The evenings are getting darker, auburn leaves are falling from the trees and the cool air sends a shiver down your spine, it can only mean one thing, Halloween has arrived! Children running around trick-or- treating, carving pumpkin's, telling spooky stories, it's not only children enjoying these experiences that love Halloween but a growing number of adults are getting in the spooky mood. It is with this trend that haunted hotels have joined the fray with providing authentic Halloween experiences, treating Halloween as a major holiday by carving pumpkins and decorating their ‘haunted' halls with ghouls and ghosts. Most hotels can be described as a historic landmark in their area, with this status can bring many haunting stories, here is a few luxury American hotels who are sharing their property's spooky tales of former residents who may never have left.
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Known affectionately by staff members as "The Princess," Caroline Foster is a long-time inhabitant of the Omni Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, NH, even though she passed away in 1939. Princess Caroline Foster's ties to the resort go back to its inception, when her husband, railroad tycoon Joseph Stickney, built the grand resort in 1902. Incorporating special accommodations for his wife, construction of the resort included an indoor swimming pool and a private dining room for Caroline, known today as the "Princess Room." A prominent figure at the resort since its opening, many guests who have visited continue to report sightings of the regal Caroline. Visions of an elegant woman in Victorian dress are often spotted in the hallways of the hotel, there are light taps on doors when no one is outside and items that suddenly disappear and then reappear in theexact place they were lost. But perhaps the most common sighting of the beloved Caroline is in room 314, where guests report seeing the vision of the woman sitting at the edge of their guest bed-the same custom-made four-post bed Caroline shared with her husband.
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The 100-year-old Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC has had a ghost roaming its halls for over half a century. She is referred to as the Pink Lady because of the flowing pink gown she wears. It is believed that this young woman was a guest in Room 545 in the 1920s and that she either jumped or was pushed to her death in the Main Inn's Palm Court, five floors below. New reports of her sightings still occur, especially by young children. Some say they just see a pink mist, others a full apparition of a young long-haired beauty in a pink gown.
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The Omni Homestead in Hot Springs, VA, is one of the oldest resorts in America (built in 1766) and has a long history including reports from the 14th floor located in the resort's oldest wing. As the story goes, in the early 1900's, a woman was set to be married at the resort, but on the day of her wedding her husband-to-be ran out and never returned. The bride became so distraught that she took her own life. Now her spirit roams the 14th floor of the resort asking guests and staff for the time with hopes her groom will return.
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La Posada de Santa Fe in Santa Fe, NM, has a rich history dating back to 1882 when a Santa Fe Trail merchant, Abraham Staab, built it as a three-story Victorian mansion for his family. When Julia, Staab's wife died in 1896 at the age of 52, her presence continued to live on throughout the home. Today, the Staab House at La Posada de Santa Fe retains its original structure and is home to a cozy bar, and Suite 100, which used to be Julia's bedroom. To honor her, the hotel staff makes sure to invite her to parties held in the house and to greet her when they enter her bedroom.
So the next time you are visiting a hotel remember some former residents may still be walking the hallways and that creak you hear at night may be them trying to communicate with you from the beyond. Happy Halloween!!
