By Mark McConville
LOOK INSIDE the abandoned hotel and restaurant which even Gordon Ramsay couldn’t save after it featured in his TV show Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.
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The building looks largely as it did on the show despite being closed since 2007. The foyer and some of the bedrooms look like they could still be in operation today despite the dated interior.
The kitchen looks a bit worse for wear with dirt and rust spreading across the left-behind appliances. TVs, files and even items of clothing have also been forgotten.
The eerie images were taken at La Gondola Hotel Ristorante in Derby by a photographer known as Camkirk (44), from Stafford, UK.
“I was given the heads up that there was access through a door, though not which one,” he said.
“It was evident a lot of homeless people had been living in the shelter of porches and storage space and there were a lot of needles about the floor and on window ledges from drug users – so you had to have your wits about you.
“I got the idea for this shoot after watching the Kitchen Nightmares series on Channel 4’s catch up.”
Camkirk hopes his pictures can help get the restaurant and hotel back on its feet as he sees potential for a new business.
La Gondola featured on Channel 4’s Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares in June 2005. His advice and publicity gave the restaurant an initial boost but further cash flow difficulties forced a closure.
“On seeing the building and being able to relate to it after watching the program, you couldn’t help but feel a little sad about how and why these things happen,” he explained.
“I got the idea it was being looked after by somebody and I think that’s incredibly important. I just hope my pictures can reach out to someone that can see the enormous potential it has to offer, which is my primary goal of any building I come across.
“Considering the restaurant/hotel was a real focal point in the community, it really has dropped off the map.
“It’s still a lovely building, although it has suffered from some slight vandalism – luckily nothing major and I really do believe it could stand a chance of becoming something great again.
“Maybe not a restaurant, but certainly a new venture in keeping with the surrounding community.”
