INCREDIBLE photographs inside an abandoned 258-year-old hotel reveal secrets from past guests.
The Harry Lazurus hotel stands untouched in Posterngate, Old Town, Hull and was used as a refuge for thousands of migrants in the 1800s.
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It was built in 1764 and the public are usually banned from entering the site but one reporter was given a tour and pictures of the hotel were released.
Peeling wallpaper, fragile staircases and exposed brick show what used to be a lodging house that held space for 80 people.
Hull saw up to 10,000 migrants per fortnight at the time and this hotel would have given many the opportunity to stop before continuing across the Atlantic.
Migrant historian Dr Nick Evans siad: “At the height of the transmigration period there would have been dozens of these type of lodging houses in places like Hamburg, Liverpool and New York as well as Hull.
“Unlike elsewhere, the amazing thing about this building is that it has survived virtually intact.”
Twenty people would have been housed on the upper floor and they were families who intended to stay in Hull permanently.
Others were given space to wait before continuing the rest of their journey to Paragon Station – sometimes people were only there for a few hours.
Harry Lazarus, the manager, had been married twice and fathered 10 children, all of whom were provided with just one room.
But this is not the only part of history the hotel tells a story about.
There are hand-drawn pictures of soldiers on the walls dated back to 1927.
“It might have been used as a barracks at some point. It’s a part of the story we still don’t know a lot about,” Dr Evans said.
Hull is also home to another abandoned hotel, the Willerby Manor Hotel, once owned by Best Western until it closed over two years ago.
Spooky photos from within even reveal that a menu board was still up in the dining room, an insight into the hotel’s last day in operation.
Snapshots show rubbish and debris that had accumulated in the years after the closure.
The basement, which could be straight from a horror film, was full of abandoned beer barrels and bar equipment.
Upstairs, a large, airy room with a fireplace, presumably once a pleasant seating area, lay bare and cold.
The bedrooms, meanwhile, are in a terrible state and don’t help to dispel the creepy vibe, with photos of the rooms and even a rude note complaining about the hotel left within.
It also featured a pool, sauna and spa left untouched.
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