Suitcase Kids
09-05-2011, 07:03 AM
From the road, the building just looked like a hotel under construction that had never been completed. With a beautiful view of the ocean it could've been a wonderful place to stay. We walked along the fence, parallel to the road, before finding a place where the bushes weren't too high. We pushed our way through the overgrown garden towards the main staircase.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qsmvm8bxaCo/TcRly0IHZ7I/AAAAAAAACGc/yYJkWHG2OYk/s790/DSC_0366.jpg
Standing in the open entrance area, we saw an overview of the buildings. There were 5 buildings, the one we were in then, had a dried out swimming pool, what looked like a reception desk or bar and a few rooms that we guessed were for staff offices. Three 2 storey buildings, next to each other were where guests would have stayed and there was one other building that was probably meant for administrative offices. But the thing that I haven't mentioned yet is that they hadn't been finished. The swimming pool had no tiles on the floor, or ladders.
The only sign of life in the first building was the keyboards and telephones that were strewn on the floor.
The middle building, with the unfinished pool in front of it: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I7HJ4hV0GX0/TcRl925-8bI/AAAAAAAACHY/dsq6j6isM5k/s790/DSC_0371.jpg
We made our way cautiously towards the middle building. We started seeing more signs of use. Shoes, audio cassetts, and papers.The walls separating the rooms had been knocked out, creating an effect of a never ending room.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uzAO3mdH14Y/TcRl5k2kpDI/AAAAAAAACHA/pviAvmiEdec/s790/DSC_0432.jpg
The first amazement was the room that we found entirely full of binders, papers, telephone books, and computer manuals. Looking in some of the binders revealed hundreds of people's personal information including names, addresses and even credit card numbers!
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5OOzQO7Gr7w/TcRlzRW-vaI/AAAAAAAACGg/Tw7Q9J6SXBs/s800/DSC_0389.jpg
Couldn't help laughing at this sign hung up in a bathroom:http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YqmBFOJIMqk/TcRlzzWWX1I/AAAAAAAACGk/Hrqhb6XgUr4/s790/DSC_0394.jpg
Our second clue that the building was used for gambling/casino purposes was the pieces of paper hung on the wall naming different USA sports teams:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yo1weEQNhVU/TcRl1XxjZYI/AAAAAAAACGo/e2bSNHFhrPI/s790/DSC_0400.jpg
Continuing to the top floor, the same things kept popping up. We saw a whole lot of computer manuals and binders holding software development discs, like the one below:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FgtiXu8-1-A/TcRl3uTwfEI/AAAAAAAACG0/Y6PgFNq5XFI/s790/DSC_0418.jpg
The hotel idea that we had started with plastered in our brains was slowly crumbling and being rebuilt with ideas of internet gambling. What confirmed our thoughts was this paper hanging up in the 3rd building:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UDqRvKj8Akc/TcRl2zelQBI/AAAAAAAACGw/Foqb5KcUsf4/s790/DSC_0411.jpg
In all of the different buildings were multiple online gambling companies. The sheet also says which rooms they were situated in, as well as contact information. We continued to search the 3rd building, with much the same results as before.
Behind all of the buildings we saw a shipping container filled with bags of bricks. What really intrigued us was the massive pile of dog food tins located next to the shipping container. This led us into thinking that there was one or more guard dogs. If you're an online casino, do you want people sneaking around? Not really. Guard dogs can help prevent that problem.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NFCzy14TMUY/TcRl7JSuyOI/AAAAAAAACHI/hwiu8h9BKKU/s790/DSC_0444.jpg
On the way to the admin offices building which we were going to go in (we didn't go to the final hotel like room building because it was surrounded by brambles :tumbleweed), we saw 2 very big satellite dishes, much larger than would be required to receive television signals. These are what we suspect were used to connect these gambling sites on this remote island off the coast of Venezuela to high speed internet in the USA.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0lQR2obUKAg/TcRl5CR0cnI/AAAAAAAACG8/HrZKqWwkD1A/s790/DSC_0427.jpg
The admin offices were fairly empty, except for a a couple of empty filing cabinets and a few video tape holders with days of the week on them. These were probably surveillance videos.
So, basically, our idea of what happened.....
It started off being built as a hotel, but they ran out of money to complete the construction. A series of companies needed somewhere to move into quickly, so they chose this half finished hotel as a place to base their staff and by the looks of it, they left just as quickly as they came. There were a few Christmas decorations plus a wall reading Happy Chanukah which suggests that they left during the holiday season. We have no idea why they left, whether it was because they went bankrupt or if the police got onto their track.
But what we do know is that we never expected to find something as amazing as this. When we walked up the grand staircase, we thought it was just an unfinished hotel. When we walked out, we knew it was the housing of multiple online gambling agencies.
More photos:
Overview of the buildings from the second floor of the 3rd buildinghttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QuyEbPGa0ro/TcRl6auAKpI/AAAAAAAACHE/1CtkOLkfWCg/s790/DSC_0434.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_oFmi16tolc/TcRl4iq9D7I/AAAAAAAACG4/2x_UlMvCOak/s790/DSC_0420.jpg
The admin offices:http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qaOz-8DNza4/TcRl9I6de2I/AAAAAAAACHU/2Kdy_Kl-UWI/s790/DSC_0456.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FEYEn4E4wDs/TcRl7x9R8_I/AAAAAAAACHM/CiSFY7ZeUPw/s790/DSC_0450.jpg
Beautiful view:http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dwcVDOKTAsk/TcRl-rl1jsI/AAAAAAAACHc/m1XI6mjhfCY/s790/DSC_0404.jpg
For more photos go to: Our Urbex blog (http://www.urbex4fun.blogspot.com/)
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qsmvm8bxaCo/TcRly0IHZ7I/AAAAAAAACGc/yYJkWHG2OYk/s790/DSC_0366.jpg
Standing in the open entrance area, we saw an overview of the buildings. There were 5 buildings, the one we were in then, had a dried out swimming pool, what looked like a reception desk or bar and a few rooms that we guessed were for staff offices. Three 2 storey buildings, next to each other were where guests would have stayed and there was one other building that was probably meant for administrative offices. But the thing that I haven't mentioned yet is that they hadn't been finished. The swimming pool had no tiles on the floor, or ladders.
