Want to add a bit of unpredictability to your travels? Then book a room at one of these eight spine-chilling resorts!
The First World Hotel – Genting Highlands, Malaysia
Malaysia’s First World Hotel has space for all manner of guests, ghosts included © 2014 Genting Malaysia Berhad
The First World Hotel has a little bit of everything. Yes, this bombastic resort atop of Malaysia’s Titiwangsa Mountains can boast of an exotic tropical rainforest, shopping plaza, bowling alley and theme park on its grounds, but most petrifying of all is the sky-high paranormal activity.
Reports suggest that some visitors to the largest hotel in the world have suffered from sleepless nights due to the restless poltergeists that haunt the 6,118 rooms. These noisy night-walkers are the ghosts of high-rolling gamblers who decided to end their days after losing big at the resort’s 24/7 casinos. Where most haunted hotels might have the occasional cursed and out-of-bounds room, The First World Hotel has a whole floor. Rumour has it that the elevator skips over the 21st floor due to its share of scares.
Hotel Burchianti – Florence, Italy
A favoured shelter for 1930s poets, artists and…Benito Mussolini, Hotel Burchianti also has become infamous for being one of Florence’s most spooky spots.
Wandering around the Burchianti’s elegant winding hallways makes you feel like you’re only a corner’s turn away from a close encounter with the un-dead. Guests have reportedly spotted a phantom old woman knitting in a lobby chair and a spectral maid waking up in the early hours to clean the rooms.
For the biggest scaredy-cats, you best avoid booking yourself in to the Fresco Room, where a hauntingly beautiful decorated ceiling is trumped by the eerie presences that haunt the room. Those fearless travellers who have spent the night in this palatial crypt have described how they had the sense of being watched all night by an unknown entity and an icy breath kissing their faces. The numerous close encounters haven’t stopped the Burchianti’s glowing reviews, however.
Dragsholm Castle – Odsherred, Denmark
Dragsholm Castle is an idyllic location by day and a spooky abode by night © Henrik Saxgren
By day, this 800-year-old fortification is one of the most charming coastal spots in all of Denmark. When darkness falls, Dragsholm Slot (meaning ‘castle’) becomes a place of mystery, lurking shadows and a hefty dose of ghosts! Often labelled the most haunted castle in all of Europe, there are an alleged one hundred spirits that roam through Dragsholm’s grounds and restaurants. Fortunately, the ghouls haven’t spoiled the first-class food. The three most remarkable of these dead residents are the Grey Lady, a former castle servant who has be known to help unpack guests’ bags, the Earl of Bothwell, a Scottish royal and formal prisoner here who rides around the courtyard on a horse. Most tragic of all is the White Lady, a young noble figure who was imprisoned in her room forever more after her evil father discovered she fell in love with a common castle worker. During some much-needed restorations to the castle in the 1930s, builders were horrified to discover a skeleton in a white dress entombed inside one of the castle wall… spooky!
The Russell Hotel – Sydney, Australia
Keep a lookout for The Russell Hotel’s infamous spectral sailor © The Russell Hotel
Experience Sydney‘s spooky side with an overnight stay in The Russell Hotel. Situated prominently in the city’s oldest neighbourhood, The Rocks, it was once frequented by rowdy seamen looking for a place to lay their weary heads, and later as a makeshift hospital during the bubonic plague in the early 1900s. With that epidemic firmly behind them, the Russell Hotel has since transformed into one of Sydney’s best boutique guest houses. But a trace of its naval past still roams the Russell’s halls, with a spectral sailor known to be residing in Room eight, eyeballing his fellow lodgers and making sure they sleep safely.
The Queen Anne Hotel – San Francisco, USA
Behave or face the wrath of a belated Victorian school mistress at The Queen Anne Hotel © Smallbones
Beginning its life as the Miss Mary Lake’s School For Girls, this cosy B&B hotel in San Francisco‘s scenic Pacific Heights district is allegedly haunted by the ghost of the strict headmistress herself. With the school sold against her will, she remains there today, roaming around the flamboyant Victorian establishment, primping herself in front of mirrors and tickling the ivories of the old Victorian piano. Far from scary, Miss Mary Lake’s residency brings a touch of old Victorian class to The Queen Anne, which is filled with neat vintage furniture wherever you turn, and the afternoon ritual of sherry and cookies for every guest. If you want the first-class spirit experience at The Queen Anne, make sure you book yourself in to room 410, Miss Mary Lake’s former quarters wherein she’ll gladly fluff your pillows or tuck you in at night.
The Fairmont Le Château Frontenac – Quebec City, Canada
The Fairmont Le Château Frontenac is rich in both history as well as paranormal activity © Citizen59
The centrepiece of the old town, this high and mighty Québécoise castle – and revered UNESCO World Heritage Site – is steeped in a rich and heart-rending history. Named after the 17th century governor of New France, Louis de Buade de Frontenac, it’s said that the old chief died on this spot, then known as the Chateau St-Louis, in 1698. While the exact cause of his death is unknown, the hopeless romantics amongst us suggest that the heartache he had for his then Paris bound wife didn’t help. Over three hundred years later, guests to The Château Frontenac have spotted the governor wandering around the halls looking for his soulmate. If old school romance doesn’t float your boat, then this Quebec institution’s other, particularly touchy-feely spectre will. The so-called Woman in White has a reputation for climbing into bed with guests still on this earthly plane.
The Stanley Hotel – Colorado, USA
Go on organised ghost hunts at The Stanley Hotel in Colorado © Jennifer Kirkland
If this huge, remote Colorado resort gave horror writer Stephen King the willies, you know that you’re in for a scare. The inspiration behind the best-selling novel The Shining, The Stanley Hotel fully commits to its terrifying reputation, inviting guests out on five-hour ghost hunts and frosty late night strolls through the hotel grounds. If you’d prefer to walk around alone, however, then watch out for the young giggling girls running around on the fourth floor. If their tomfoolery and persistent play becomes too much, you can always head downstairs for that loud jamboree happening in the ballroom, But don’t be surprised if you arrive to find it’s a ghosts-only party…
The Tequendama Falls Hotel – Bogotá, Colombia
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On the outskirts of Bogotá stands this creepy little cliff-side wonder. The once luxurious Hotel del Salto was opened in 1928 as a place for wealthy tourists to stay after staring in amazement at the Tequendama Falls gorge and waterfall.
Little did the hotel owners know that the location was doomed! Not only did the river water become contaminated, the fatal 515-foot drop became a favoured spot for people who wanted to shuffle off this mortal coil; with their spirits left to linger in the hotel corridors.
In a state of disrepair for twenty years, the mansion was resuscitated and brought back to its former opulent glory as a museum in 2012. You can’t stay overnight, but the spectacular views of the Bogotá River, cultural exhibitions and the prospect of some seriously bone-chilling spectres make the thirty-minute trip out of town worthwhile.
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