Tag: Haunted Hotels View All Tags
Halloween Hotels
Halloween Hotel Thrills Continue Through November
October 27, 2008 at 2:54 PM | 0 Comments
Over 50 years ago, the murder of the Black Dahlia froze Los Angeles, embroiling the whole city in a mystery so deep it was never solved and so controversial that it is still being retold through books, movies, music, and late-night ghost stories. And of course, like all good stories, it began at a hotel. Cue creepy music.
The Millenium Biltmore was the last place the victim, The Black Dahlia, was seen before she was seen dead, in lots of pieces and so it makes sense that her story be told starting in the same place.
If Halloween doesn't scare your socks off on Friday night, then sign up for the Black Dahlia Bus Tour on Saturday, Nov. 1 to really round out your terrifying weekend. The tour is part of Esotouric's Noir November Sampler:
Creepy, right? The deadly drive will cost you $58 per person. Register at the Esotouric site.The tour takes us from the human hustle of Main Street to the serene lobby of the Biltmore (the second-to-last place she was seen alive), to the newspaper offices and the Greyhound station where she checked her bags, and concludes at the site where her bisected body was found in Leimert Park and with a little known suspect who lived nearby.
Haunted Hotels
Vampire Expert Alleges Haunted Happenings at the Bowery Hotel
October 23, 2008 at 9:00 AM | 1 Comment
We're well aware that the Bowery Hotel has questionable neighbors, but we're wondering if anyone has had any experience with the hotel's more ghastly guests?
We were geeky enough to take a walking ghost tour of the Lower East Side last week, when our guide (who specializes in vampires!) had us stop to check out a hidden marble cemetery just behind the Bowery Hotel on Second Avenue (not to be confused with the more conspicuous marble cemetery around the corner on Second Street).
Our guide then proceeded to tell us about how just about every night at 1 a.m., the hotel's elevators go haywire--an occurrence that allegedly happens often enough it no longer fazes the staff.
We thought about hanging around the Bowery Hotel to check out this purported paranormal activity, but we were scared off when told about the wait for a table at Gemma.
Got a Ghostbuster-like Bowery Hotel story? Let us know.
[Photo: Casey Kelbaugh for the NY Times]
Fall Foliage Hotels
Fall Foliage Hotels :: Ohio's Granville Inn
September 18, 2008 at 1:31 PM | 0 Comments
Ask anyone where to see fall foliage, and they'll chime in the same answer: New England. But look, folks, wherever there are maples, elms, beeches, and hickories, there's gonna be foliage.
What about those buckeye trees? Yes, nobody ever thinks of Ohio when it comes to trees turning, but The Ohio Department of Natural Resources reports that mid-October is going to be a choice time to see the colors change before the leaves drop.
There's no place better to snuggle up than in a picturesque, hilly college town, with peaceful sidewalks perfect for strolling, and one of the best beer bars in the entire state...
That place is Granville, Ohio, a half hour's drive from Columbus and home to Denison University.
The Granville Inn has 30 guest rooms, with deliciously low rates that start at $99. The rooms are equipped with free internet access, cable, and crammed with antiques. Although, we do admit it does give off a "night at Grandma's" sort of vibe.
But there's alcohol! Wine Spectator has given wine list an Award of Excellence for four years straight, and the hotel is on the National Register of Historic Places. It's also purported to be haunted. So you could have some ghost-hunting to go with your leaf-peeping too.
Hotel News
Hotel Fights Museum Over Who Gets to Use Accused Murderer's Name
August 22, 2008 at 3:53 PM | 0 Comments
Oy. This world.
Lizzie Borden, the Massachusetts Sunday school teacher who was accused of murdering her mother and stepfather in 1892, committed her (alleged) famous crime in a home in Fall River, Mass.
That home is now a lucrative bed and breakfast (no, we don't know why anyone would want to stay there either) named after the lovely Lizzie herself! It features historical tours and a giftshop, essentially functioning like a museum. Unfortunately, someone up in Salem, Massachusetts wants to start up an official Lizzie Borden Museum (using her name and all)...and that's not gonna fly with the B&B owner.
Haunted Hotels
The Ultimate Haunted Hotel :: A Former Sanatorium Will Reopen as Hotel
August 13, 2008 at 4:30 PM | 3 Comments
Add another to the list of haunted hotels: A former Ford employee purchased the abandoned, vandalized 30 acres of Waverly Hills Sanatorium in south Louisville for $225,000 in 2001, and is now determined to turn the spooky property into a first-class hotel complete with spa and business center.
