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Does Hotel California by The Eagles send a shiver down your spine when you hear those words? Remember how Percy Jackson was stuck in a Hotel for 4 years and did not realize because time passed rapidly? The Shining – Haven’t you read/watched that book/movie and felt claustrophobic and terrified? What happens when there are hotels which are acclaimed for being haunted? Find out – Go pack your bags, book a ticket, get a room. Stay. Befriend a ghost or kill the idea of ghost in your mind. Or go watch Hotel Transylvania.
• The Savoy, India
The Savoy is haunted by the ghost of Lady Garnet Orme. She was murdered here and one of the theories is that she was poisoned, but the case remains unsolved. It is supposedly Agatha Christie’s inspiration for her novel ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’. The doors swing open (must be the wind), the toilets randomly flush on its own (must be the plumbing). But what about the phantom of a woman that people see lurking in the passages of the hotel? Do savour your meal at The Savoy.
• Hotel Burchianti, Italy
Feel someone’s breath on your neck but don’t see anyone around? Is it icy? You might be in the Fresco room of the Hotel Burchianti. It was a hotspot for the 20th century intellectuals. A child’s ghost hops and skips. An apparition of woman knits. A maid haunts the stairwell. Various ghosts clamour here for your attention.
• The Crescent Hotel, USA
The Crescent Hotel has the honor of being called ‘America’s Most Haunted Hotel’. A man in a hat nodded and he was not a human. This image was captured on thermographic camera by the crew of the show Ghost Hunters. You have your proof but the scary thing is that this is not the only ghost, there are 7 more. Norman Baker, a former owner, used to scam people by claiming to cure cancer. A cancer patient who came for the treatment haunts the hotel along with Baker. In 1967, it was almost burned to ground. From the ashes, the spirits shall be woken!
• Toftaholm Herrgard, Sweden
The history of Toftaholm hotel is what tragic love stories are made of – a peasant boy in love with a Baron’s daughter, the father disagrees, tries to marry her off to another guy and what happens on the wedding day? The peasant boy enters room 324, commits suicide by hanging himself and never leaves that room. The guests have heard creaking windows and doors. Set by the Lake Vidostern, the hotel has the grandeur of 14th century architecture but feels like a melodrama.
• Mountain Park Hotel, South Africa
Making plans for your Saturday Night? Go to Mountain Park Holiday Resort Hotel for a guided ghost tour. The detailed history of the haunting is told and a paranormal photography contest is held. A ghost-dog called Wisp, a child called Matilda (not the Roald Dahl one) and 5 other ghosts haunt the hotel. Creepy ambience, creaking floors, stooped ceilings are some of the ghostly attractions. Meet and greet the ghost!
• Russell Hotel, Australia
Imagine waking up to a couple of seamen staring at you. For this creepy experience, head to Russell Hotel. The floors creak and footsteps are heard even when no one is around. A sailor’s soul haunts the room number 8 of the hotel. It was a sailor’s home during Colonial times and ghosts of seamen saunter around. A whistle to the open sea(man)!
• The Schooner Hotel, Britain
60. Sixty. That’s the number of spirits believed to haunt The Schooner. It has been declared as ‘The Most Haunted Hotel in Great Britain’ by The Poltergeist Society. Various smugglers, criminals stayed here and there has been human slaughtering and suicides. Children’s cries, women screams have been reported from room number 28. A hidden door connects the room 16 and 17, a boy’s apparition knocks on the doors and a floating image is seen in the corridors and at the bedpost. The ambiance of the hotel is eerie, with a soldier’s and a hand-maid’s ghost lurking around and people being engulfed by fear. It’s palpable!
• Fairmont Banff Springs, Canada
What happens when you spend most of your time at the office? If you are Sam McCauley then you start to haunt your work-place. He worked as a Bellhop at Fairmont Banff Springs and after his death, people have reportedly seen him in his uniform, trying to help them out. In addition, a bride who died on her wedding day haunts the hotel too. It is located in the picturesque Rocky Mountains. So if you’re chased by a shadow of ghost, you might be forced to do an impromptu edge-of-the-cliff jump.
• Dryburgh Abbey House Hotel, Scotland
The Grey lady committed suicide by jumping off the bridge and drowning. Dryburgh Abbey is built on the site of that lady’s house. Her lover was a monk, who haunts the abbey, all the while chanting. What’s that inscrutable sound that you hear? Listen closely. Someone’s chanting right next to you but you say there is no one around? Sure?
