General Lewis Inn, Lewisburg, West Virginia, USA

The General Lewis Inn features at least three ghosts - a woman in white, a little girl, and a slave.

The inn was once a private home, built in 1834. During the early 1860s, the Civil War took a heavy toll on the area - and may have contributed to the ghost population.

A lady in white (the most popular dress color for ghosts, it seems) haunts Room 208 - fittingly enough, because her portrait hangs in that room.

The little girl has been heard, both crying and laughing, though not simultaneously, in Rooms 206 and 208, as well as Suite 202. Paranormal investigators who slept in the suite reported waking in the night to see a girl in a brown outfit standing next to the bed.

The slave, who is named Reuben, was hanged on the spot where the dining room now stands. He has been seen sitting at the table. Those curious to see him might decide to eat every meal at the inn.

The Queen Mary, Long Beach, California, USA

The Queen Mary was one of the most luxurious ocean liners in the 1930s, transporting movie stars such as Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Bob Hope. With the advent of World War II, however, the ship was repainted and used as a troopship. She became known as the "Grey Ghost", a fitting nickname for a ship that would come to be known as one of the world's most haunted.

As air travel increased, the era of the luxury liner came to an end; on Halloween, 1967, the Queen Mary set out on her final cruise, arriving in Long Beach on December 9. She has been there ever since, converted into a hotel.

With ghosts.

One crewman played "chicken" with a watertight door once too often, and was crushed when it slid shut during an emergency (to prevent water from flooding other sections of the ship). He has been seen near the fatal door, usually disappearing near or through it.

During her years as a troopship, the Queen Mary accidentally rammed a smaller ship, causing it to sink. Screams can still be heard in the bow.

The swimming pool in the First Class section is haunted by several female ghosts, many wearing swimsuits in the style of the 1930s.

Cabin B340 is so haunted - sheets flying across the room, faucets turning on and off - that it is no longer used as a guest room.

A cook who traveled in the ship during WWII was such a bad cook that he was stuffed into an oven and roasted. His screams are still audible.

There is also an eerie legend that during the ship's travels of the 1930s, a certain passenger asked a crew member to bring him some "company". Money changed hands, and a young woman was sent to the man's cabin to "entertain" him.

When the man didn't appear at breakfast the next morning, and didn't answer his door, the door was forced open. The cabin was found to be soaked in blood - the blood of the young woman. The man was never found; there was no record of any passenger being assigned the cabin in which he stayed, and no luggage for him was ever found.

Battery Carriage House Inn, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

The Battery Carriage House Inn dates from 1843. It calls itself "Charleston's most haunted inn", and this may be true.

The ghosts are a rather obliging crew, generally staying to their assigned rooms. The most haunted areas are Rooms 3, 8, and 10.

Room 10 is the domain of a specter known as "the gentleman" ghost, who has a liking for the ladies; indeed, one guest reported that she saw a figure float over to her bed and lie down on it with one arm around her! Another woman saw a shadowy form cross the room and fade through a closed door. The ghost is thought to be a 19th-century man who committed suicide by jumping off the roof of the house.

Room 3 has several presences, as witnessed by a couple who stayed there. A light emanated from the bathroom, a cell phone refused to work, and several figures were seen.

Room 8 is one the faint of heart might like to avoid. The ghost is thought to be that of a Civil War soldier. Only the torso appears, usually next to the bed. One brave guest touched the torso (clad in rough material) and the torso made a sound as of raspy breathing. Another guest claimed to have photographed the torso when aiming her camera up at the room window from the courtyard.

Happy hauntings, everyone.

The Feathers Hotel, Ludlow, Shropshire, United Kingdom

According to the New York Times, The Feathers Hotel is "the most handsome inn in the world."

According to other sources, it's one of the most haunted buildings in the U.K.

The building was constructed in 1619 as a private residence (and what a residence!) by local attorney Rees Jones. After the English Civil War, Jones' son Thomas had it converted to an inn. In 1863, The Feathers Inn became The Feathers Hotel - ghosts and all.

- In one room, a man wearing old-fashioned clothing is seen sitting in the window, a dog at his feet.

- An employee, when cleaning a lounge late at night, would hear his named called. He was the only staff member working, each time.

