In 1972 the Haludovo Palace Hotel opened as an Adriatic holiday location for the decadent and wealthy in Malinska on the island of Krk in Croatia. With a casino by Penthouse tycoon Bob Guccione as its main source of income it needed to attract that clientele to keep up the levels of extravagance that it became famous for and with the locals and usual casino goers staying away as soon as 1973 the Penthouse side was bankrupt. It still existed and ran fairly comfortably for the next 17 years without them still maintaining its high end status, but with the onset of the Croatian War of Independence and the end of the communist system tourists ceased to come. The hotel was used to house refugees and once the war was over was put up for privatisation in 1995. This signalled the end of a prime example of 70’s glory. Deals promising much and materialising into nothing soon left the hotel to nature, looters and ultimately vandalism. Whist there is still an outside chance that it could be revived it is for now a devastated place with graffiti and glass everywhere. It’s just waiting to be rescued.
