The Bellemont was an Antebellum, Colonial, plantation-style hotel (my grandfather was its manager)
The Bellemont was an Antebellum, Colonial, plantation-style hotel and
convention center built in 1946, according to a Yahoo travel listing that doesn't yet know it's closed.
This enormous complex is empty now...kind of. (See that car? Not
ours. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.) Thankfully I had a new
abandoned co-explorer to help me craven up for this mission.
At the far end of the front of the complex is the only building still
officially in use: The Great Hall, which has several ballrooms and other
rooms available for events. Note the table set for no one.
But
in-use buildings= boring, so let's move on and look inside at the main
lobby. (To clarify, these photos were taken through windows, as are
almost all the inside-view photos on this blog. The place is locked.)
And here we have the best piece of tragically abandoned furniture ever.
The lobby appears to be in decent shape, until you notice the green and gray living carpet.
What do you think these chairs in the next photo were set up for? "Attention staff: we are closing, if you couldn't tell."
The sign on the window of The Orleans Room says, TEMPORARILY CLOSED.
That's not the first such inaccurate sign I've seen in my abandoned
travels.
Between the lobby and the Great Hall there was a bit of
trouble visible though a curtain opening. A roof collapsed, chandelier
on the floor and all, exposing this lovely LSU Tigers mural to the open
air.
Here's the view in the other direction from the collapse.
The Bellemont's bar/club, Brella's Spirits & Spins, is not doing much better. Here's what remains of it.
That's all you get for now, kids. Part Two of The Bellemont, including the interior campus areas, the hotel rooms, and more, is here.