Three Most Haunted Hotels in America: Check-In Available
After watching American Horror Story: Hotel, you start to wonder how many hotels have actually been haunted by paranormal entities. While doing some research, I stumbled upon some interesting, yet terrifying hotels that you can stay at. Specifically, a hotel that inspired “The Shining”. Stephen King wrote his famous novel after staying at The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado.
The Stanley Hotel
Ghostly occurrences are reported in almost every room of this vast hotel. The Stanley Hotel has been called “Disneyland for ghosts.” The Stanley is widely regarded as one of the most “spirited” hotels in America and has hosted countless paranormal investigations. People from around the world come to see the many phenomenons of the hotel such as Room 217, the vortex, the concert hall, the fourth floor, the ice house, the pet cemetery, the hedge maze, and the underground caves. What I found most hilarious yet alarming is that Jim Carrey stayed in Room 217 during the filming of Dumb and Dumber in which he was so freaked out that he ran out of his room in the middle of the night half-naked. Another chilling yet funny occurrence is that the woman who died in that room, a housekeeper caught in a lantern explosion, reportedly hates couples that sleep together but aren’t married. Therefore, she is inclined to pack up the luggage and put it by the door as her way of saying get out. Read more about the tales of the hotel here.
The next hotel is The Malaga, located in Mobile, Alabama. After looking at the hotel, I thought to myself, “How could something this beautiful be haunted?” Well, it turns out, the Lady in White ghost story is found here.
The Malaga
Guests have witnessed a chandelier swinging back and forth, lights coming on all by themselves, and furniture pieces mysteriously moving around on their own. This hotel is also built atop a secret tunnel used for confederate soldiers during the Civil War. As for the lady in white, the story begins with two townhouses that were constructed by two brothers-in-law as a wedding gift for the two sisters. Those townhouses are what you see above, refurbished into a hotel. Rumor has it they never really left and guests claim to have spotted a ghostly lady figure in white near the balcony of Room 007.
Last but not least, probably the most terrifying hotel, The Cecil Hotel. It inspired AHS: Hotel and you’ve definitely heard stories about this hotel, possibly without even knowing it was related to this specific hotel.
The Cecil Hotel
Its downfall began with the Great Depression making it a spot for violence and crime. The first death here was a suicide that lead to more deaths — suicides, overdoses, and murders. Two serial killers also inhabited this place; the “night stalker” Richard Ramirez and Jack Unterweger with Ramirez being convicted of 13 counts of murder, five attempted murders, and 11 sexual assaults, and Unterweger being convicted of killing nine women who were sex workers. Probably the most known story of this hotel was that of Elisa Lam’s death. This is the hotel that guests began complaining about the low pressure and the taste of the water in their rooms, not knowing that Elisa’s body was floating inside a closed water tank on the hotel’s roof. If you haven’t seen the surveillance video of Elisa going up to the roof, be wary when looking it up as it is unsettling. The video consisted of her stepping into an elevator and pressing random buttons. She then goes in and out of the elevator appearing to hide from someone and later on speaks to them, but no one is there.
Reports in 2019 indicated that the hotel may reopen in late 2021, but it is unclear whether the coronavirus pandemic has delayed the renovation process.
Speaking for myself, no thanks, but if you’re seeking an adrenaline rush, this is the place to stay.