The only sign of life in the first building was the keyboards and telephones that were strewn on the floor.
The middle building, with the unfinished pool in front of it: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I7HJ4hV0GX0/TcRl925-8bI/AAAAAAAACHY/dsq6j6isM5k/s790/DSC_0371.jpg
We made our way cautiously towards the middle building. We started seeing more signs of use. Shoes, audio cassetts, and papers.The walls separating the rooms had been knocked out, creating an effect of a never ending room.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uzAO3mdH14Y/TcRl5k2kpDI/AAAAAAAACHA/pviAvmiEdec/s790/DSC_0432.jpg
The first amazement was the room that we found entirely full of binders, papers, telephone books, and computer manuals. Looking in some of the binders revealed hundreds of people's personal information including names, addresses and even credit card numbers!
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5OOzQO7Gr7w/TcRlzRW-vaI/AAAAAAAACGg/Tw7Q9J6SXBs/s800/DSC_0389.jpg
Couldn't help laughing at this sign hung up in a bathroom:http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YqmBFOJIMqk/TcRlzzWWX1I/AAAAAAAACGk/Hrqhb6XgUr4/s790/DSC_0394.jpg
Our second clue that the building was used for gambling/casino purposes was the pieces of paper hung on the wall naming different USA sports teams:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yo1weEQNhVU/TcRl1XxjZYI/AAAAAAAACGo/e2bSNHFhrPI/s790/DSC_0400.jpg
Continuing to the top floor, the same things kept popping up. We saw a whole lot of computer manuals and binders holding software development discs, like the one below:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FgtiXu8-1-A/TcRl3uTwfEI/AAAAAAAACG0/Y6PgFNq5XFI/s790/DSC_0418.jpg
The hotel idea that we had started with plastered in our brains was slowly crumbling and being rebuilt with ideas of internet gambling. What confirmed our thoughts was this paper hanging up in the 3rd building:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UDqRvKj8Akc/TcRl2zelQBI/AAAAAAAACGw/Foqb5KcUsf4/s790/DSC_0411.jpg
In all of the different buildings were multiple online gambling companies. The sheet also says which rooms they were situated in, as well as contact information. We continued to search the 3rd building, with much the same results as before.
Behind all of the buildings we saw a shipping container filled with bags of bricks. What really intrigued us was the massive pile of dog food tins located next to the shipping container. This led us into thinking that there was one or more guard dogs. If you're an online casino, do you want people sneaking around? Not really. Guard dogs can help prevent that problem.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NFCzy14TMUY/TcRl7JSuyOI/AAAAAAAACHI/hwiu8h9BKKU/s790/DSC_0444.jpg
On the way to the admin offices building which we were going to go in (we didn't go to the final hotel like room building because it was surrounded by brambles :tumbleweed), we saw 2 very big satellite dishes, much larger than would be required to receive television signals. These are what we suspect were used to connect these gambling sites on this remote island off the coast of Venezuela to high speed internet in the USA.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0lQR2obUKAg/TcRl5CR0cnI/AAAAAAAACG8/HrZKqWwkD1A/s790/DSC_0427.jpg
The admin offices were fairly empty, except for a a couple of empty filing cabinets and a few video tape holders with days of the week on them. These were probably surveillance videos.
So, basically, our idea of what happened.....
It started off being built as a hotel, but they ran out of money to complete the construction. A series of companies needed somewhere to move into quickly, so they chose this half finished hotel as a place to base their staff and by the looks of it, they left just as quickly as they came. There were a few Christmas decorations plus a wall reading Happy Chanukah which suggests that they left during the holiday season. We have no idea why they left, whether it was because they went bankrupt or if the police got onto their track.
But what we do know is that we never expected to find something as amazing as this. When we walked up the grand staircase, we thought it was just an unfinished hotel. When we walked out, we knew it was the housing of multiple online gambling agencies.
More photos:
Overview of the buildings from the second floor of the 3rd buildinghttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QuyEbPGa0ro/TcRl6auAKpI/AAAAAAAACHE/1CtkOLkfWCg/s790/DSC_0434.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_oFmi16tolc/TcRl4iq9D7I/AAAAAAAACG4/2x_UlMvCOak/s790/DSC_0420.jpg
The admin offices:http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qaOz-8DNza4/TcRl9I6de2I/AAAAAAAACHU/2Kdy_Kl-UWI/s790/DSC_0456.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FEYEn4E4wDs/TcRl7x9R8_I/AAAAAAAACHM/CiSFY7ZeUPw/s790/DSC_0450.jpg
Beautiful view:http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dwcVDOKTAsk/TcRl-rl1jsI/AAAAAAAACHc/m1XI6mjhfCY/s790/DSC_0404.jpg
For more photos go to: Our Urbex blog (http://www.urbex4fun.blogspot.com/)