Real Shots from an Abandoned Taipei Ruin: A 20-Year-Old Hotel Nearly Overgrown by Trees

Reported by You [Name Redacted] / Compiled by Staff

Taipei is home to a group called the “Ghost Story Night Tour,” which centers around exploring ruins at night and specializes in nighttime ruin experience events. Since its inception five years ago, the group has organized over a hundred such night tours. ETtoday ETToday Dongsen Travel Cloud collaborated specially with the “Ghost Story Night Tour” to conduct a night tour on the evening of August 3rd, the day Ghost Festival begins, and went live from inside a hotel that had been abandoned for 20 years.


▲%The place remains largely untouched.＜/strong＞


Qingyuan, the leader of the Ghost Story Night Tour, said the group was established five years ago. Their first gathering took place at Taipei’s Bihu Park, where they shared ghost stories. The first event had eight participants. As their explorations expanded, they have since visited over 80 ruins and held more than a hundred events, with a total of over 2,300 participants. Qingyuan stated that their goal is to document ruins both in Taiwan and abroad through action. “We hope these can serve as reference or even memorabilia for future generations.”

The “Ghost Story Night Tour” doesn’t just explore ruins—they also share ghost stories on-site and organize treasure hunt games. It’s worth noting that although the tours are quite thrilling, they follow strict principles such as not entering haunted houses or forcibly trespassing into occupied residences.


▲The interior space and partitions are still visible, with many dead branches and leaves scattered about.


▲%The age of the building can be inferred from the deteriorated structure.＜/strong＞



▲A large rock has fallen onto the staircase.

Because of concerns about causing danger or damaging the site, the Ghost Story Night Tour does not disclose the exact addresses of the ruins they visit. Reporters gathered at a designated location at 7 p.m. After a brief safety briefing, the group headed to the ruin.

The four-story ruin, which the team had previously scouted, is known to be a hotel building with a history of around 40 years, and has been abandoned for approximately 20 years. At night, the entire building is unlit except for the illumination from street lamps. Inside, the floor is covered in broken bricks and glass, and overgrown with wild grass. From the remnants of the vegetation, one can tell that the floor was once fully carpeted in blue-green carpeting, now completely fiberized.


▲The partitioned bathroom and bathtub are still intact.


▲A bottle left behind at some unknown time.


▲%The upper floor remains shrouded in deep shadow.＜/strong＞


As they guided participants, the Ghost Story Night Tour provided lighting and led them up to the second floor. The second floor used to be the reception hall, while the third floor and above were guest room areas. The fourth floor also contains many rooms, each with fully partitioned spaces and bathrooms. What sets this ruin apart from others is that the fourth floor is overgrown with abundant wild plants, giving the entire level a plant-covered, desolate atmosphere.


▲%You can clearly see the outline of the rooms.＜/strong＞


This ruin in the suburbs of Taipei is quite stuffy and full of mosquitoes. In the pitch-black space, listening to ghost stories feels especially “atmospheric.” Although no cool breezes or strange occurrences were felt, being in an empty, uninhabited residence was genuinely spine-chilling.

The entire ghost story night tour lasted about an hour. Afterwards, the group naturally gathered for a meal, moving to a more populated area to “regain some energy.” Those interested in continuing to hear ghost stories could also exchange and share tales with other participants at this time.