- Footsteps have been heard in the Prince Charles Suite.

- A couple who stayed in Room 212 were unable to remain in the room. The husband left after three hours; the two never said what had happened, but another woman claimed that King Henry VIII was there.

- A woman was pulled out of her bed, by her hair, in the middle of the night. Her husband merely felt someone stroking his face.

- The man with the dog has been seen walking through one of the rooms (in an extension to the hotel, built in the 1950s) and disappearing through the wall.

- A woman has been seen outside the hotel, crossing the street and walking through a parked car. In this case, it is believed that the apparition is that of a living woman - she is wearing the clothing of the 1960s - and that the woman in question is well aware of the appearances.

St. James Hotel, Cimarron, New Mexico, United States

Gambler T.J. Wright is one of the permanent guests at the St. James Hotel. Evidently, the gambler was shot at the door to his room, then staggered inside to die. To this day, the room is not rented overnight, and few people enter even for a few hours.

Chef Henri Lambert and his wife opened a saloon in 1872, during the wild-and-rowdy days of the Old West. Cowboys riddled the ceiling with bullet holes, sometimes from fighting, and sometimes from just high spirits.  In all, twenty-six  people - including T.J. Wright - died at the St. James, which soon became a place to stay as well as to drink and gamble.

Lawman Wyatt Earp and his brothers were guests at the hotel as they traveled west to the infamous town of Tombstone. Authors Zane Grey and Lew Wallace also enjoyed the hotel's hospitality. Outlaws Jesse James and Billy the Kid were two of the more notorious guests.

Mary and Johnnie Lambert are two benign ghosts. Johnnie, the son of the owners, died as the result of an accident in the hotel when he was three years old. He plays with the ghosts of two older girls who died in the hotel; they are supervised by Mary, Johnnie's mother.

The ghost of Wright has been seen in mirrors, and has been caught on videotape.

Then there is Melissa, who in life used to "entertain" in the hotel after Mary had gone to bed. Melissa brought her "gentlemen callers" up an exterior staircase. She has made her presence known to male guests, by touching them and/or sitting or lying on their beds.

Remember: Room 18 is not available to rent. 

Geiser Grand Hotel, Baker City, Oregon, USA

The Geiser Grand Hotel is one of the most impressive buildings in Baker City. It was built in 1889, when Baker City was a mining town. Two local men, Jake and Harry Warshauer, built the hotel on the site of the county's first schoolhouse; the cost ran high into the tens of thousands of dollars, a great deal for the time. It was indeed elegant, with almost one hundred rooms, electric lighting, and the third elevator west of the Mississippi. A few years later, the hotel was bought by John Geiser, along with his son, Albert; they changed the name from the Warshauer Hotel to the Geiser Grand Hotel.

The hotel's glory days didn't last long; the Depression hit hard, as did World War II. Finally, in 1968, the hotel closed and spent more than twenty years empty, its condition worsening with each passing year.

In 1993, Dwight and Barbara Sidway - no strangers to renovating hotels - purchased the building. They spent five years and a great deal of work and money on the restoration, and finally, the hotel was open for business once again.

Guests on the second and third floors have been known to complain about the party on the third floor. Upon investigation, nothing is to be found; the party ceases abruptly. The ghostly guests, though, have sometimes been seen on the balcony, apparently checking out the diners in the restaurant below.

Kitchen and bar staff have reported watching items move before their eyes, and beer taps activating with no visible cause.

Not long after the hotel's grand reopening, a maid checking the rooms found the bed in the Cupola Suite thoroughly unmade; pillows thrown everywhere, bedding pulled out, curtains twisted. The lock on the room also malfunctions frequently, and more than one guest has experienced the sensation of a perfume-wearing female ghost sitting next to them on the bed.

The Lady in Blue has been seen ascending the hotel's main staircase. When she reaches the top of the stairs, she disappears into the wall.

Takayoshi Nakayama, a director for the Japanese supernatural TV show Unbelievable, filmed a show at the Geiser Grand Hotel. He and his crew captured, on tape, a glass moving with no one nearby. More startling, when Nakayama returned to Japan, his three-year-old son began to laugh and talk to someone his parents couldn't see. The episode featuring the Grand Hotel was one of the most-viewed in the show's history, and Nakayama returned in September of 2010 for another episode.

