malaysian creepy house is indeed an international hotel where people even live and shop it's a matter of taste but quite definitely out of the ordinary for fifty years this remote village in the italian region of abruzzo was abandoned a run-down ghost village now it's a very special hotel and not just one individual building but half the entire village the conversion of this former lost place into a village hotel cost around 10 million euros and there are no new buildings at all the old was to be preserved everywhere as far as possible just like in the good old days [Music] along with the tourists normal inhabitants have also returned they've repaired the run-down houses that belong to their families [Music] the hotel operator's mission bring the village back to life the hotel guests should live door-to-door with the real inhabitants and get to know the old italian traditions in a baking course for example [Music] two days before we set off the santo stefano di cesano we want to know what's it like to live there as a guest first of all you go to reception just like in every hotel here it's in a former cattle shed hotel director nuncia gives us the key probably the biggest in the world we'll be meeting nuncia later our rooms are in this converted outhouse obviously we want to check them out first of all [Music] the old outhouse is now a suite with a living room and two bedrooms it costs about 500 euros per night but there is no trace of luxury it feels like you've traveled back in time there's no television radio or a minibar you won't be able to find anything made of plastic either even the light switches are the old-fashioned ceramic type some things seem strange to us the shower gel for example kind of flaky like it has gone bad somehow almost broken or what do you call it yeah broken sounds good look at the bed what is this we're sleeping on a wooden board no slap frame or anything nope no that's pretty rough isn't it in the truest sense of the word because the mattress is not much softer but that's not all do you see any heaters in here nowhere the nights are freezing cold up here we're at 5000 feet well this really feels like time travel our hotel village is not the only one in italy there are about 80 of them [Music] this type of alternative hotel has a name albergo di fuzo translated scattered hotel precisely because the hotel is scattered over many buildings [Music] the most important feature an albergo de fuso is not newly built it consists of old buildings that have been renovated especially they must be located in an old town and may not be more than 300 metres apart structural changes should be kept to a minimum new buildings are not permitted the idea came up in the 70s when many remote villages in italy were abandoned by their inhabitants after earthquakes or because of lack of job opportunities [Music] at the moment however the albergue de fusi are becoming a tourism trend even large tour operators are planning to rebuild run-down villages but our albergo di fusel wants to offer even more than others the guests should get to know the real italy of old financier and owner daniela kilgren has even higher goals he's put almost his entire inheritance into the hotel project and it's been a financial success at the moment he's in africa as a development worker so we can only speak to him on skype i believe it's important to show that it's possible to earn money with such a cultural project german american english or japanese always think that business and culture are two totally different things but that's not true at all [Music] nuncia is the boss here although until recently she had no idea about the hotel business nuncia was a scientist at a museum because she knows about history and comes from the mountains here hotel owner daniele offered her the job as a manager her most important task to make sure everything is and remains as authentic as possible like it used to be right down to the scent in the room this is actually one of the secrets of our hotel before a guest arrives we use this special room spray which we have developed especially it smells of chimney embers and sarge's fruits that's what it used to smell like here because people used to throw lemon peel into the fire as a natural room fragrance the spray uses no chemicals just like everything else here as you can see we've really paid attention to every little detail and researched every part and every product carefully our soaps are made exactly the way the housewives used to make them from beeswax and olive oil without emulsifiers without artificial fragrances this also applies to the liquid soap of course this explains the apparently broken shower gel it's not gone bad at all that's simply what soap or shampoo looks like without chemicals the hotel beds are also intentionally made the old way hard and with woolen blankets that take two months of handicraft to make the bets in the past not only used to be harder but very high as you can see so that poorer people could have their cuddle lying underneath them which worked like a heater from and because people were also smaller then they used this wooden step to get into bed guests can also do that in our house nuncia shows us her favorite suite because it demonstrates most clearly how people used to live in the past for example you can see the black walls which are typical for the area because everyone used to heat with fireplaces here we left them black although everyone said we should paint them white another thing about our conservative restoration work is the small windows we deliberately left them so small they used to be made so small because we are in the mountains and it gets very cold the only new element as you can see is this designer bathtub it resembles an old washington latino but the expensive designer bathtubs in the rooms aren't the only luxury we discover when we take a closer look there are elegant fittings minimalist design lamps and to the relief of our freezing cold team underfloor heating everywhere even in this former sheepfold on that floor without underfloor heating for 150 euros a night i don't think there's any underfloor heating wait you think yes there is they told me they lifted up put the underfloor heating underneath and then put the original floor back on top that's right that's why it's 150 euros a night we also discover the well-hidden controls for it so not everything is exactly like it was 100 years ago otherwise the guests would probably stay away our project is best received by northern european tourists both english