Hotels That Used To Be Insane Asylums

So I have carried out loads of research and found a really good page that shows 5 different Hotels, that used to be Insane Asylums. What is really good about this page is that it gives 2 American ones, 1 European One, 1 Scottish one and 1 Irish one.

Here's the site:

http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2014/07/5-grand-hotels-that-used-to-be-insane-asylums/

The five hotels it mentions are:

• Jerome Grand Hotel, USA
• Hotel Parq Central, USA
• Hotel Vejlefjord, Denmark
• The Clarion Hotel, Ireland
• Hotel Du Vin, Scotland

Quickly looking at these and since I am basing it on a true story, my mind was wanting to settle on the Irish or Scottish Hotel due to the fact that it is very close to home and perhaps, for my audience, a more exciting experience due to me living and studying in Scotland hence people viewing my final piece are all most likely going to be from around here and even near these hotels...

However I decided to dig deeper into each one in case there was some exciting story I would really want to use.

Jerome Grand Hotel, Arizona, USA

(Image: Jason Schultz)

I did not carry out too much research into this one due too the short description on the website given above. It states that 'Despite not technically being a lunatic asylum, many of its patients were receiving psychiatric treatments for shock.' You see, this hotel used to be known as the United Verde Hospital. It provided care to locals who worked in the mines. Despite there being rumours of haunting etc I was not fully interested in this place as it was not officially a mental asylum. I decided not too waste much more time on looking further into it as I had divulge enough of my time already on research.

Hotel Parq Central, Albuquerque, USA

(Image: Bo Mackison)

I tried my best to research this place but there does not seem to be too much facts or stories I could use for my project. This hotel was a psychiatric facility during the 80's but was closed down by 2010. Even though it was refurbished into a hotel the original exterior architecture remains to be the same as to what it was initially built for; a hospital to treat the employees of 'Atchison, Topkea and Santa Fe Railway company'. There is numerous rumours of 'hauntings' however nothing too concrete and there is not really anything within its past that suggests there could be a horrible history behind it. This is still a possible choice in inspiration for my project however I had a feeling it would end up being either one of the other hotels I am about to discuss.

Hotel Vejlefjord, Comwell Kellers Park, Denmark

(Image: Mint & Ginger)

As for this hotel, I managed to find a fantastic site describing the history of this building:

http://en.hotelvejlefjord.dk/vejlefjord-history/

This hotel is not worried about it's history, in fact, it embraces it. This building was inspired by a young Doctor named, Christian Saugman. He was a tuberculosis patient and after being treated in Germany he was encouraged to start a tuberculosis treatment facility in Denmark. He succeeded with this after finding a beautiful spot, north of the Vejle Fjord. It was officially opened in 1900, then being enlarged in 1915-1916. Saugman was the chief physician from the beginning until he died in 1923. He was known for always looking for the best treatments for the patients. In the 1940s the sanatorium slowly emptied its patients however in 1957 the building received a modernization and became a Neurological Sanatorium. From 1985 'the rehabilitation of persons with brain damages became a new core competence for Vejlefjord. It was not until 2002 that the site was redeveloped and became the grand hotel it is today. Again, there is not much of a dark history here however that is not necessary what I am looking for. As I am creating an entertainment piece I can make the story whatever I wish and simply use the setting as a true location in order for a more real atmospheric interactive experience.

The Clarion Hotel, Sligo, Ireland

(Image: Riccardo Bonelli)

These next two examples are most likely going to be the ones I choose due to the geographical location being close to where I live, study and work. This next hotel is situated in Sligo, Ireland and was, up until 1992, know as 'St Columbas Lunatic Asylum'. St Columbas Lunatic Asylum officially opened in 1855 and by 1883 the hospital introduced radical new treatments which led to abolishing patient restraints where possible. It also knocked down some walls so those patients who were once locked up were allowed to roam and feel free. Due to declining patient numbers and worsening conditions the hospital closed in 1992 and was abandoned for about ten years until it began to be refurbished into a hotel which opened in 2005.

I am tempted to pick this as my environment start point as the hospital has that grand scale about it which is always how I picture these places. It also has a brief dark period before the new treatments were introduced in 1883. There was also suicides which occurred. There may be some scope here for me too develop a creepy back story and implement it into my environment.

Hotel Du Vi, Edinburgh, Scotland

(Image: Sarah Rudston)

With me living in Scotland and studying in Dundee, this hotel in Edinburgh, is definately the closest example  I could find. It was initially, in the 18th Century, a poorhouse or later known as Edinburgh's Bedlam, the city's Mental Asylum. It was notorious for it's poor 'prison-like' conditions. It was built between 1734 and 1743 to house the city's poor however it soon became know as 'Bedlam', Edinburgh's Lunatic Asylum. Famous Poet, Robert Fergusson who influenced the more famous, Robert Burns, He was interned for depression and after falling down some stairs that left him 'insensible', he died in Bedlam October 1774 aged 24. Due to his death and the horrendous conditions at Bedlam his doctor pushed for greater care of mentally disturbed patients and with his determination, a new, higher standard,  asylum was opened in 1813. It later became a science factory during the World Wars and after that, it became Edinburgh's Blood Donation Centre. It stayed like this until 2007 when Hotel Du Vin bought it over.

Again, this is a highly probable setting for me as it is very close to home and this sense of truth helps capture audiences attention. It has great potential for me due to its dark history with poor conditions however I'm slightly put off since it has been several different buildings over the years where as THe Clarion Hotel, Ireland, was a Mental Asylum all the way up until 1992, in which it lay abandoned until being converted into a hotel in 2005. 

I have carried out some very interesting research and before I get myself caught up and lost in it I am going to have to force myself to pick a place now. I am definitely considering the Irish and Scottish Asylum but cannot decided which one. I will have a think about it and should hopefully be decided tomorrow. What might help me is beginning to figure out what my story could be - in each of these places. If I do that I will have a better idea and can then, move on and plan design and create my environment.