Real Haunts

When a little boy appeared at the side of a former Benson Hotel guest’s bed, her first instinct as a mother to a three-year-old son “was to reach out to the boy and pull him into bed.” The results were terrifying. “As I touched his arm it actually felt solid for a moment…He jumped in my face making a scary face and frightened me…I hid under the cover for a second thinking he’s playing around being silly. I actually peeked out again and there he was still standing there. I reached out again and he jumped in my face again. After that I positioned the cover in front of my face to not see him anymore even if I happen to open them.” The ghost of the little boy is said to have taken up residency in the 9th floor of The Benson hotel in Portland, Oregon, along with various other ghosts and apparitions.

One of the ghosts is said to be that of the establishment’s previous owner, Simon Benson. He is often seen roaming through the halls and corridors of the 12th, 9th, and 7th floors. Guests that come in contact may want to keep a firm grip on their cocktails, as it is said that Benson did not advocate drinking in his hotel, and his spirit has been known to knock drinks over. One former employee happened upon a man who was dressed decidedly less formal than the staff and crowd at The Benson’s London Grill. “I saw a man in overalls with a plaid shirt. I thought it was strange, as we wear tuxedos, and so most people are well dressed. I looked up and right when I could say ‘can I help you?’ he was gone…When I described him, someone reminded me that Simon Benson was a lumber baron.”

Two female spirits coined “Lady in White” and “Lady in Blue”, respectively also haunt the hotel. The Lady in White roams the corridors, while the Lady in Blue is said to appear as a reflection in the lobby’s mirror. A particularly friendly ghost is known as the “Helpful Porter”, who is said to have helped a guest with a disability who found himself having difficulty getting into bed. The porter vanished immediately after the man was safely in bed.

Both gorgeous and ghoulish, a stay at The Benson hotel is sure to offer an unforgettable experience.

Suggested Haunted Rooms

• Floors 7, 9, and 12 are said to see the most activity.
• Hotel elevator has been said to make unexpected stops and get very cold all of a sudden.

During a visit with his team at The Pfister Hotel, Washington Nationals outfielder, Bryce Harper, found himself terrified. He was staying by himself in one of the regal establishment’s many rooms when an inexplicable encounter with paranormal activity signaled that he was no longer alone. “One time last summer, before I went to sleep, I laid a pair of jeans and a shirt on that table at the foot of the bed, those things in hotels that you sit on to put on your shoes. I just laid em out, simple as that. When I woke up in the morning I swear on everything the clothes were on the floor and the table was on the opposite side of the room against the wall,” he reported. “I was so flustered. I honestly thought there might be someone in the room…so I actually looked around, and then I checked to see if the door was still latched, and it was.”

Ghoulish encounters at the acclaimed, upscale hotel are old hat for the many baseball players that visit when they come into town. Various stories have accumulated over the years, including an incident reported by Brewers’ Outfielder, Carlos Gomez, who experienced a ghost that seemed to have an affinity for tinkering with players’ iPods. “Gomez was alone. His iPod was on a table across the room. Suddenly, it started playing tunes and vibrating across the table. Gomez turned it off, backed away, and then the iPod did the same thing.” Other players’ recalled being awoken by strange noises throughout the light, as well as windows and doors opening by themselves. When former Cardinals shortstop, Brendan Ryan, recalled seeing things during his stay at the hotel, he was quoted as saying, “It was more like a moving light that kind of passed through the room. It was very strange. The room got a little bit chillier…Strange things. Strange things.

Bathed in regal fixtures and antiquity, The Pfister Hotel is also thought to be haunted by former owner Charles Pfister. Many people visiting and working at the hotel have described Pfister’s ghost as a “good-natured, portly gent standing on the hotel’s grand staircase, observing the lobby, watching the living go about their business at hand.”.

Dare to be spooked and make a trip to visit The Pfister Hotel for what is sure to be an unforgettable experience.

The former owner of the Talcott House Bed and Breakfast is said to have died in a fire. The wealthy owner is said to have haunted the location since. It’s thought that he started two fires at the Talcott house too. One of them happened during renovations. He plays the piano and listens to music from the 1920s. Guests have reported that their luggage has been turned over. Bedding and towels are often found on the floor too.

The Haunted American Club Hotel

Don’t let the glamorous exterior of The American Club Hotel fool you. It may be a member of The Historic Hotels of America but it’s also a member of The Most Haunted Hotels in Wisconsin. The grand establishment was built in 1918 to house immigrant laborers who came to the states to work for the Kohler Company. As the workers started buying houses and building families within the community, the estate began to fall into despair from lack of care and use. Decades later in 1981, the lavish American Club Hotel opened after heavy renovations. While the renovations may have changed the appearance of the once-decaying building, the spirits within have decided they are there to stay.

The most haunted part of the hotel, which also happens to be the oldest, is said to be the East wing. One famous paranormal event happened one evening when a guest was walking down the hallway and noticed a man dressed in a dirty and torn flannel shirt, smoking a cigar, and standing close to the wall. This attire would be considered strange given the prestigious hotel environment. As the guest walked by, they greeted the man but got no reply. This does not seem like an outlandish interaction but security footage from that floor revealed that the guest greeted a blank wall instead of a human being. As they were returning to their room, the guest saw the same poorly dressed man who appeared to have not moved from his original spot in the hallway. The guest hurried past, saying nothing. Turning to look over their shoulder, the guest was taken aback to be greeted by an empty hallway.

Most Haunted Rooms of the American Club Hotel

Rooms 209 and 315 are supposedly the two most ghost-infected rooms in the hotel. The spirit of a young woman in a blue hat can be seen standing forlornly next to the fireplace in room 209, or as it is also referred to, the Washington Room. After receiving the news of her husband’s untimely death in an industrial accident, she hanged herself out of grief. The death of another woman took place in room 315 but instead of her spirit haunting the floor, a man can be seen stalking the hallway and outside the room. As he strides down the hallway, lights blink on of their own accord.
A number of guest and staff members have reported feeling intensely frigid pockets of air and hushed conversations in a number of different languages. The American Club Hotel has not publicly claimed to be haunted, but they do have a grandiose reputation to keep.

While there aren’t many spirits at the Saybrook Inn, there’s one that frequents some of the events at the wedding venue located on the grounds of the inn. Guests of various weddings have captured the apparition of a phantom bride in their photographs after the event. There are no reports on the identity of the bride. Anyone visiting for a wedding should remember to bring a camera of their own to the event, so that they can capture this ghostly figure in her bridal gown.

This inn has been featured on television shows like Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal, and in Yankee magazine as well as CNN as a haunted inn. The Adelaide room is considered the room with the most activity. The television has been turned on when no one is around. One guest reported that she felt hands caressing her face. A guest also reported the figure of a woman dressed in clothing from the Colonial times standing next to her bed in the middle of the night. She was holding the hands of two small children. Other guests have reported knockings, unusual shapes and odd sounds. Paranormal experts have captured EVPs of a young girl’s voice.