Real Haunts

One woman staying at the Silver Queen Hotel in Virginia City had so many spirit encounters during her vacation that she started the Paranormal Researchers of Oregon Society. Visitors have heard tapping on their bedroom door in the middle of the night, and the hallway was empty. Reports of curtains fluttering when there’s no draft in the room, a mist floating over guest’s beds, and messages left on cell phones when the phones had not rung, are usual occurrences.

Guests have awakened at night with the unsettling sensation that someone was sitting on their bed, but couldn’t see anyone. One of the ghosts is Rosie, who likes to rap repeatedly on guest room doors. One guest got tired of being awakened every time he got to sleep and finally yelled at Rosie to go away. He heard loud footsteps stomping away from his door and down the hallway, but was left alone for the rest of the night.

When most people think of haunted hotels, they think of older buildings, but the Planet Hollywood Aladdin Hotel proves that not all haunted hotels are old. The Aladdin Hotel sits on the land where the old hotel of the same name once stood and became Planet Hollywood Las Vegas in 2007. Guests of the former hotel included such big names as Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, but no one knows if they have a connection to the haunting of the hotel.

The most haunted spot in the hotel is the Panorama Suite, which offers amazing views of downtown Las Vegas. Dozens of guests reported waking in the middle of the night and hearing someone at the door. The unseen person apparently isn’t alone either. Guests will hear hushed voices in the hallway and the sounds of someone trying to unlock and open the door. Some even heard the buzzer at the door go off. Regardless of how quickly they rush to the door, they never find anyone there.

Guests also claim that they feel uneasy and unsettled while staying in this specific room. These is something that they just can’t put their fingers on, but many say that it feels like there is something watching them that wants them out of the room. The feeling is so intense that more than a few guests left abruptly or checked out before their reservations ended. Those hoping to experience haunted Las Vegas at its best should check out the Panorama Suite at Planet Hollywood.

When a hotel is constructed, it is made with the purpose of serving as a home away from home for visitors to a particular area. Those seeking rest and relaxation are also accommodated in the various amenities of what the hotel and its properties offer. However, for the Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach, it once served as an impromptu morgue, and that might be part of the reason for its haunting.

Is The Cavalier Hotel Haunted?

The Cavalier was originally constructed during the 1920s in the popular Virginia Beach area and was seen as something of a hotspot for celebrities and Washington D.C. politicians and elites who wanted to get away from it all. One of the most popular, and frequent guests at the hotel was none other than Adolph Coors himself, the actual founder of the Coors Brewery. On the evening of June 5, 1929, Coors reportedly committed suicide by leaping from a window on the sixth floor of the hotel.

Adolph Coors

Over the years, guests to this particular floor of the hotel have at times felt a sudden breeze emanate from out of nowhere as if a guest has left their room window open. Walking out on the sidewalk below the presumed area where Coors leaped to his death, guests have reported hearing a thudding sound only to look at see nothing there. In fact, there is reportedly a ghost of an elderly African American man who has been seen at the top of the stairs to the sixth floor who has warned guests, “don’t go up there”. Paranormal enthusiasts consider his appearance to somehow be connected to Coors’s death. That possible demonic influence could have prompted the suicide and the older man is warning people to stay away. Others say that the floor has more than one active ghost on the floor and the older man is telling the living that staying away is a way of looking out for their best interest.

The Cavalier Hotel’s Ghost Cat

One of the more intriguing ghosts seen in the Cavalier is not in human or demon form but is actually in the form of a cat. Affectionately called “Ghostcat”, this feline from the beyond has been more heard and felt than actually seen. Most hotel staff have reported hearing a cat meowing loudly, only to inspect and find that there is no cat in the vicinity. Check-in counters and desks are also frequent favorites of Ghostcat as employees have sensed what can be described as the heavy feeling of an actual cat lying on paperwork. And if Ghostcat is hassled, there have been times where it has actually scratched employees.

The Cavalier still stands today as one of the more lavish hotels in Virginia Beach and has not shied away from its paranormal stories at all. In fact, recently paranormal conferences have been regularly held at the hotel where research has been encouraged. With the haunted sixth floor and the feline specter of Ghostcat, the hotel has plenty to keep paranormal enthusiasts busy with.

The Haunted Queen Anne Hotel

The Queen Anne Hotel in San Francisco, CA, is not only an upscale bed and breakfast Victorian, but it is also rumored to be haunted as well. However, the ghost behind this haunted hotel is reportedly hospitable. The entity reportedly wanders about the hotel keeping an “eye” on her guests, looking out for their welfare. She has been known to unpack and hang up guests’ clothes and to pick objects up off the floor and tidy up their rooms for them. Some guests even report that she has tucked the covers around them in the middle of the night in a show of gentle concern. The most common occurrence, however, is the feeling of cold spots throughout the hotel. Others also say they have seen a misty form of an apparition.