Ghost hunters will be pleased to learn that the hotel offers occasional ghost hunts, as well as ghost tours encompassing the hotel and other haunted buildings of Baker City.


 

Haunted Stone Lion Inn, Guthrie, Oklahoma, USA

The Haunted Stone Lion Inn is a 1907 house that was once the residence of a large family, the Houghtons. They needed it; they had twelve children to raise.

One of the children, Augusta, would never live to adulthood, however. At the age of eight, she caught whooping cough. This may not, though, have been the cause of her death; in those days, cough syrup was a strong concoction with codeine and opium. The general belief is that Augusta was given an accidental overdose.

The third floor is where most of the ghostly activity is experienced. The Houghton children kept their toys up there, and often played with them between the hours of 10 p.m. and midnight - which is, now, the time when most of the noise is heard upstairs.

The inn is strictly nonsmoking, but sometimes, the smell of a cigar is noticed, and at times, even smoke in the air - with no visible source. An earlier guest at the inn, perhaps?

Larian Motel, Tombstone, Arizona, United States

Tombstone is one of the most haunted cities in the United States, and the Larian Motel, located in the historic district, fits right in.

Though the motel is distinctly modern, having been built in the 1950s, it is only a block from the famous O.K. Corral, and occupies land that once housed a general store and a gun store, among other businesses.

Rooms 1 through 4 are the most haunted; twin sisters once experienced an eerie feeling in the Doc Holliday room, which is Number 3. Doc Holliday died with his boots off, succumbing to tuberculosis, but Room 3 keeps his name alive and well. The sisters woke at exactly the same time on their first night, 12:30 a.m., feeling that someone else was in the room with them. They were unable to sleep for the rest of the night.

Whoever, or whatever, haunts Room 3 likes to play with the guests' belongings. One man put his glasses on a table, then could not find them just a minute later. Eventually, he gave up and went sightseeing. When he returned, the glasses were on the table where he had put them.

Old-fashioned music with no source has been heard, and the image of a man has been sensed - but not the image of a 19th-century outlaw; this man has the look of a tourist of the 1950s or '60s. An exceptionally satisfied customer of the motel?

Sage Hill Bed and Breakfast, Anamoose, North Dakota, United States

The tiny town of Anamoose (population less than 300) boasts the Sage Hill Bed and Breakfast, located in a former schoolhouse.

The schoolhouse, known as the White School, was well ahead of its time. It was built in 1928, and had a wind generator to provide power. Hot lunches were provided, as well as hot showers for the students (most of the houses in the area had no indoor plumbing).

The school even had six school buses, all horse-drawn, and a garage to keep them. For forty years, it taught the children in the area, but the number of students never exceeded 100. White School closed in 1968.

Rumor has it that a fire killed the superintendent of the school, along with a young boy. Be that as it may, when the current owners began renovating the former school into a B&B, odd things occurred.  Lights flickered on and off. The sound of moaning was heard. A light in the cellar remained lit, despite all efforts to turn it off. Cigar smoke was noticed, though no smokers of any kind were in the building. Upon investigating, workers saw smoke hovering in the air of the cellar, and a cigar was found.

Cold spots and a feeling of being watched have also been reported. For such a small town, Anamoose has some interesting activities on offer.

Casablanca Inn on the Bay, Saint Augustine, Florida, United States

Almost one hundred years ago, the Casablanca Inn (then known as the Matanzas Hotel) was a hotbed of smuggling activity. In the 1920s, Prohibition was the law of the land, and illegal activities abounded. The female proprietor of the hotel would let rumrunners know whether or not it was safe to come ashore by standing on the roof and swinging a lantern.

The woman fell in love with one of the smugglers, and one night, unable to come ashore due to the presence of government officers, he was lost at sea in a hurricane.

The Lady with the Lantern still signals to him; a ghostly light has often been seen on the roof of the Inn.

The White Eagle Saloon, Portland, Oregon, United States

The White Eagle Saloon was built in 1905. At that time, the surrounding neighborhood consisted largely of immigrants, and the area was working-class; indeed, the place was established by two Poles who wanted a place for their fellow immigrants to spend some leisure time.
 