Currently this gutted old hospital for tuberculosis patients, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, hosts paranormal camp-outs for $100-a-head and was the subject of a six-hour feature on the Sci Fi Channel. Even wikipedia-ing this place will give you the heebie-jeebies. So will night-vision goggles and thermal sensors be part of the mini bar?
Scariest Hotels
Happy Hotel Halloween
October 31, 2007 at 5:57 PM | 0 Comments
Happy Halloween y'all! In honor of the best holiday ever, we decided to drop in some links to our favorite scary hotels and stories.
· HotelChatter's Top Haunted Hotels: Places with known ghosts roaming about.
· Haunted Hotels: More places with ghosts.
· Hotel Carter: Not haunted, but quite possibly the scariest hotel ever.
· Bed Bugs: Let's hope these critters don't getchu!
· Chateau Marmont: We have no idea if actual ghosts roam this place but the whole Belushi overdose and its proximity to Hollyweird make is scary enough.
· Gramercy Park Hotel: If the deep red carpeting and hallways don't scare you, nor does the rest of the decor, then think about all the dead souls who used to visit GPH and how pissed they must be that Ashely Olsen is making out with Lance Armstrong there.
· The Magic Castle Hotel: Any hotel adjacent to a spooky castle where magic is performed on a nightly basis is scary. 'Nuff said.
[Photo: Angela_ronald]
Haunted Hotels
HotelChatter's Favorite Haunted Hotels
October 11, 2007 at 5:27 PM | 4 Comments
Halloween is one of our favorite holidays here at HotelChatter and not just because we like to dress up our dog in dandy outfits and eat candy, but because its gives us a chance to spotlight some of the Haunted Hotels that we write about throughout the year. These hotels may be haunted but that's not all there is to them. So here are our top picks for a frightening but fun stay.
· The Timberline Lodge: HotelChatter Maven Annie0007 just wrote about this the other day as part of her Oregon Hotel Trail Guide It was the set for Kubrick's scary The Shining movie but the food here is out of this world.
· Hotel Del Coronado: Who knows if this San Diego hotel is haunted or not. Paranormal researchers believe it is but when we stayed there nothing funny happened. Instead we enjoyed the beach, spa and hotel lounge. Still, the story of the ghost Kate Morgan is pretty scary and the hotel is pretty darn old.
· The Hollywood Roosevelt: Some reports say Marilyn Monroe shows up in her namesake suite, others report a man dressed in black skulking around a ball room. Either way, if you don't see ghosts you will see celebs.
· The Ocean Edge Resort: The hotel has a weepy widow who roams the halls (doing pretty standard ghost stuff) but you can bring the kids along for a ghost-hunting package.
· The Stanley Hotel: This place inspired Stephen King to write one of the scariest books-turned-movies of all time, The Shining. So you know you will be freaked out here whether you see something or are just imagining the Red Rum twins.
Have your own favorite Haunted Hotel? Let us know.
[Photo: Riv]
Haunted Hotels
Hotel Del Coronado Ghost 'Speaks'
June 25, 2007 at 11:53 AM | 8 Comments
We've written about the famously haunted Hotel Del Coronado and its creepiness before. Legend has it, a 24-year-old preggers golddigger named Kate Morgan checked into the hotel under the false name Lottie Bernard. A few days later, she was found dead near the hotel's back entrance and her death was ruled a suicide.
This was 1892, by the way, and girlfriend has been hanging around the hotel ever since. She pulls the cliche ghost-y moves like slamming doors and randomly turning on TVs, nothing new, but people have also reported an ultra-freaky indentation on pillows (like a head is resting there) that keeps reappearing despite fluffing or tossing the pillow. Ew.
Haunted Hotels
Hotel Ghosts Caught on Tape
November 10, 2006 at 4:32 PM | 0 Comments
We've written numerous times about the haunted Stanley Hotel in Colorado, which prompted Stephen King to write his novel, "The Shining" after a stay here (which was then made into the movie with Jack Nicholson and the Red Rum twins.)
Now, thanks to YouTube we get to see the Sci-Fi Channel's in-depth look at what it's like staying in the most haunted room of them all, Room 401. We actually got a little scared but still think it is suspicious that all the paranormal activity is happening off-camera.
Related Stories:
· Haunted Hotel Gets Some Camera Time [HotelChatter]
· Haunted Stanley Hotel, Colorado [YouTube]br>· Stanley Hotel reviews [TripAdvisor]
Haunted Hotels
Ghost-Hunting at the Ocean Edge Resort
October 18, 2006 at 9:15 AM | 0 Comments
We got another hotel to add to our Haunted Hotels list. The Ocean Edge Resort & Club claims to have a real ghost wondering their halls and if you book their "Spooky Mansion" package, they will even give you a flashlight to help look for Addie the Ghost.
