People Who’ve Stayed Or Worked At Haunted Hotels Describe Strange Happenings
Creepy hotel incidents happen with such frequency that entire movies and TV series, from The Shining to American Horror Story, base their scares around haunted hotels.
With their vast size, long, empty hallways, and sometimes sordid histories, spooky hotels make for excellent sources of paranormal and creepy activity. Rattling doorknobs, unexplained noises, and unsettled guests appear frequently in scary stories from hotels, often overshadowing people's memories of vacation. After all, how can you recall your wonderful ski excursion when the room you stayed in scared you more than the steepest of slopes?
Even hotel workers get spooked by their places of employment, though most look like they've at least come to an understanding with their "permanent" guests. Honestly, many would rather deal with the occasional ghost than the gross stuff you leave in your hotel rooms.
Back From The War, Back From The Dead
From SJB95:
"A friend's grandfather either worked in or owned a hotel at some point. The building was hundreds of years old, dating back to the English Civil War. The story goes that he was cleaning up in the dining room and he saw three men in armor charging at him with weapons; being 'ghosts' they just ran through him, but apparently he was left feeling physically ill afterwards having come into contact with the apparition.
"Friend's grandfather called a medium to come check the place out and she freaked out at the nature of the supposed presence in the hotel. If I remember correctly, they found through later research that there had been some murder committed by three soldiers in the building during the Civil War.
"Not much of a believer in that kind of stuff, but I definitely like a good ghost story."
Seeing The Red Lady
From MikeOxbigg:
"I worked in a hotel that was supposedly haunted by 'The Red Lady' who was an actress that committed suicide in our building back in the day. We had a security guard quit on day one after he allegedly saw her.
"My first month in the job, we were short-staffed so I was delivering guest folios and using the access stairwell. A lady in a red dress and red heels with movie star hair and classic good looks walked into the access stairwell one flight down from me and didn't even glance my way, just kept walking down. I was about to sh*t. She didn't acknowledge me at all until she made it down about three flights and looked up at me. Dead in the f*cking eyes.
"She said, 'Where are the vending machines?'"
A Waking Nightmare
From Scrappy_Larue:
"I've stayed in a couple of them just by chance, and nothing unusual happens.
The most recent was the Clown Motel in the middle of the Nevada desert. It even shares the parking lot with an old, spooky cemetery. The most disturbing thing was no coffee maker in the room."A Presence Was Felt, But It Never Felt Threatening
From backwardsinheels:
"I worked housekeeping in a chain hotel.
"There was one room at the end of the hall where things would happen while you were working on it, and the same two things every time. Sometimes the faucet would start running. Not full blast or anything, but turned on enough to be running steadily. A half-turn of the knob I'd say. I'd be in the other room and suddenly hear water gurgling down the drain. Sometimes I'd be working on the tub and hear it on behind me. Whoever/whatever would also turn on the TV. I'll never forget being warned on my first day that things would happen in the room, and then while making a bed and rustling the sheets noisily - suddenly aware I was hearing muffled voices and seeing the TV was on. I'm getting chills thinking back on those moments. Whatever part of the room your back was to, it felt like someone was there. I got the feeling they didn't want to be in the way, but they wanted to be there with you.
"One thing we all felt throughout the staff: none of us felt threatened . . . none of us felt like it was a bad person or someone who was trying to frighten us. We all felt overwhelmingly like it was someone trying to reach out. It had limited ways, and was lonely. Sometimes I'd say hello, sometimes I'd say sorry, because I felt like if they were frustrated trying to tell me something. I'd want them to know I felt for them.
"I realize I sound crazy but it happened super regularly and was witnessed by a lot of people. I thought a lot about whoever it could be. The hotel has since been bought by a college and was turned into dorms. I hope having people staying in the room more steadily will be a good thing for whoever that spirit was. Maybe they felt less lonely with students actually living there than a revolving door of hotel guests."
A Party In The Bedroom (Not ~That~ Kind)
From Sandbargirl:
"Not me but a friend who is a pilot.
"She stayed at an older hotel downtown Chicago and was studying for her recurrent class which was in a few weeks. While at the desk, deep in thought, she heard people talking and laughing. When she looked up, it got quiet. She said it sounded like it was in the room with her and went back to studying. The noise started off softly and then again sounded like a party was going on in her room. She got up and looked around and there was silence. There were no sounds coming from any rooms; no televisions on, no radios, no people in the hallway - the noise was definitely in her room. That night around 2 AM, she was in bed and felt someone brush strands of hair from her forehead and tuck it behind her ear. She jumped up and turned on the light and there was no one there. She didn't get back to sleep and bid around that overnight so she wouldn't be in that hotel again."
Don't Be Chicken
From NejKidd:
"I used to work at a 'haunted' hotel and camping ground. The place was built as an old-fashioned manor house and grounds, so it had this long winding drive, stables, summer house and various other assorted outhouses that Victorian Country Men needed.
"Where they'd built the camp reception was in the bottom of the valley in this clearing. To one side was a pet cemetery of the old house's children. Spanning about three generations of the family, these people had some weird pets: a couple dogs, cats, a huge amount of chickens, ferrets, and a cow. They were all buried in this little patch of ground which the company decided to keep as it was because it was quaint.
"Anyhow, the receptionists often had customers checking in asking 'What's with all the chickens running around? We nearly ran some over coming down the drive!' We were never allowed to tell them the chickens weren't actually there because management said we'd scare people away.
"There were plenty other places on the site which were haunted, but that one always made me giggle."