In those days, streetcars were the mode of public transportation in Portland, and one of the stops was located almost directly in front of the White Eagle (popularly known as "Bucket of Blood", due to the frequent fights occurring there). Things haven't changed much; the White Eagle is now only a block from Portland's MAX line.


In those days, Portland was still involved in the practice of "crimping", or shanghaiing. The city had a network of tunnels running beneath the streets - and more to the point, beneath various drinking establishments. Unlucky male patrons of these watering holes could be knocked out, either physically or by drugs, and awake to find themselves at sea.

The top floor seems to be the epicenter of the hauntings. Sounds of a woman crying have often been heard, and noises of people walking back and forth. During the saloon's "glory" days, the upstairs was a "white" brothel, and the basement was a "black and Chinese" brothel. A young prostitute named Rose had a client who fell in love with her, and begged her to let him take her away from the saloon. Rose was too frightened of the owner (who considered her his "property") to leave, and when the man attempted to persuade the owner to let Rose go, he was beaten terribly. He made one more effort to convince Rose to leave with him. When she refused again, he stabbed her to death. Thus, Rose has never left the premises.

The former owner was offered $200 to allow two men with a video camera to stay overnight in one of the upstairs room. The answer was a flat refusal.

As for the basement, noises have often been heard from it. Coins have fallen from the ceiling. A waitress descending the staircase was shoved violently, falling the rest of the way.

Now? The saloon is owned by the McMenamin brothers (who also own the Edgefield in Troutdale), who, evidently, love to buy haunted properties. The saloon is open for (legal) business, and the bar area has hosted many a famous band. Previous guests warn that this is not a place for light sleepers, since the rooms are directly above the bar. Each room contains a sink, with the bathrooms located down the hall.

Ghosts apart, some potential guests may be interested in this review, from Yelp:

"You'll inevitably run into some of the lodgers in the hall, preferably the way I did when I came out of the shower and faced a man in a coconut bra and pirate hat."

Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The Fairmont Hotel is an impressive building located in downtown Vancouver. Built in 1939, it would seem a bit, well, new to have a ghost, but it does.

A woman in a red dress wanders the corridors of the 14th floor. At times, the elevator will stop at that floor when nobody has pushed the button - on either side.

A more startling apparition is that of a former employee, a banquet porter who hanged himself in the stairwell of the 19th floor. When he appears, he isn't ... all there. Only the upper half of his body appears; not his legs. The meeting rooms are located on this floor, and on one occasion, an overnight chef went upstairs to get a few things from the kitchen.

The chef is no longer working at the Fairmont; the ghost of the porter appeared to him - looking straight at him - and then disappeared.

The Algonquin Hotel, New York City, United States

The Algonquin has a rich literary history. Famous wits of the post-World War I era used it as their stomping grounds - Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, Harpo Marx, George S. Kaufman, Charles MacArthur, and more.

The hotel has another claim to fame in the fact that it is haunted. The Vicious Circle, as they called themselves, have been seen on more than one occasion in their favorite watering hole. Guests have experienced strange phenomena in the elevator, when the doors open at floors to reveal no one waiting for it. A photo of Dorothy Parker once fell to the floor, breaking the glass.

Non-guests can try their luck at ghost-spotting by taking one of the hotel's "Round Table" tours.

Kyteler's Inn, Kilkenny, Ireland

Kyteler's Inn is the former property of Alice de Kyteler, who was born in the house in 1280.

It seems that Alice was extremely unlucky in her choice of husbands. Her first was a banker with the interesting name of William Outlawe. They had a son named for his father. William Senior died a few years later; not long after this, Alice married Adam de Blund, also wealthy - and also to die suddenly, of unknown causes, within a few years of their marriage. Alice now had two fortunes at her disposal, so what did she do?

She married again. Her third husband, Richard de Valle, followed in the footsteps of his predecessors. She then married a fourth time, to Sir John de Poer. It seems that de Poer must have known of the tendency of Alice's husbands to die suddenly and unexpectedly; if he did, it didn't put him off. He became sick a few years after their marriage, with his hair and nails falling out. He held on long enough to change his will so that Alice and William, Jr. would receive his full estate, however. It was this act - not his death, evidently - that caused his other relatives to bring charges against Alice. She was accused of witchcraft, especially using this power to get Richard to change his will. According to them, Alice also headed a witches' coven and had sexual relations with a demon.