and german italians too but they often criticize us for example for the hard bets but anyone who comes here actually knows our concept but if you expect a normal hotel with typical luxuries like a mini bar and tv then you will be disappointed but fortunately that doesn't happen very often the hotel operators are particularly proud of the fact that many real inhabitants have returned to the village thanks to the albergo de fuso we're going to see if we can find any and we come across this cafe the operators are eager to show us how coffee was drunk in the good old days before fully automatic stainless steel machines appeared everywhere the brown cream is sugar whipped with coffee this is used to grease the cups on the inside then hand ground espresso is poured into the cup on top very sweet whipped cream not foamed milk it's really tasty we asked cafe owner massimiliano what he thinks of the albergue it's great our medieval village was completely forgotten until the tourists it's only thanks to them that it was possible to find work and live in such a small village again in her wool shop valeria shows us how she dyes sheep's wool red with local wine just as it was done here for centuries she's also a great fan of the hotel project and no wonder she's increased her turnover tenfold in recent years and she likes the tourists who come here the typical tourists who visit our village definitely want to get to know how we live and sometimes they are even willing to get a real feeling for our way of life getting a real feeling for this life is exactly what we want to do now sheep's cheese and wool used to be the main sources of income here and shepard is still a respected profession therefore it's part of the hotel's programme to go and visit the village shepard mimi and his family a welcome additional income for him [Music] it's very hard work there are no holidays no days off nothing you have to be born for it otherwise you wouldn't be able to do this work it may look easy to you but it's not it's almost more difficult than being a doctor oh man oh we notice that when we try to milk the sheep milk only flows after mimi massages the other ah i can do it it can't soon the poor sheep has had enough that's all right in the end the milk is enough for a small sheep's cheese for this the shepherd's wife adds rennet to the heated milk a natural enzyme that causes the milk to curdle [Music] after an hour of work the cheese made from our self-obtained milk is ready [Music] tastes like sheep immediately afterwards we're off to a hotel baking course in a rebuilt original kitchen instructor gabriela is also responsible for the hotel breakfast in her baking courses she teaches guests how to make the typical italian flatbread focaccia i think i'm doing something wrong but it's not even that difficult the dough consists only of flour water and yeast and lots of olive oil focaccia has also become very popular in germany in earlier times the thin flat bread was only used to test whether the wood burning oven was hot enough for real large loaves of bread so focaccia was actually just a kind of by-product from this test [Music] after only 20 minutes of baking our focaccia are ready the instructor is satisfied with us or at least she says she is what does she say about ours beautiful is she just being polite no she's being honest the work is so positive for me because you can live here in peace and quiet it's not stressful work you're not stuck in traffic jams like you're in the city for example and your whole life is pleasant a life so very different from what most of us are used to our impression after two days of time travel in the former ghost village here they've killed two birds with one stone because everyone benefits residents and hotel guests even our initially skeptical sound engineer is convinced sebastian now be honest and don't lie how was it it was great i slept really well despite the hard bed i didn't miss the tv and the food was fantastic it's a very different hotel with underfloor heating [Music] taipei metropolis and capital of taiwan the abandoned ufo village is said to be located just an hour outside the city [Applause] our editor linda kurb is on the road with translator sean kaiteri shawn lives in taiwan and he too has heard about this strange lost place it's said to be in one league a coastal town in the north of the island only a few meters further on at the edge of the city the area is suddenly deserted on a hill we discover the first ufo house this looks like it's from an old science fiction movie not only ufos but also futuristic angular buildings are standing here there seems to be a whole village run down abandoned and decaying in many places we find signs of past life people actually used to live here so why did they leave this place linda and sean go looking for clues in one of the ufo houses well the floor has fallen through there's a huge hole down there be careful when you go inside there's no floor we still want to risk a look inside [Music] at least through the locked door there are still bastilles there [Music] was this an apartment or a pub what happened here that turned it into a lost place the village must have been empty for many years considering how weathered everything looks our search for clues continues [Music] the neighboring ufo is more easily accessible and amazingly well preserved there's the window open shall we try and get through that oh that's a good idea can we find any clues in here as to why and when the residents left their homes [Music] the floor feels really weak the weather has also left its mark on the houses the kitchen and the whole design is very retro and reminds us of the 1970s maybe this was supposed to be an expensive holiday resort by the sea to the living area linda and sean discover a former bedroom signs of life everywhere even though there are still bed sheets and all kinds of cushions lying around i don't think they had to leave in such a hurry because the cupboards have been empty there's nothing left in the cupboards at all [Music] but what has to happen for someone to leave a place like this translator sean who's been living in the region for 15 years has an idea to take a guess would have to be something to do with the weather when the time it's kind of cold and you know heating this place would not be easy and then summertime it's super hot it's just be like living in a glass house you know it's not brick this stuff just going to absorb heat like nothing else shawn's assumption sounds plausible in summer thermometers in one