Americas Top Five Haunted Hotels

Whether you believe in paranormal and supernatural entities or activities or not, there are things that happen in certain places all over the world that are unexplainable. Some people associate these unexplainable things to poltergeists, ghosts and spirits that are still here because they have unfinished business. Here are just a few of these haunted places.

1. The Stanley Hotel, was built by Freeland Oscar Stanley (or F.O. Stanley) in the early 1900s, the Georgian style hotel was not completed until 1909. This hotel that F.O. Stanley built catered to the rich and famous or any person who was influential during that time. F.O. Stanley hosted a number of parties that were exclusive to his "famous" guests including Theodore Roosevelt, the Emperor and Empress of Japan and a variety of Hollywood socialites. The Stanley Hotel is what gave Stephen King the inspiration to write the book, "The Shining". The most notable seen ghost in this hotel is that of F.O. Stanley himself. His apparition is mostly seen in the billiard room, which was his favorite room when he was still alive. During one of the many tours that the hotel now offers, it was said that F.O. Stanley appeared behind a member of the tour. Bartenders at the hotel also report having seen F.O. strolling through the bar, only to vanish when the bartender tries to approach him. F.O. Stanley's wife, Flora has also been seen and it is said that she continues to entertain guests with her piano playing in the ballroom. There are several of the hotel rooms that are said to be haunted as well. One is room 407, occupied by Lord Dunraven's ghost. Lord Dunraven owned the land the hotel was built on prior to Stanley.

2. Le Pavilion Hotel was built in 1907 and was often called "The Belle of New Orleans". Le Pavilion has wondrous charm with luxurious and historic antiques all through the hotel. This hotel has at its front doors, 20-foot Italian statues that represent Peace and Prosperity. In this grand hotel you will find several lively ghosts, the hotel had two different paranormal investigator teams come in and one found there to be four ghosts that were very strong and the other team said that there are roughly one hundred ghosts in this hotel. One of the paranormal research teams were able to identify the four prominent ghosts as a young aristocratic couple from the 1920's, a gentleman who likes to play jokes on the housekeeping staff and a 19^th century teenage girl who appears to be lost and lonely. There have been so many occurrences in this hotel that it is said that the housekeeping staff refuse to go onto a certain floor, because they fear the ghost who inhabits this floor. Many of the guests at this hotel have reported hearing strange noises, seeing apparitions standing at the foot of their bed. Some say they have felt the bed sheets being tugged at while they are in the bed and that their personal items will come up missing only to be found later in odd places.

3. The Sagamore Hotel in Bolton, NY was built in 1883 and is home to a few ghosts that roam the halls, rooms, restaurants and golf course. The Trillium, the hotels restaurant is where two of the hotels first guests apparitions can be seen walking down the stairs and sitting in the reception area to this day. One of the first real haunting of this hotel began in the early 1950's. It was said to be that of a young boy, who would retrieve golf balls and sell them to the pro shop and guests for extra money. One day, while this boy was collecting a golf ball in the road, he was stuck and killed by a car. The staff states that soon after his death his ghostly apparition started to appear and continues to haunt the golf course to this day.

4. The Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, NC. The Inn was built in the 1920's and opened in 1924 and said to have been haunted since the opening day. One ghost that haunts the Inn to this day says paranormal investigators, is that of Dr. William Jacocks. Although it is not understood why Jacocks haunts this Inn, those involved say that Dr. William Jacocks lived at the Inn for over 20 years and that is why his ghost haunts the Inn today. However, some of the guests that have stayed in the room Dr. Jacocks lived in have said that they have been locked out of their room even though they have the key. They also state that they hear strange sounds and objects get moved around the room. Some guests have had this happen while staying there and these things have happened to them and they checked out in the middle of the night, because they felt creepy feelings and were too scared to stay in the room or the Inn.

5. RMS, Queen Mary, some call her, "The Haunted Lady". Once a luxury cruise liner, now it is a floating hotel located in Long Beach, CA was built in the early 1930's and launched in 1934 for the first time. The Queen Mary is said to be the most haunted structure in America toady. During World War II, allied commanders recruited the ship into service for troop transport. Queen Mary's speed would allow her to out run the German ships and submarines. The ship was then painted gray to camouflage her; this along with her elusiveness earned the Queen Mary the nickname of "The Gray Ghost". There have been many deaths over the years on this ship, but the most recent are within the last 60 years. The ship has had at least 49 reported deaths on board. The statistics and evidence vary, but paranormal investigators say that 130 known ghosts or spirits haunts the Queen Mary Hotel. Included in these are the ghosts of passengers, soldiers and crew members. One of the ships main haunted areas is the main engine room, near door number 13 is the site of an accident where a crewman was crushed during a routine drill. Ever since then, many guests and staff have reported seeing a ghost walking to door 13, and then the ghost disappears.

References for this article came form paranormal.lovetoknow.com and pririeghosts.com