Richard de Lederer, the Bishop of Ossory, heard the charges against Alice, and tried in vain to have her arrested. Instead, he himself was arrested and incarcerated. Upon his release, he continued his campaign. Alice headed for England, but traveled to Dublin the following year, where she asked the Archbishop to take action against de Lederer for her excommunication. The two men had a confrontation in Dublin, ending in de Lederer's return to Kilkenny, still demanding the arrest of Alice. She then left for England again, this time for good (the year was 1324).

The Bishop got his pound of flesh and more, however; William Outlawe, Jr., was arrested and sentenced to give to the poor and attend three masses every day. Alice's maid, Petronella, on the other hand, was tortured and, finally, burned at the stake.

History does not record what happened to Alice after she fled to England the second time; she disappears from the records. She hasn't left her one-time home, however; the staff at Kyteler's Inn are ready to vouch for that.

Ben Lomond Suites, Ogden, Utah, USA

Ben Lomond Suites, the largest hotel in Ogden, is a lovely building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a hotel where pets of the four-legged variety are welcome, with an additional fee. What the pets think of the resident ghost, is open to speculation.

A guest at the hotel in the 1940s was a woman whose son was fighting in World War II. She had received word that he had been injured, and awaited further news of his condition. Upon hearing that he had died, she left the hotel for her home. It seems, though, that she can't stay away from the hotel. Room 1106 will call the front desk, even though the room is unoccupied. The elevator will stop at (for example) the fourth floor when nobody has pushed the button for that floor.

Harmless, certainly, though eerie for the desk staff to receive a call from an empty room.

Phineas Swann Inn, near Jay Peak, Vermont, USA

The Phineas Swann (named for an early settler to the area) is pet-friendly, going so far as to provide "doggie spa"services. It offers a very tempting menu - and it is haunted.

The ghost is a playful child named Geraldine, who died of pneumonia in the house in 1937. She haunts the Red Room, which was used by her parents, and guests have reported having their feet tickled in the middle of the night.

No battlefields nearby, no sense of heaviness and oppression; just a fun-loving, giggling little spirit who entertains guests in her own merry way.

The Kennebunk Inn, Kennebunk, Maine, USA

As with some of the other lodging places listed here, the Kennebunk Inn is haunted by the ghost of a former employee.

Silas Perkins worked at the Inn as a clerk. Perkins lived alone and his only friends were the people at the Inn. When he died, he remained in the place that had provided his only social life when he was alive. After his death, a table full of guests were almost as shocked as their waiter when, as the waiter carried a tray of drinks to them, a glass of wine was lifted off the tray and hurled violently to the floor.

Rumor has it, Perkins is still there.

Eureka Springs Hotel, Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA

The Eureka Springs Hotel advertises itself as "America's Most Haunted Hotel", with a website that is all about the hotel's hauntings and history. The hotel has a ghost tour every night; "ghost packages"; and an ESP weekend, among other ghost-related activities.

As for the hotel's history, in the 1930s it was a hospital for cancer patients. Norman Baker, the owner at that time, claimed to be able to cure cancer, and countless people believed in his "tonic" containing watermelon seeds, corn silk, and other ineffective ingredients. This substance was not harmful to ingest, but it had no effect on cancer.

Baker had to flee the state of Iowa for his practices, which had netted him a huge amount of money. He moved to Arkansas and renovated a Victorian-era hotel in Eureka Springs, his "Castle in the Air", where he continued accepting cancer patients. One estimate claims that Baker made $500,000 in a single year - which would be more than 5 million dollars in modern times. In 1940, Baker was sentenced to prison in Leavenworth; upon his release, he moved to Florida, where he died in the 1950s.

Many of the patients died at the hotel. Some of them still roam the halls, joined by an Irish stonemason known as Michael, who was killed in building the hotel in 1885; a cat named Morris; and Norman Baker himself. The hotel still contains a basement morgue, a holdover of the days when it was run by Baker (and was very necessary). The morgue is the final stop on the nightly ghost tour.