This friendly spirit that is said to haunt the Queen Anne Hotel is believed the be the ghost of Mary Lake. Mary Lake was the headmistress of The Mary Lake School of Girls, which is what the hotel originally was when it opened back in 1890. Mary reportedly loved teaching the girls and caring for them, so when the school closed down in 1896, she was crushed. She disappeared from San Francisco and was never seen again.

The hotel transferred ownership many times before it was gained in 1980. When the new owner gained the property, it underwent extensive renovation to bring it back to life. When it opened as the Queen Anne Hotel, Mary Lake’s spirit was said to have returned to whether it was most comfortable and happy in life.

Built in 1906, this quaint little hotel was once named the New California Hotel. It was built right after a fire destroyed most of San Fransisco. At one time, it was said to have been a brothel. One of the ghosts seen and heard in the San Remo is said to be the Madame who once ran the hotel. In 1922, the hotel was renamed San Remo, and the guests were more upscale. They provided a full dinner in the dining room, and served alcohol in coffee cups during the time of prohibition.

The mysterious “painted woman” roams the halls knocking on doors, but when guests open the door, there’s no one at the door or anywhere in the hallway. She seems to stay focused on room 33 but not much else is known about this woman’s history.

There’s been a small child, a little girl, spotted wandering the hallways and trying to enter room 42 too. Guests have seen ghostly apparitions. One guest reported a figure in the mirror behind her while she was brushing her teeth.

The hotel doesn’t have televisions or phones. The rooms are quaint and have period based furniture. The bathrooms are down the hall so wandering guests will have plenty of opportunities to meet a ghost in the hallway in the middle of the night.

It is easy for people to become attached to places and as far as the Santa Maria Inn goes this can especially be true in the afterlife. Since being established nearly a century ago, frequent visitors of the inn have become permanent fixtures even after passing. The ghosts of acclaimed celebrities and previous guests from the early 20th century have been reported to make their presence known through macabre creaks and vibrations throughout the night. Some of the paranormal activity suggests a musically inclined spirit weaving itself into the building’s fabric, as a piano plays by itself. Also, many guests may feel cajoled to choose the stairs, as an elevator can be seen going up and down even though no buttons have been pushed, and no tenants stand in its shaft at least none that can be seen. Sometimes the presence of ghosts is more vivid, as visitors have reported coming face to face with strangers who dematerialize before their eyes.

The Santa Maria Inn is nestled in beautiful Santa Maria, California a town in between the illustriously sunny cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Built in 1917, the inn has a rich history which is punctuated by several famous visitors, including former Presidents and numerous celebrities. Although the inn has grown sizably since first being established (it began with a modest 24 rooms and now houses 164 rooms), the charm of the early 20th century remains as various fixtures in the inn, along with its macabre legacy of ghoulish experiences.

One of the most infamous stories of the inn involves acclaimed actor, Rudolph Valentino, who was a frequenter of the inn before his death in 1923. His ghost is said to be attached to room 210, where strange sounds and creaks reverberate throughout the night. Valentino’s alleged presence wasn’t the inn’s first experience with paranormal phenomena. After first opening its doors, the staff recalled strange occurrences and a male figure wandering the halls and famed gardens of the Santa Maria Inn. They named the ghost “Captain”, and he would sometimes even appear during the daytime, staring vacantly at the gardeners before dematerializing before their very eyes.

Various other occurrences have weaved their way into the fabric of the historical inn. In fact, the occurrences happen so frequently, staff hand out pamphlets to guests which include guest commentary. There are also a slew of visitors who have taken to comments sections for articles on the establishment to share the phenomena they became privy to during their stay. One woman recalled being awoken by the feeling of a man’s arms enveloping her as she slept. “He got out of bed once he knew I was awake,” she wrote of the experience. “Before he left, he said in my ear, ‘I drowned.'” Other experiences include those being awoken by various vibrations, loud knocking and shuffling during the night, and feelings of being watched.

As macabre as the aforementioned may sound, there has not been any indicators that the ghosts frequenting the Santa Maria Inn have any malicious intent toward visitors, so being spooked is definitely worth the trip. If anything, the ghosts seem to quite enjoy the company! One former guest recalled approaching what was known as a “haunted door” and after knocking “stepped back into a glass that was not there when I first approached the door. Weird…but fun. Must be a humorous, friendly ghost.” Indeed, when you visit the inn you may risk being awoken during the night (ghosts don’t really have a bedtime), but the experience and subsequent stories to share are well worth losing a few z’s.