- Haunted hotels: rooms with a boo! The
Queen Mary, permanently berthed in Long Beach, was reportedly haunted way
before it sailed to California, but the spirits live on. If you're intrigued
by the supernatural, don't bother with one of those faux haunted houses.
Check in to one of the many old hotels around the country whose guests
have shared rooms with spectral cohabitants. The frights you get could
be real.
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- What do the Equinox in Vermont, the Queen
Mary in Long Beach, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, the Boca
Raton Resort in Florida and the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington,
D.C., all have in common?
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- For starters, they're hotels, and yes,
anyone can rent a room there. But if your idea of a quiet, pleasant stay
at a hotel sounds boring, then why not invite a few special guests to join
you? At these hotels and a number of others, I'm talking about spirits,
goblins, ghosts and unexplained noises, crashing sounds and voices.
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- If you believe in such things, or even
if you don't, you need to know about the growing number of haunted hotels
around the country.
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- These are the hotels with a special history,
legend and in most cases some colorful characters who manage to inhabit
the hotels or specific rooms. Whether it's for Halloween or all year-round,
it's definitely a different hotel experience. Here are my choices for
the great American haunted hotels.
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- CARE BEYOND THE GRAVE
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- If you're headed to Florida, you should
not miss a visit to the Boca Raton Resort and Club. Why? Just ask about
Esmeralda, the fabled green-eyed beauty employed by Addison Mizner, architect
and founding father of the original Cloister Inn. Esmeralda was considered
to be the special caretaker of the hotel and all of its guests. Not one
amenity for the guest left the service area without being inspected by
her: everything from flowers in the suites, hors d'oeuvres on the patio
during cocktail hour, welcome letters to the guests and the feeding and
caring of the many exotic animals kept by Mizner.
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- But that, as they say, is background.
Then comes the juicy part: One evening, Esmeralda was tragically killed
in a fire in her apartment on the grounds of the hotel, but her love and
care for the hotel and all of its guests are said to transcend time. To
this day, Esmeralda's presence is still felt in the third floor hallways
as a cool, unexplained breeze and the floral aroma throughout the lobby.
Also, fresh-cut roses have randomly appeared at bedside tables to guests
who frequent the hotel. When thank-you notes were written to the general
manager for his kind gesture, he had to admit that he had not sent them,
nor had anyone on his staff.
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- And yes, the <http://www.bocaresort.com/
Boca Raton Resort offers a special Esmeralda's 'Halloween Hunt' package:
the hotel sponsors a special ghost hunt for the spirit of Esmeralda, offering
a self-guided map to all of her haunts. The package includes deluxe accommodations
with space-available upgrades, breakfast and dinner, and specialized arrival
amenities, for only $150 per person. And don't leave the kids home, because
the hotel will be hosting a free 'Creatures of the Night' party just for
the kids.
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- POWERHOUSE SPINE-TINGLERS
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- In 1910, what is now the <http://www.loewsannapolis.com/index.html
Loews Annapolis Hotel in Maryland was known as the Washington/Baltimore
& Annapolis Power Sub-Station, which provided electricity for the railroad
and the entire city of Annapolis. Then in 1929, it was purchased by the
Annapolis Dairy and remained such until 1959. One would never suspect that
something as mundane as a substation or a dairy might provide some very
interesting psychic phenomena. Staff members, cleaning up after a banquet
function, heard a loud crash on the third floor's service corridor.
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- But in 1991, when it reopened its doors
as the Loews Annapolis Hotel, it seems to have reopened a door to the past.
Reports of odd occurrences have been happening since. Staff members, cleaning
up after a banquet function, heard a loud crash on the third floor's service
corridor. The lights began to flicker, and they rushed to the corridor
only to discover a broken bottle of milk splashed all over the floor.
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- Not such an extraordinary discovery,
except no milk had been served at the banquet, and, even more unsettling,
it was a glass bottle, something not used in many years.
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- There is also the story of the banquet
waiter who, clearing up the first floor of the Power House after dinner,
suddenly noticed the lights dimming and heard a loud noise, which seemed
to make the room vibrate as if an engine had been switched on. He saw a
bright light through the edges of the door to the service corridor, and
as the noise became louder, he approached the door. Immediately the lights
returned to normal and the engine vibration ceased. The waiter reported
the incident to his superior and learned that a train used to run adjacent
to the Power House, with its final run at approximately 11 p.m...the exact
time of his experience.
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- The hotel offers a special holiday package
with no guarantees of a ghost train starting at $109 during the week and
$129 on weekends through Thanksgiving. If someone offers you a bottle of
milk, RUN.
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- CALIFORNIA HAUNTING
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- Not surprisingly, California is loaded
with spirited hotels. At the <http://www.hollywoodroosevelt.com/ Hollywood
Roosevelt, a hallway mirror near one of the elevators is inhabited, some
psychics say, by the ghost of Marilyn Monroe (who reportedly lived there,
in room 1200, in the mid-'50s). There have been sightings of her in the
recent past moving through the mirror and down the hall.
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- Then there's the Queen Mary, permanently
berthed in Long Beach. The ship was reportedly haunted way before it sailed
to California, but the spirits live on. There were mysterious disappearances
on the huge liner, and some reported deaths. One crew member mysteriously
died in the engine room, and ever since, visitors can still hear a faint
tapping sound coming from the pipes.
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- And then there's the <http://www.coronado.ca.us/Visitor/hotel_del.html
Hotel del Coronado, in Coronado, Calif. Check out this story.
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- In 1892, Kate Morgan checked into room
3312 of the Hotel del Coronado and was to have met her estranged husband,
Tom, in that room. Tom never showed up, but four days later, Kate was found
dead, from a gunshot wound to the head, on the beach adjacent to the hotel.
