Halloween in Style
Although we’re bound to see collections of little witches and warlocks around our local streets of Paddington tonight, if you are going to celebrate Halloween properly, you should really do it in the USA. And more specifically, celebrate the night in a luxury hotel.
Alleged to have more than an average amount of poltergeist activity, these are the best hotels to get chills and thrills on your next overnight stay.
The Biltmore Coral Gables, Miami: Originally opened as a playground for the rich in 1926, the Biltmore Coral Gables is not only luxurious and elegant, but is also believed to be quite haunted. The 13th floor served as a speakeasy during Prohibition, when the hotel saw its first premature death: Gangster Thomas “Fatty” Walsh was shot and killed at a crowded party. Years later, the U.S. government bought the hotel and converted it into a hospital for World War II soldiers. After being abandoned for several decades, the Biltmore re-opened in the 1980s once again as a hotel, and ever since then guests have experienced unexplained noises and visions.
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Los Angeles: Marilyn Monroe (one of many celebrities to stay at the Roosevelt) posed for her first ad on the hotel’s diving board (long gone, though the pool remains). The ghost of Monroe is said to have appeared in a mirror that once hung in her poolside suite (the suite can be rented, but the mirror is no longer displayed). Montgomery Clift’s ghost apparently haunts the hotel as well, pacing back and forth on the ninth floor.
Omni Parker House, Boston: You can’t walk two feet without stumbling over some historical artifact or the site of a ghostly encounter at the Parker. With gentle prodding, guest services manager Seamus Murphy, who’s worked for the hotel for over 30 years, will tell you tales of the 19th-century whiskey salesman’s ghost who lives in the closet of room 303 and plants booze-soaked kisses on slumbering female guests.
Algonquin Hotel, New York City: A 181-room Midtown West landmark where “The New Yorker” magazine was founded,. The Algonquin uses old-world style, tuxedo-clad waiters and an in-house cat to attract quiet couples, business travelers and the occasional Nobel laureate these days. But back in the day, it hosted members of the infamous Round Table, the 1920s literary group with members such as Dorothy Parker and Alexander Woollcott — and some would argue it still does. Numerous guests and staffers have reported seeing Round Table members roaming the dining room and lobby, and a psychic medium confirmed the presence of spirits in the hotel.
The Marshall House, Savannah, Ga.: Opened in 1851, the Marshall House has had its fair share of unexplained phenomena. Also used as a hospital in between stints as a hotel, the Marshall House witnessed thousands of deaths throughout the Civil War and two yellow fever epidemics. The property was renovated and re-opened as a hotel in 1999, but old haunts lingered. Many guests report strange noises and the feeling of cold hands around their wrists, as if nurses are taking their temperatures.