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Apr 08 2009 10 Comments

Hotel Royal ruin

Standing big and bulbous at the side of Sagami-ko in Kanagawa Prefecture, the Hotel Royal was hungrily looking to penetrate the lucrative love hotel market, but after functioning for what must have been a pathetically short period of time, it pulled out prematurely, apologised, and packed up — at least partially.

Japanese love hotel ruin

A sorry state of affairs that has left the office furnished but unfrequented,

Japanese love hotel ruin

and the keys for the considerable number of rooms uncalled for.

Japanese love hotel ruin

However, heading up the stairs, the decor does begin to deteriorate, with all the lager long gone,

Japanese love hotel ruin

and a situation health and safety would be somewhat unsatisfied with.

Japanese love hotel ruin

But that said, the rooms themselves remain surprisingly unsullied,

Japanese love hotel ruin

although their nobility in name only,

Japanese love hotel ruin

perhaps hints at why the business went bankrupt.

Japanese love hotel ruin

And even reminders of the reason they were rented out,

Japanese love hotel ruin

thankfully remain as unused as the rooms once were.

Japanese love hotel ruin

A situation that may also have had something to do with the Royal taking the unusual step of incorporating a restaurant on the top floor. A space that is now little more than a dumping ground for detritus of all descriptions,

Japanese love hotel ruin

which peculiarly includes a pet’s cage, and perhaps more predictably, the hotel’s vital video collection.

Japanese love hotel ruin

An eatery where, when privacy would have been paramount, people may possibly have been prompted to pontificate over pasta on how horny the dog happened to be,

Japanese love hotel ruin

or even the performances of Pussyman 3’s predecessors.

Japanese love hotel ruin

Big thanks to Mike for giving me the location of the hotel, and his pictures of the place can be seen here. Plus, for those after more ruins/haikyo, there’s always the previously posted mining town, cable car and Sports World hotel complex to have a look at.

Categorized: Haikyo

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hans says

    4/8/2009 at 4:06 pm

    Amazing, thanks for posting these, this should be immediately reopened !

    Reply
  2. Paul says

    4/8/2009 at 9:38 pm

    These are great pics. It’s very seedy looking.

    Reply
  3. Bunny says

    4/9/2009 at 12:05 am

    Best story in a while!

    Reply
  4. Lee says

    4/9/2009 at 11:04 am

    Thanks! I much prefer older haikyo, but this one still had a certain charm. A fair few of the rooms were locked too, quite possibly from the inside, which made it more interesting.

    Reply
  5. S in Shanghai says

    4/9/2009 at 1:27 pm

    …..or not!

    /S

    Reply
  6. Jason says

    4/9/2009 at 1:56 pm

    Nice use of DoF in some of those shots Lee.

    I only ever saw this haikyo from afar on a cycling afternoon near the lake.

    Reply
  7. Rufus says

    5/29/2009 at 11:04 pm

    You’re a very good storyteller. Your photos are -of-course- phenomenal, but the accompanying text is also a complete delight. Just thought you might like to know 🙂

    Reply
  8. Lee says

    5/30/2009 at 5:32 pm

    Thanks Rufus! Very kind of you to say so.

    Reply
  9. Florian says

    5/10/2011 at 1:35 pm

    According to Jordy the building is secured by an alarm system now – I guess it wasn’t there when you visited the place 2 years ago?

    Reply
    • Lee says

      5/10/2011 at 2:21 pm

      No, we just walked in, but it seems not long after the alarm system was put in place. There was also at least one guard too by all accounts. Don’t know if that’s still the case.

      Reply

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