Apart from the supernatural activity, the hotel offers a spa with massage, scrubs, body wraps, infrared sauna, and teeth whitening, plus a salon with manicures, pedicures, and the usual hair cutting/styling/coloring services. There are three dining locations on the premises, and a wide variety of activities in and around Eureka Springs.

Morning Glory Bed and Breakfast, Salem, Massachusetts, USA

Salem is famous for its infamous witch trials of the late 17th century. A group of young girls accused certain residents of the village of having "bewitched" them. By the time the horror had ended, fourteen women and five men had been hanged; one of the accused, an elderly man named Giles Corey, had been pressed to death by rocks in an attempt to force a confession from him. Corey's only words were: "More weight."

The Morning Glory has two claims to fame - it is located in the notorious city of Salem, and it is haunted. A medium who stayed there claimed that the premises are haunted by the ghost of a teenage girl.

Karosta Prison Hostel, Liepaja, Latvia

This lodging place is a one-time prison that has kept all the trappings of its former existence. The cells are still there, the walls containing graffiti from prisoners. A museum provides information about the history of the prison and of the Communist era.

Guided tours are provided, and audio guides are available in five languages, including English and German. A show titled Behind Bars gives additional entertainment to brave visitors above the age of 12.

Rooms are simple: Cells with bunks or iron bedsteads. Not exactly plush, but what can one expect from a former prison? Be prepared, though; your cell door may just open in the middle of the night. You may hear footsteps. And you may see a specter in the hallway.

Radisson Plaza Resort Tahiti, Papeete, Tahiti

According to a guest, lights in the rooms go off and on with no humans to work them, and voices are heard at night. A staff member confided that the hotel was built atop a large cemetery - perhaps the previous occupants are none too pleased.

Lunan Lodge, north of Inverkeilor, Scotland

Lunan Lodge proudly claims to be Scotland's most haunted B&B.

The lodge offers "Ghost Safaris" on its website, stating that these are only offered during the winter, as the summer is too busy. These safaris are available to the public as well as the guests, so being a guest at the B&B is not a prerequisite. The safaris are all-night affairs, ending at approximately 4 a.m.

The ghosts (more than one) sometimes wake the guests with their noise, not infrequently appearing to them, the owners, and the lodge's two (black) cats. The lodge's website mentions other haunted areas outside the grounds, such as a tombstone with an odd reputation.

The website claims that the house was originally the dwelling-place of the local minister, despite the fact that the church was a mile away; evidently, the building is located atop an intersection of many energy lines.

This is one of the few haunted lodging places with mention of ghosts on its site, and (so far) the only one on this blog with two pages of its website dedicated to advertising its otherwordly inhabitants.

Grand Hotel Villa di Corliano, San Guiliano Terme, Tuscany, Italy

This impressive Tuscan hotel is said to be haunted by Teresa della Seta Bocca Gaetani, who married Count Cosimo Baldassarre Agostini in 1755. Teresa was a member of an important Pisa family; upon her marriage, she resided in the villa belonging to her husband. She remains in the hotel, moving objects and occasionally making an appearance.

The Cashtown Inn, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA

The Cashtown Inn was built in 1797, so even had it not been for the Civil War, it has every right to be haunted.

During the Civil War, however, the inn was a Confederate Army base, then as a hospital for the wounded. In those days of surgery without anesthetics, surgeons who didn't wash their hands, dirt everywhere, and no disinfectants save a bottle of alcohol (of the drinking type), the mortality rate was high. The hospital/inn was no exception to the rule, and today, the Cashtown Inn - Room 4, in particular - still hosts the spirits of those dead soldiers.

Room 4 experiences frequent knocking on the door; when the guest opens the door, no one is to be seen. Outside the inn, the blurred form of a Confederate soldier was captured on film in the year 1900. Furthermore, a guest heard the distinctive sound of horses outside his window late one night, only to see an empty area when he looked out the window.

The Battle of Gettysburg was fought almost one hundred and fifty years ago, but some things (and people) don't fade that easily.

Bourbon Orleans Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

NOTE: As of the date of writing this post, the hotel is undergoing extensive renovations; the hotel website states that the work will continue through the month of January.

