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Comment by Mark Chesnut on June 4, 2010 at 11:21am

I'm putting together a listing of very cool, but very CLOSED (meaning currently not functioning) hotels in Latin America. Does anyone know if the Hotel Humboldt is open or if plans to reopen are really happening? Last I heard, it's supposed to reopen in 2012, but I know that past plans have fallen through.

Comment by David Paul Appell on August 24, 2009 at 2:26pm

Just caught this in today's Miami Herald. If there are any golf fans out there who have played the Robert Trent Jones course on Margarita Island -- well, that's the end of that:

Chávez looms large over golf: Hugo Chávez's hard-line stand against the `bourgeois sport' has led to the closing of many golf courses

Venezuelan golf fairways, bunkers and greens have become both the stage of an ideological war headed by President Hugo Chávez and a showcase for the Bolivarian revolution's internal contradictions.

After a 70-year presence in the country, golf is now the target of criticism and attacks by Chávez administration leaders and organizations.

Official measures may result in the closing of more golf courses. In the past five years, the number of courses in Venezuela has gone down to 22 from 28, and three more courses may be in line to be closed as well, according to directors of the Venezuelan Golf Federation (VGF).

Among the closed courses is one the famous designer Robert Trent Jones built on Margarita Island -- the only Venezuelan course certified by the U.S. Professional Golf Association.

The other five courses no longer operating are located near oil fields in the states of Monagas, Zulia and Falcón. The courses remain inactive because the government does not consider their maintenance a priority...

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/1199514.html?storylink=mirelated