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Hotel del Salto is located near Tequendama Falls in Bogotá, Colombia. The city was ruled by Muisca people. When the Spanish landed in south America, they started murdering and enslaving the Muisca people. To escape this date people started jumping off the edge of Tequendama Falls. Hundreds of people committed suicide during that time. Normally people try to avoid a place with such a haunting past.
In 1923, architect Carlos Arturo Tapias built his home near the falls. The mansion was so big and spacious yet he was alone with nobody to share the space. Eventually the horrors of the place started getting to him and he realised that it would be better to invite paid guests inside the house. Many influential people and celebrities started frequenting the mansion and many big parties were hosted on a regular basis. After sometime the mansion was converted into a hotel and the parties kept on going. In 1928, due to the great depression businesses fell and many people were moved to bankruptcy. The tourism industry affected the most as people would not go on any sort of vacation.
History repeated itself and locals started to jump off the falls during the period where they had no money and were forced into starvation. The number of guests at the hotel started to fall and those who still came to the hotel had to assist in investigations because people committed suicide near the hotel. The period was the start of the descent of the hotel and it didn’t reach its initial success again but many people still frequented the hotel. In 1990 the hotel closed down because of the decay caused by the moisture. In 2013 the government started renovations at the hotel to reopen it as a museum. People still visit the museum to know more about the history.
The hotel and the area surrounding it has a brutal history and due to a lot of deaths in the area, the atmosphere around the place always looks grim. When the hotel was abandoned, many homeless people squatted there, and there were accounts of people being scared by shadows that they could see from the corner of their eyes. Many people were also found dead inside the hotel during that time. It is said that the homeless people were lured there by paranormal forces and died inside the hotel. The abandoned hotel attracted a lot of paranormal investigators and these investigators captured a lot of evidence. At that time the hotel was completely taken over by nature from inside out with vines and moss covering the hotel beds and furniture. It is also believed that the site was cursed by Muisca people because their land was forcibly taken and they were slaughtered and driven to suicide. Even when the hotel was in operation, the guests would have a hard time sleeping as they would often see apparitions and hear whispers even when nobody was around. Sometimes people would even hear screaming from inside the hotel making them visibly shaken. The hotel has now been converted into a museum and a cultural site. Tours of the hotel are also provided to the curious visitors.