Although it was ruled a suicide by the San Diego coroner's office, rumors
abound to this day. Since that time, many a guest has experienced the wrath
of Kate in the form of widely varying degrees of temperature, lights and
TV sets flicking on and off, glasses being thrown to the floor, and guests'
personal items being moved around on the bedstand.
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- Rates start at $205. No guarantee on
the behavior of the room thermostat, however, or on the 'real' TV remote
control.
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- It's not surprising that California's
historic Mission Inn has its share of the spirits. It is uncertain who
is really responsible for the hauntings that happen at this Riverside,
Calif., but the most likely suspect is 'Aunt Alice,' the sister of Frank
Miller, the original owner. Her suite, No. 402, has been the location of
many experiences, including nighttime visitations by an elderly lady, and
sudden, extreme temperature changes. In the hallways, sounds of a woman's
dress rustling, as if in a great hurry, have caused many a wary guest to
step aside to allow the unseen spirit free passage.
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- Packages start at $165 and include a
room for two, $50 credit to be used toward food, and a tour of the hotel
and its museum (if the room's empty, you might even get to see Aunt Alice's
suite).
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- In San Francisco, <http://www.msnbc.com/news/193096.asp
The Mansions Hotel is a good haunted address (2220 Sacramento Street).
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- Claudia Chambers, wife of the original
owner, Richard Craig Chambers, is reputedly among the most active of the
many spirits that roam the halls of The Mansions. Her untimely end was
gruesome enough for any really scary ghost story, having been cut in half
in an automobile accident. Since that time, she, along with myriad other
restless souls, have been believed responsible for a toilet seat that ripped
itself loose from steel hinges, a crystal glass that exploded for no reason
in the presence of guests, and the appearance of a lady at the head of
the grand staircase.
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- And wouldn't you know it, the place even
has a haunted magic show. You might also want to visit the Pig Museum,
a tribute to Claudia's pet pig. But be careful climbing the stairs. Rates
start at $149.
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- A HOST OF SPECTERS
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- Ever hear of the Marsh Tavern? It was
built in 1769 and is now called the <http://www.equinoxresort.com/frames.htm
Equinox, in Manchester Village, Vt. It boasts so many ghost stories and
sightings that no one seems to know who they are or why they 'haunt.' But
for whatever reason, room 440 is a favorite. It suffers from clanking and
banging from an unknown source, as well as pillows that seem to be pitched
onto the floor by an apparently uncomfortable, unseen guest. Room 301 also
has strange noises, but that's not all. Chambermaids have been known to
turn down one bed, leave the room and, upon returning, find the second
bed also turned down. One guest called down to the bar one evening requesting
a bottle of wine. When asked why she wanted an entire bottle (why they
would ask, I don't know), she replied that the ghosts flying over her bed
all night were keeping her up and she wanted a good night's sleep. In room
206, a housekeeper saw a pair of rocking chairs facing the window. She
turned them back around to the table. When she returned from cleaning the
bathroom, the chairs were facing the window again. The fourth floor is
apparently visited often by a little boy riding his bike up and down the
hallway, and on the third floor, hotel security has reported images of
a woman and child walking down the hallway. Two-day packages at the Equinox
start at $360, include breakfast and dinner daily, but that bottle of wine
is, of course, extra.
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- SILENT CAL'S PERSISTENCE
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- In Washington, D.C., the <http://www.renaissancehotels.com/WASSH/rates/suirm3.asp
Renaissance Mayflower Hotel hosted President Calvin Coolidge's Inaugural
Ball on March 4, 1925, and since Coolidge was in mourning for his 16-year-old
son, who had died of blood poisoning, he did not attend. It seems for that
reason, he is determined to make up for his absence by reappearing in strange
ways ever since. Interestingly, he seems to be aware that the inauguration
date has changed to Jan. 20, because that is the only date on which he
appears. In the Grand Ballroom, the lights seem to dim and flicker around
10 p.m. Although the electrical circuits have been checked by experts,
no physical problem has ever been discovered. Staff members have reported
finding a plate of hors d'oeuvres along with a glass of wine left in the
balcony of the Grand Ballroom; none of the items were served at that evening's
function. One elevator near the DeSales and 17th Street entrance refuses
to move from the eighth floor to the lobby level until 10:15 p.m., the
approximate time the President would have been arriving from his holding
room to the Ball. Packages here start at $135 a night.
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- GHOSTLY GUESTS
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- How would you like a comfortable night's
rest knowing the founder of the hotel is watching over you? Guests of the
Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee have reported spotting an older, portly, well-dressed
man surveying the lobby from the grand staircase. When those guests have
seen pictures of founder Charles Pfister, they have sworn he is the man
on the staircase. Packages at the <http://www.pfister-hotel.com/ Pfister
Hotel start at $249 and include strawberries and champagne delivered to
your room, a room service breakfast, and a late check-out. Chances are
you,ve never heard of Sallie White, but she was a chambermaid at the legendary
<http://mengerhotel.com/ Menger Hotel in San Antonio, Texas. One night,
after an argument with her husband, Sallie stayed at the hotel. She slept
in a room on the fourth floor and, according to speculation, was with another
man. The next day her husband threatened to kill her. On March 28, 1876,
the husband returned and attacked Sallie with an ax. Sallie died on March
30, and the funeral was paid for by the hotel. Sallie seems to take delight
in her current situation at the hotel. While packages start at $132, you
should be warned that guests have reported that when they see her (and
believe her to be the chambermaid), and then ask her to bring towels or
turn down the bed, she continues to walk down the hallway and completely
ignores the guest. Now, that's what I call service.
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- Peter Greenberg is the NBC Today show
travel editor.
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