New Orleans, "the birthplace of jazz", also claims to be the most haunted city in the United States. It's certainly the best city for food lovers, with its mix of different cultures. This is an excellent city for those who mix music and fine dining with a slightly different activity.

The hotel building has played many roles in its history. At one point, it was the Orleans Ballroom and Orleans Theatre, where a lone dancer brings to mind the days of yore. The dancer is seen (appropriately enough) in the ballroom, under the chandelier.

Later, it was a convent and orphanage run by the Sisters of the Holy Family. (A hotel guest who uttered an expletive felt a sharp slap on his face. Maybe one of the nuns objected to that sort of language.) Several children, as well as nuns, still linger in the hotel.

One ghost is that of a Confederate soldier, who occupies the sixth and seventh floors.

If the jazz and food aren't enough, try a little haunting on the side!

Nob Hill Inn, San Francisco, California, USA

The Nob Hill Inn (now a timeshare as well as a lodging place) was built as a private residence in 1907. Rather than containing a single family now, the inn is home to more ghosts than it has rooms!

The ghosts are of the friendly, mischievous sort; not dangerous or threatening. Their activity consists of turning lights on and off, and moving items on tables. It is said that the ghosts "moved in" some time after the house was converted into an inn.

Some people just leave their heartsin San Francisco.

Hotel Val Sinestra, Switzerland

This hotel was once a sanatorium - and what better location for a haunting than that?

It seems that the original treatment rooms have been left as they were; a startling reminder of the hotel's past. The resident ghost is a Belgian man, who opens windows and causes keys to swing. During an investigation of the hotel's paranormal activities, the ghost sent a fork and other objects flying across the room.

If you want a minimum of ghostly activity, don't ask for Room 5.

The Buxton Inn, Granville, Ohio, United States

This bed-and-breakfast was built in 1812 as a stagecoach stop/post office, and some of the former owners remain.

The oldest ghost is the most troublesome, it would seem; Orin Granger, who built the inn, steals pies from the pantry. Another warms his transparent hands at a fire; rooms seven and nine are haunted by the "blue lady".

Even the basement is a site of ghostly activity - but with so much going on in the rest of the inn, there should be more than enough to occupy the guests.

Palacio Blanco Hotel, Velez-Malaga, Spain

How often does a hotel receive a visit by members of the Catholic Church - not to visit, but to lay spirits to rest?

Not often, one would hope. Yet such was the case with the Palacio Blanco, a former palace converted into a hotel by its British owners. As for the success of the service held, there is no word.

Myrtles Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana, United States

An eighteenth-century house; an unsolved murder; deaths by yellow fever; a war raging through the countryside. These are all prime ingredients for a haunted house, as indeed The Myrtles is.

Ghostly children have been seen playing throughout the house, and another young girl floats outside one window. A piano plays by itself. One employee quit when he saw a woman in a white dress of old-fashioned style walk through the front door of the house.

So many stories have been, and continue to be, told about The Myrtles, that perhaps it is best to judge for yourself. It's still open - and still haunted.

The Langham, London, England

The Langham stands on the site of a former manor house, Foley Mansion, and one of the ghosts is a reminder of that time; it is a footman dressed in 17th-century blue livery.

For some time in the 20th century, the building was used by the BBC, and the third floor was a dormitory for its employees. One employee, radio announcer Alexander Gordon, had a memorable experience in Room 333 (still regarded as the most haunted room). One night in 1973, Gordon awoke to see a sphere in his room; it turned into the form of a man wearing evening wear. When Gordon asked who it was and what it wanted, the specter drifted towards him.

As if this weren't enough, the apparitions arms were extended, its eyes staring at him, and its lower legs invisible. As it came closer, Gordon fled. He was unable to get any staff members to take him back to his room, so he was forced to return alone. The figure was still there, but it vanished gradually. On another occasion, a man threw a boot at the ghost; the boot flew right through it. An American journalist saw it in 1992.

These are not the only ghosts who have taken up permanent residence in the hotel. And Room 333 is not the only haunted area.

Fairmont Chateau Laurier, Ottawa, Canada

The Chateau Laurier had a tragedy associated with it before its doors opened in 1912.

