Abandoned Hotel in Salinas Ecuador

Frank and I like to walk away from the tourist areas when we travel to see what it is really like in a city. Staying only in the tourist area gives a one-sided view of a city. Many of our Salinas videos are of us walking around off the beaten track, as is this video of a big hotel complex located on the other side of the point.

Walking into the parking area of this huge hotel complex, off a busy thoroughfare in Salinas was like walking into a ghost town or watching one of the old western movies on television where the town has been vacated. It was really weird and a bit eerie. This area of Salinas is about five miles from the touristy Malecon area.

                 

The hotel was nice, but I don't think I would want to spend the night in a huge hotel complex like this where there are no other guests staying there. Reminds me of the movie with Jack Nicholson called "The Shining". Granted, it was off season (May) but there still should have been some guests staying in this hotel. The beach also had a bunch of seaweed and dirty looking debris on the sand...not sure what that was all about. 

The hotel was not really abandoned (but it was) because there were service staff on duty and they even showed us a room with ocean view for $25 a night. It was clean but small. Sadly, the only area of Salinas that had anything at all going on was on the Malecan where all the condos are located and that area is geared to the tourist with tourist dollars to spend, which is fine for a vacation.