Here's her backstory:
The original Nickerson Mansion, built in 1906 by Samuel Nickerson for his son Roland and his wife Addie, was burnt down in a great fire. The existing Victorian-style mansion, which is the centerpiece of Ocean Edge Resort & Club and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was re-built in 1912. However, Roland never got the chance to see this mansion, as he passed away just two weeks after the fire. Addie moved into the expansive home upon its completion with nothing but the empty halls to roam. Legend has it that Addie's ghost still wanders the hallways, eternally heartbroken over the loss of her husband and desperately clinging to her Mansion.
The package will get you a chance to see Addie and along with your room you'll get daily breakfast for two, a jack-o-lantern of treats, complimentary late-night coffee and of course, the flashlight. If that's not enough, ask the front desk to use their Ouija board.
For $189 per night, fear not over whether or not you actually do find Addie as the rooms also have WiFi and movie channels and the resort has a fitness center, pools, and the surrounding activities of Cape Cod.
And if you do happent to find Addie, maybe its best if you keep that to yourself.
Picture of Addie post-click.
Related Stories:
· Ocean Edge Resort Reviews [TripAdvisor]
Haunted Hotels
Haunted Hotels :: Hotel Maison De Ville
September 29, 2006 at 9:00 AM | 0 Comments
We've written about Haunted Hotels before but this week we're looking for some good ghost stories. We know, Halloween is not for another month, but if you plan on taking a trip around the end of October, you should know which hotels might have some unpleasant and unwanted guests. Unless, you're into that sorta thing.
New Orleans can be a very scary place and we're talking about things not related to the hurricane. For all things haunted in the city, like voodoo stories and vampire sightingsHaunted New Orleans has whatever you're looking for.
But if you want a taste of "Southern discomfort" in your hotel, then head to the Hotel Maison de Ville. The hotel is supposedly in haunted by a soldier who likes country music.
Twenty years ago, a hotel employee opened the door to Cottage No. 4 and saw a man dressed in military uniform, who then disappeared. Supposedly, whenever the cottage's radio is turned to a classical station, the ghost changes it back to a country station.
All country music, all the time? God, that is scary.
Here are some of the other Haunted Hotels we looked at this week:
· Hollywood Roosevelt
· Langham Hotel London
· Napa River Inn
· Windsor Hotel
Image via Carly& Art/Flickr
Related Stories:
· Hotel Maison de Ville reviews [TripAdvisor]
· The Most Haunted Hotels [Forbes]
Haunted Hotels
Haunted Hotels :: Hollywood Roosevelt
September 28, 2006 at 9:05 AM | 0 Comments
We've written about Haunted Hotels before but this week we're looking for some good ghost stories. We know, Halloween is not for another month, but if you plan on taking a trip around the end of October, you should know which hotels might have some unpleasant and unwanted guests. Unless, you're into that sorta thing.
In Los Angeles years, where something that is five years old can roughly be equaled to 25 years in other cities, the Hollywood Roosevelt is practically an ancient landmark.
Back in the day before the guys of Entourage, the Simpson sisters and Amanda Scheer-Demme invaded the place, old-time Hollywood celebs like Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo, Will Rogers and Clara Bow were frequent guests and revelers. Unfortunately, the hotel later spent years languishing in a state less desirable than its original glory.
Around the mid 1980s, the hotel underwent its first round of renovations (the second being the fix-up done by Jason Pomeranc and Thompson Hotels a few years ago.) It was during this first restoration, that ghosts were spotted:
The first strange event took place in December 1985, about two weeks before the grand re-opening. Alan Russell, the personal assistant to the General Manager, was in the Blossom Room, where the first Academy Awards banquet was held in 1929. He was sweeping the floor when he noticed an extremely cold spot in one part of the room. He and the other employees who were present were perplexed to find there were no drafts or air conditioners to explain away the chill. Psychics who have investigated the hotel believe there is a man in black clothing who haunts this room, although who he may be, no one knows.
Another employee said she spied th reflection of a blonde woman in a mirror that once hung in suite 1200, where Marilyn Monroe frequently stayed.
All this is very troubling because does this that 100 years from now the ghosts of Lindsay Lohan and Jessica Simpson will be haunting the Hollywood Roosevelt instead of Marilyn Monore?
Related Stories:
· Haunted Hollywood [Prairie Ghosts]
· Hollywood Roosevelt reviews [TripAdvisor]