Charles Melville Hays was an American who became president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway of Canada. He was an enterprising soul who set his sights on having luxury hotels and classy train stations in all the large cities along the rail route.

Hays succeeded grandly with the Chateau Laurier; it boasted, among other niceties, Bohemian crystal and Italian marble. The year the hotel was to open, Hays traveled to Europe to buy more furniture for the hotel. As befitted his status, he booked return passage on a new, luxury ocean liner - the Titanic.

Hays never saw his hotel again; he and the men traveling with him (except sculptor Paul Chevre) died the night of April 14 - 15, 1912, when the Titanic sank. Hays's wife Clara survived, as did the other women traveling with the Hays party. On June 1, 1912, Sir Wilfred Laurier, Prime Minister of Canada, opened the hotel (had Hays been there, he would have had that honor).

Not surprisingly, Hays is the main ghost haunting the hotel. Objects move without anyone standing near them. A woman ran from her room when items began to change position. The ghost of a little girl has been sighted; rattling and shaking occur. The tower is also haunted, and people entering the hotel often have the feeling that they are being watched.

Grand Hyatt Hotel, Taipei, Taiwan

The Grand Hyatt Hotel is rumored to have been built over a cemetery containing the remains of many political prisoners who were executed. Be that as it may, it's been listed as one of the top ten haunted hotels worldwide.

The hotel's lobby has Chinese characters written on one wall; they are supposed to ward off ghosts. They may not be too effective, as supernatural occurrences have been reported on the premises.

Dragsholm Slot Castle Hotel, Dragsholm, Denmark

This centuries-old hotel, once a castle, is home to three ghosts:

The Grey Lady. She was a noblewoman who suffered agonies from a toothache. When a doctor in the castle eased her pain, her gratitude was such that she now keeps an eye on everyone in the building, making sure that all is well.

The White Lady. She was the daughter of a former owner of the castle. When her father discovered that his daughter had fallen in love with a commoner, he had her immured in one of the castle walls. Centuries later, workmen found her skeleton, still dressed in a white gown. She walks the corridors by night.

The Earl of Bothwell. He was imprisoned in the castle before his death, and still haunts the courtyard. He rides a horse through the area.

The Marshall House Hotel, Savannah, Georgia, USA

The Marshall House, in one of the most haunted cities in the United States, was built in 1851. Ten years later, the American Civil War erupted, and the hotel was used as a hospital. It would be used as a hospital twice more, during epidemics of yellow fever. It is, perhaps, the former patients and nurses who form the hotel's ghostly crew.

Ghosts have been sighted by staff and guests alike - in the foyer, in the hallways. One guest heard the doorknob on the door to his room rattling, only to find no one there. Sounds of children romping through the halls early in the morning are heard, when there are no children in the hotel. A bathtub faucet has been turned on when nobody was in the bathroom.

One of the most intriguing reports is that some guests have felt someone holding their wrist, as if a nurse were taking their pulse.

Toftaholm Herrgard, Smaland, Sweden

This hotel was once a manor house, owned by a wealthy baron. The baron had an attractive young daughter, and a young man fell in love with her. Unfortunately for the young man, he was a commoner, and the baron refused to allow a marriage. Instead, he found a suitable husband for his daughter (suitable for the baron, anyway).

On the morning of the wedding, the young man hanged himself from a beam in the manor house.

The room where he committed suicide is now Room 324; it is said to be haunted by his unhappy ghost.

The Winnock Hotel, Drymen, Scotland

Ghost hunters have "discovered" the Winnock Hotel, and they have begun holding ghost hunts in an attempt to make contact with its paranormal denizens.

Rooms 38 and 39 have been reported, by the staff, to be haunted. Investigators sat in Room 39 and asked questions of the spirit, taping themselves as they did so. When the tape was played, answers to the questions were heard clearly.

The ghost of Room 39 was far from the only one found in the hotel. One, by the name of James Walker, was recorded on tape; Walker was speaking of another ghost, by the name of Buchanan, with whom Walker had an age-old feud.

The ghosts of people hanged on the nearby village green for witchcraft; a 16th-century man named Edward McGregor; a woman in a lilac gown - all these are said to be present, in addition to the hotel's earthly guests.