league can hit the 40 degree mark the outside walls and the whole bathroom seem to be made of plastic not a good insulator we look for clues as to how long this house has been abandoned a newspaper can you see a date on that maybe okay uh march the 5th 91 so maybe 15 years ago 91 91 one in taiwan years 91. taiwan has a different calendar than we do the so-called mingual calendar starts with the foundation of the country in 1912 so the last sign of life in the ufo house is 14 years old so if you're in the kitchen i'm feeling kind of hungry yeah what would you like to have for dinner darling steak and fries please but the cupboards are empty and there are only a few scraps stuck in the pot so no lunch for sean something must have happened here 14 years ago to make the inhabitants leave the place we decide to ask at the neighbouring hotel maybe someone there knows something about the lost place or its residence [Music] mrs chen a member of the hotel staff takes linda and shawn to the roof terrace overlooking the ufo village has she heard anything about the history of this abandoned village a famous businessman built the village he had a toothpaste and a soda factory he built the village with a dream that people would come here what was it supposed to be so why did he build this people were supposed to rent the houses for their holidays but also buy them but for most tenants it was too hot and far too uncomfortable in summer so they just didn't come anymore [Music] the ufo village seems to be a case of bad planning built in the early 1970s and abandoned bit by bit at the end of the 1970s a holiday village by the sea was the vision of businessman mr sun ming was supposed to be a holiday resort for the rich and beautiful in the 1970s the daily rent was supposed to have cost 135 euros intended as a place of joy and life today his vision is a lost place but not only the weather is said to be responsible for all this behind the ufo village we discover an overgrown cemetery taiwanese people are extremely superstitious and they worship their ancestors the general belief is that if a grave is not cared for the spirits rise up again superstition one of the reasons why people no longer wanted to live here it even keeps many taiwanese from going into the sea at certain times of the year [Music] have a ghost month in the middle of summer where you cannot go near the water you can't go near the beach it's a time they believe the gates of hell have opened and all the ghosts are wandering the earth especially all the ocean ghosts people have died and shipwrecks you know over throughout history so the worst place to go is in the water so you don't go to the beach you don't go swimming july the hottest time of the year is ghost month when taiwanese people choose to avoid their beaches not the best conditions for a holiday resort between the ruins linda and shawn suddenly discover a house that seems to be well preserved and knock on the beach house door oh wow [Music] mr tao is a friendly host he even turns on the heating for us [Music] my house is very simple but cozy i only have one room here and a small bathroom in the back [Music] visitors rarely stray to mr towel maybe that's why he proudly shows us his little home with its original 1970s bathroom [Music] the bathrooms are made of fiberglass as are all the houses the idea was to make everything as if from one piece mr tower has lived in one league for 30 years he's been living in the ufo village for six years rent free and is tolerated here by the authorities [Music] okay um in summer mr tao tells us he rents out jet skis in the neighboring hotel in winter he enjoys his free time here the hot and rainy weather doesn't bother him air conditioning and dehumidifiers keep his house cozy but mr tao does seem to have barricaded himself in it's almost as if he doesn't want to see the run-down lost place 30 years ago residents tried to keep their houses in order they had nice big clean windows it was generally very clean but it was never quite perfect since the village was built there were always problems there was always something broken and then deterioration set in caused by the weather which destroyed the place more and more the inhabitants decided not to live here anymore and left their houses in an uninhabitable conditions and then after two hours mr tao reveals to our great surprise that he's not the only resident living in the ruins his neighbors an elderly couple are good friends of his mr tao even has a key to their house which is monitored by cctv um this is what i call a typhoon door right a door that protects the house from the stormy sea oh wow what we see here between all the abandoned and destroyed houses is surprising mr tao's neighbor has built himself a luxury house with expensive model planes lots of high tech and a massage chair all houses directly on the beach have such a seller those further back don't actually it should be a storage room but my neighbor has made it into a comfortable living room mr tau tells us that the owner is a rich businessman who used to work in hong kong he's been living in the ufo village with his wife for 15 years very secluded [Music] the best thing about his kitchen here is the view whatever the reason why this man lives here in such a lost place he's put a lot of money into his house so far he's had to spend over 80 000 euros on storm damage alone in the past there have often been problems with typhoons here water sand everything came in here and destroyed everything my neighbor had to completely rebuild his living room originally there were 93 houses in the ufo village today only two are still inhabited i think the inconvenience with the weather was the reason why most people left this place [Music] but it's these very inconveniences that have a charm of their own for mr tau he likes the peace and quiet here [Music] the peace and quiet between all the destroyed houses and the sea it's a benjamin [Music] are the final remains of a dream of a man and his vision to build a happy holiday village out of ufos today a unique lost place which has become the home of loners and recluses you

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 5,661,350

Rating: 4.8579769 out of 5

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), lost places, lost places documentary, scary hotel, scariest hotel, abandoned places, abandoned places documentary, Ghost Hotel, abandoned village, UFO Houses, Albergo Diffuso

Id: NrVoqsV8r7A

Length: 40min 31sec (2431 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 06 2021