Are you game to visit the ‘Ghost Palace’ hotel in Bali? The abandoned Bedugul Taman Hotel has a mysterious history and is now open to the public for adventurous explorations. The Bedugul abandoned hotel is one of Bali’s most famous abandoned sites. Located in the mountains of Bedugul, the hotel was built in the 1990s but was never fully completed. It was meant to be a luxury resort with stunning views of Lake Buyan, but due to financial difficulties and legal disputes, the project was abandoned.
ABANDONED BALI HOTEL: GHOST PALACE
Today, the hotel stands in ruins, covered in moss and vines, with broken windows and crumbling walls. Despite its dilapidated state, the hotel still attracts visitors who are intrigued by its eerie beauty and its stunning views of the surrounding mountain landscape. While the hotel is not ‘technically’ open to the public, visitors can still explore the exterior and capture some amazing photos of this hauntingly beautiful abandoned site.
VISITING THE ABANDONED BEDUGUL HOTEL: GHOST PALACE
With one day free in Bali before heading off on an adventure, what do you do? The obvious answer is to rent a cheap surfboard, enjoy the beach and have a beer at sunset. But that’s all a little too cliche for me.
Our plan was to head north to the ‘Ghost Palace’, an abandoned hotel in Bedugul, Bali also known as the Bedugul Taman Hotel. We crammed on a moped as you do in Bali and weaved our way through traffic from Kuta all the way to Bedugul in just over an hour. We had read a little about the abandoned hotel in Bali but there was no concrete information on if there was security, risks, or even… ghosts.
Here’s what we know about the ‘Ghost Palace’ Hotel in Bali
There are a number of theories about the Bedugul Taman Hotel, which mention why it was abandoned and if it is haunted.
- The first theory is that the hotel is haunted by the ghosts of workers who died during the construction of the hotel. Locals supposedly shun the site and taxi drivers refuse to enter the grounds because of the spirits. Our taxi driver waited outside the gate.
- The second theory, which was told to us by several people we met at the ‘Ghost Palace’ and seems to be the most popular on the internet is a bit more plausible and verifiable. The theory is that Tommy Suharto, the son of the President at the time, was building the property in the 1990s as an investment project. Tommy wasn’t the cleanest of characters and was sent to prison in 2002 for ordering the assassination of a judge, who had been responsible for convicting him of drug charges in a previous case. Once Suharto went to Jail in 2002 the building project ceased as funding and leadership went amiss.
The Abandoned Bali Hotel ‘Ghost Palace’: Current Condition
Today the ‘Ghost Palace is overrun by vines, bushes, trees, and moss. The elegant tile floors are now smeared with mud, moss, and puddles. The walls are covered in spider webs and vines.
As we walked through the huge property we noticed the fittings were never completed and many finishes were left undone. This led us to believe the hotel was in fact never opened as we had read and that the construction was abruptly aborted.
To give you an idea of just how big the property is I flew the drone overhead, although the conditions in the middle of the day weren’t great for aerial photography.
How to get into the ‘Ghost Palace’ Hotel, Bali
In the past, people have jumped over the back fence, which is in fairness hardly a fence and more of a barrier from the adjacent road. From there you can wander down to the hotel and explore. However, there is security and they are charging 10,000 IDR at the entrance. To put things into perspective you can pay $1 and walk through the front gate and shake the hand of the security guard or jump the back fence and dodge the security for two hours as he patrols the property. We paid the dollar.
They had no issue with us bringing drones, and cameras and running around the hotel for over two hours. In fact, once we were in they didn’t bother us at all. Only a few other couples ventured onto the property while we were there during the middle of the day. Access during the night may be different and also a little spookier.
What did we find
The coolest parts about the hotel were the following:
- The giant stone serpents on either side of the staircase in the garden, were overgrown by trees and bushes. This is an epic stairway to the roof area.
- We found a live snake, live frogs, fish, giant spiders, and lizards.
- Moss-covered floors that folded back like a carpet
- Huge dining room and entertaining area on the top floor with beautiful marble tiles
- The eeriest part was the cellar area or the downstairs. Here the floor was covered in sand a few inches deep and a light shone down only through cracks. If you dared me to spend the night down there I might wet myself.
- Beautiful hotel rooms with walk-out balconies overlooking the mountains and some rice-paddies
Where is the abandoned ‘Ghost Palace’ Hotel?
This location on Google Maps is deadly accurate and if you click on the location you will even see the photos. You can trust Google Maps on this one.
Happy exploring! Here are a few more shots from our adventure.
Sue
Tuesday 7th of March 2023
What a great film set it could be....
Friday 30th of December 2022
do u really have to be on each and every foto? what an egocentric being
Also Anonymous :P
Monday 9th of January 2023
He took every photo of the guy with dreadlocks. That's not him, idiot.
Sue Coe
Tuesday 17th of May 2022
Magnificent palace but so sad it’s been left to deteriorate 😢
Mel
Sunday 27th of February 2022
Man, I wish somebody would take over this project. Looks like a lovely place. I'm Indonesian but never went to Bali. Hopefully I'll get to visit soon.
Tuesday 1st of September 2020
loved to see few more pics of the cellar area...
Jackson
Thursday 3rd of September 2020
You'll have to visit for yourself!