A luxury hotel in Ireland that was once popular with legendary footballer George Best has been taken over by nature as it lies abandoned.
Ostan Ghaoth Dobhair hotel in Bunbeg, Donegal was built in 1970 but closed its doors and was put up for auction in 2015 after a fall in tourists visiting the area.
From the outside, the hotel might look well preserved, but the interior tells a different story.
An urban explorer, who recently took photos of the rooms and was left “mesmerised” by the building, said the hotel looked “more like a greenhouse than a once proud establishment”.
"This was one of the few explores where I was truly in awe at the scale of the overgrowth and vegetation consuming the entire structure," they added.
The once grand dining room is now coated in green moss with paper falling from the ceiling and the flooring covered with debris.
Despite this some small chandeliers remain, and wooden tables and chairs are still set up in dining arrangements.
An eclectic array of objects including lawn chairs, a fire extinguisher, and bins lie partially submerged in the swimming pool making it tricky to envisage famous footballers such as George Best and Paddy Crerand once enjoying their holidays at the hotel.
Best is said to have described the area as being "the most beautiful place on earth".
While the hotel can no longer be said to elevate the area's beauty, it is currently part of a multi-million Euro development plan which will see it redeveloped into a leisure complex.
Bedrooms have been taken over by nature with foliage growing from the ceilings, walls, and even the bed sheets.
Like the rest of the hotel, these rooms have a mossy carpet and ferns sprouting throughout them.
The urban explorer who goes by the name of 'Lost Ireland' said: "The entire hotel looked more like a greenhouse than a once proud establishment and it was stunning to see how much green had taken over.”
He said one bedroom looked and felt like a jungle it was so overgrown and humid.
"The humidity was so high in that room too that it was surprising leaving it and returning to the rest of the building which was much cooler,” he explained.
"I heard about the hotel through Facebook and discovered the hotel through a quick Google search as it has a rich history.
"I spent around four and a half hours in the building as I was so mesmerised by the sheer extent of green decay that I lost track of the time."
