Boo! Top 10 Haunted Hotels

Posted on Oct 14, 2010 under Archives | No Comment
Yikes, it's almost Halloween.

Yikes, it's almost Halloween.

I love Halloween.  In addition to being my sister’s birthday, it’s the one night of the year when you get to channel your inner personality or personalities and be whomever you want.  Here in Toluca Lake, the neighbors go all out decorating the houses so it is always fun to walk around and see the scary decor.   Here’s my list of the scariest places to stay this Halloween.

For fans of the fantastic, lovers of the lurid and mavens of the macabre, haunted hotels offer unique places to stay where visitors might meet some permanent “guests.”   If ghosts and goblins intrigue you during the Halloween season, book a night at one of these haunted hotels for a most memorable evening.

Hotel Del Coronado

Hotel Del Coronado

Hotel Del Coronado, San Diego

I’ve stayed several times at the Hotel Del.  It is pretty spooky at night, as my friend Sheila and I both thought the hallways reminded us of the spooky hallways in “The Shining.”  It is also a bit creepy to wander around at night.  We were too chicken to stay in room 3312, I am a big scaredycat so I am waiting to stay in the haunted room until  I take my boyfriend with me.  Here is the ghost story:  At the elegant Hotel Del Coronado, the whisper of “Kate Morgan” sends shivers down the spine.  Did she kill herself or was she murdered at this family-friendly resort?  Either way, her ghost lingers in room 3312 at this seaside Victorian landmark.

Queen Mary Hotel

Queen Mary Hotel

Queen Mary Hotel, Long Beach

The mighty Queen Mary traveled more than 1,000 Atlantic crossings.   This former cruise ship is now a permanently anchored hotel but spooks, phantoms and ghosts are said to keep sailing through the staterooms and salons.

Renaissance Mayflower Hotel

Renaissance Mayflower Hotel

Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, Washington, DC

Strange occurrences, said to be linked to the hotel’s first inaugural ball honoring Calvin Coolidge, still reveal themselves at this stately hotel.   The President, still mourning the death of his 16-year old son, did not attend the 1925 ball.  Each year on inauguration day (January 20), lights in the ballroom dim, hotel staff find mysterious plates of food and wine on the ballroom balcony and the same elevator refuses to work until 10 pm, the time the President would have arrived at the ball.

Martha Washington Inn

Martha Washington Inn

Martha Washington Inn, Virginia

A confederate soldier died at the Abingdon inn in 1864.  Legend claims that the soldier’s horse wandered the grounds for hours in search of its owner.   Today, guests and staff say that on moonless nights a ghostly riderless horse can be seen on the inn’s south lawn.

Crescent Hotel

Crescent Hotel

Crescent Hotel, Arkansas

Once a cancer hospital and a girl’s school, this hotel is packed with ghosts including a regular in room 218.   Guests can check it out for themselves by attending the nightly ghost tour.

Le Pavillon Hotel

Le Pavillon Hotel

Le Pavillon Hotel, New Orleans

Capitalizing on its four resident ghosts, a teenager named Ada, a young man, and an aristocratic couple, the hotel offers a “haunted experience” including an evening séance inspired turndown and two passes for the Ghost Expeditions French Quarter tour.

Forsyth Park Inn

Forsyth Park Inn

Forsyth Park Inn, Savannah

Okay, I actually went to this one as well.  Didn’t stay here but it was part of my walking midnight ghost tour (a must when in Savannah, very creepy) when I was in Savannah doing a story.  I didn’t see any ghosts, but the tour was really spooky because there are hundreds of dead slaves buried under all the squares in Savannah, so you are basically walking on … well, you can figure it out for yourself.  Also, we spent lots of time on the press tour at the Mansion on Forsyth Park, which I later learned on the ghost tour that it was built on the site of an old mortuary.  Yikes.  Hundreds of dead folks were once there.  They didn’t mention that at the spa or while we were eating in the restaurant.  Hmmm.  Savannah is officially the most haunted city in the US, so if you’re into ghosts that’s the place to go.  Many locals refuse to enter the Mansion due to its’ history.  Good thing I didn’t know any of that info before my stay, just learned it on the last night at the ghost tour.  Pretty spooky.  Here is info on the Forsyth Park Inn:

This Queen Anne Victorian inn built in 1896 as a private home is said to be haunted by two members of the Churchill family, its former inhabitants.   The alleged ghosts include Lottie, a young girl who poisoned her uncle’s mistress, and Lottie’s mother.

Jekyll Island Club Hotel

Jekyll Island Club Hotel

Jekyll Island Club Hotel, Georgia

Two ghosts reside in this famous Southern resort, General Lloyd Aspinwall, a founding member of the club said to be seen walking around the veranda, and Samuel Spencer, president of the Southern Railroad Company, who had a morning ritual of reading the paper in his room while sipping coffee.   Guests staying in Spencer’s old room report finding their morning newspaper disturbed and their coffee cups mysteriously emptied.

Stanley Hotel

Stanley Hotel

Stanley Hotel, Colorado

This hotel is so spooky that it inspired mega horror author Stephen King to pen The Shining.   King stayed in room 217 while writing the book and the ABC miniseries of the same name was filmed at the hotel.  This is the next one for me on my list of scary places, because it looks really creepy in the miniseries.

So, if you go to any of these places (and return!) let me know.   Or, just rent 1408, a good scary haunted hotel pic, or the also creepy “The Shining.”

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