Around the World - Column by Jennifer Merin

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Around The World: Halloween Encounters At America's Most Haunted Hotels

Jennifer Merin

When Halloween creeps on to your agenda, ink yourself in to visit the haunted hotel where Stephen King wrote “The Shining.” That would be the legendary Stanley Hotel -- or, more specifically Room 217 at the Stanley Hotel (333 Wonderview, Estes Park, Colorado 80517, http://www.stanleyhotel.com), an elegant mountain resort.

It was in Room 217 that King, inspired by the hotel’s paranormal activity, wrote half the novel. But most of the ghost sightings and strange things that happen in the hotel actually occur in Room 418 and, in general, on the entire fourth floor where the hotel’s servants’ quarters were once located.

The Stanley served as location for a made-for-TV version of “The Shining.“ but there is no ‘red rum’ in the property. In fact, most of King’s creation is fantasy, but hotel employees and guests confirm that they’ve heard children’s voices in the halls, especially outside room 408, even when there are no children to be seen.

The Stanley has a haunted history. It was opened in 1909 by F.O. Stanley and his wife, Flora, who apparently never wanted to leave their hotel. They are now among featured ghosts who entertain guests with strange and spooky behavior.

For example, in the music room, the piano plays by itself, especially late at night. This was Mrs. Stanley’s favorite room in the hotel, and people say she’s doing the piano playing.

The Stanley’s are also active in the billiards room and several other public areas, but they’re probably not the only ghosts inhabiting the hotel and spooking guests by turning faucets on and off, flushing toilets and moving objects from place to place.

It’s all prankish, though. The Stanley’s ghosts aren’t at all malicious, as are those in “The Shining.”

The Menger Hotel (204 Alamo Plaza, San Antonio, Texas 78205, http://www.mengerhotel.com) is even older than The Stanley. The Menger‘s best known ghost and most important ghost story date back to March 28, 1876. According to hotel legend, chambermaid Sallie White stayed at the hotel on night after having had an argument with her husband. Suspecting that Sallie was having an affair with another man, her husband attacked her and she died two days later. The hotel ledger shows that her funeral cost $32, and that the fee was paid by the hotel.

Several years ago, a guest who was staying in the hotel’s Victorian wing wanted extra towels and asked a maid he saw in the hall to provide them. The maid didn’t acknowledge him, nor respond to his request. When the guest called the front desk to complain about the poor service, he described the maid and the outfit she was wearing. The uniform he described was worn during Sallie White’s day, and not afterwards. So, Sallie roams halls.

If you see her this Halloween, and she ignores you, don’t be offended. And don’t be too scared -- she hasn’t hurt a single guest.

Other odd and ghostly occurrences at the Menger Hotel include heavy footsteps in unoccupied rooms, which, some believe, belong to a ghost who’s returning to The Alamo, which is adjacent to the hotel.

Built in 1886, just ten years after the Menger Hotel, historic Crescent Hotel & Spa (75 Prospect Ave., Eureka Springs Arkansas 72632, http://www.crescent-hotel.com) has been used as a college and a hospital, as well as a resort. The property reports a number of ghosts -- who look like students and hospital patients or medical personnel -- in specific rooms.

Room 218, which is very popular with guests who like ghosts, is said to be haunted by the familiar ghost Michael, an Irish worker who died when he fell from the roof during the hotel’s construction. Michael is reported to bang on the walls, and turn lights and the television on and off. He’s also seen in Rooms 202 and 424. Nobody claims to know whether he’s angry or simply thinks he’s still constructing the hotel, but either way, he’s noisy, but not aggressive.

Several of the hotel’s ghosts hail from the 1930s, when the building was used as a hospital and health resort. The ghost of Dr. Norman Baker, is said to haunt the Recreation Room. Baker was an inventor who claimed to have discovered a cure for cancer -- but didn’t have a medical license. He was jailed for four years for mail fraud, and lost his hospital. No wonder he’s said to look bewildered when he roams the hotel’s halls.

A nurse, dressed in a white uniform, has been seen on the third floor. And, Room 419 is haunted by a woman who introduces herself as a cancer patient, and then vanishes.

In the hotel’s Crystal Dining Room, spirits in Victorian attire have been seen sitting at the tables or reflected in the mirrors. Once, a staff member reported having left a Christmas tree and presents at one end of the locked and empty dining room, but, upon retuning, found the items moved to the other side of the room, and surrounded by a semi-circle of chairs.

Guests have reported seeing a tall handsome bearded man in the hotel lobby and knocking on doors, asking “Are You Waiting for me?"

And, if you’re a ghost hunter, your answer has to be, “Well, yeah!”

In fact, people who like to track paranormal activities at Halloween or any other time of year can find ghosts from coast to coast. In the west, Southern California boasts ghosts in two historic properties.

The Queen Mary Hotel (1126 Queen Hwy., Long Beach, California, 90802, http://www.queenmary.com), the former ocean liner now tied up as a tourist attraction, has its own ghost lore, with reports of supernatural sightings, disembodied voices, rapping noises and moving objects. The Queen Mary offers a popular Dinner and a Ghost Tour experience, with a paranormal host guiding guests to the ship’s haunted areas in search of ghosts.

Nearby, Hotel del Coronado, 1500 Orange Avenue. Coronado, California 92118, http://hoteldel.com), established in 1888, has a lovely Victorian ambience and a haunted history. The most famous resident spirit is a former hotel guest, Kate Morgan, who died more than a century ago on the hotel’s steps leading into the sea. She is said to haunt the beach, the room in which she stayed and some of the retail shops, where Marilyn Monroe memorabilia sometimes unexpectedly falls off shelves -- thanks, they say, to Kate.

Further north, Heathman Hotel (1001 SW Broadway, Portland, Oregon 97205, http://portland.heathmanhotel.com) warns you that you may not be the only guest in room ending in “03," where paranormal activity is frequently reported. Guests report that when they return to their rooms, they find towels and water glasses used, chairs moved, linens rumpled -- although the computerized door locks show the room doors haven’t been opened.

On the east coast, The Sagamore (110 Sagamore Road, Bolton Landing, New York 12814, http://thesagamore.com), was built in 1883 and throughout its history has attracted wealthy socialites -- and ghosts. A laughing ghost boy is said to haunt the golf course, stealing balls and flinging them from behind trees. In the dining room, a young ghost couple argues, then he flings her to the floor and she fades into the carpet. There are also reports of a mysterious lady in white who visits guests in their rooms.

Enjoy your Halloween hotel paranormal ghost encounter, but if you meet a ghost, don’t say “Trick or Treat!”

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COPYRIGHT 2009 JENNIFER MERIN

Copyright 2009 Jennifer Merin

This news arrived on: 10/27/2009

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