Back in 2014, I finally fulfilled my childhood dream of visiting the majestic Angkor Wat. Little did I know that during the trip to Cambodia, I would encounter one of the eeriest experiences of my life.
Our hotel in Siem Reap was a three-star accommodation located a stone’s throw away from Pub Street, a renowned nightlife strip. It wasn’t the swankiest hotel, but the place was comfortable and clean enough.
Stepping into the room that I shared with my brother, I was greeted by garishly red walls. The interior was dim, except for a streak of sunlight that crept through the curtains from a three-panel window. Since we were heading out, I didn’t bother drawing the curtains to look out.
My supernatural encounter happened on the second night. While sleeping, my arms and legs were suddenly twisted to the back. It was if I’m being wrestled down on the bed.
Thinking that it was my brother, I asked him to stop. The tugging and twisting continued for what felt like an eternity. When I admonished my brother the next morning, he looked at me with a quizzical expression.
“What do you mean? I didn’t wrestle you last night,” he said.
As he said this, I finally opened the curtains and looked out the windows. I looked down and saw several burial plots next to the hotel.
For some people, there’s something eerie about hotels. The anxiety of being in a foreign country or destination is further compounded by the thought of sleeping in a new place. In bed, your mind wanders and start to imagine entities peering from above the old wardrobe...
There are, however, thrill-seeking tourists that enjoy the lure of a supposedly haunted hotel. Some venues even proudly advertise the wandering spirits that are said to lurk in their premises.
ALSO READ: Can Malaysians only travel if they took the 'right' vaccine after pandemic?
In the spirit of the month-long Hungry Ghost Festival, which began on Aug 8, we take a look at hotels around the world that are alleged to be haunted. These places have been included in many “haunted hotels” lists and stories online, and are based on employee and guest experiences or “sightings”, as well as reviews on booking platforms.
Fans of horror fiction might recognise this infamous hotel as the inspiration behind Overlook Hotel in Colorado, the fictional setting in author Stephen King’s The Shining. Its association to a ghostly masterpiece alone doesn’t warrant its inclusion on this list, but the ghostly sightings definitely are worth mentioning.
The hotel is said to be haunted by many spirits, with the more notable one being the ghost of its founder Freelan Oscar Stanley. His deceased wife is also rumoured to haunt the halls.
Another resident ghost is that of Elizabeth Wilson or Mrs Wilson, a former housekeeper of the hotel. She is said to have made Room 217 her eternal home. Interestingly, Wilson is also a staunch conservative – she was allegedly not a fan of unmarried guests. Many unmarried couples have reported feeling a cold presence while in bed together at the hotel.
The ghost stories that plagued this hotel are not only scary, they are actually downright gory. The scary tales of Hotel Monte Vista in Arizona include those of murdered prostitutes. One of the rooms is haunted by the spirits of prostitutes who were killed and then tossed to the street below.
There have been accounts of male guests feeling asphyxiated in their sleep.
Meanwhile, over in Room 210, the spirit of a person known as the Meat Man is rumoured to haunt the space. The man was a long-term boarder who died in the room. Apparently, he had a strange habit of hanging raw meat from the chandelier...
This charming hotel is located in Matjiesfontein, touted to be one of the most haunted towns in South Africa.
It was used as an important headquarters during the South African War and subsequently hosted controversial war crime hearings.
With such a violent past, it’s no surprise that the double-storey Lord Milner Hotel has its fair share of ghost stories.
According to the hotel’s blog, there are two female ghosts that reside there. One of them is Lucy, who has been seen floating around the passages wearing a negligee.
“We speculate that perhaps it’s someone who died in the building. Whoever she is, she’s friendly, and too ethereal to be frightening,” the hotel wrote.
Located in the heart of bustling Mumbai, this five-star hotel offers amazing waterfront views from its plush interiors. It is also shrouded in mystery and a past that is marred by death and terrorism.
Opened for business in 1903, the hotel was utilised as a military hospital during World War II.
The real horrors of the place happened in November 2008 when the hotel suffered a vicious terrorist attack. A number of guests were held hostage. The attack resulted in 137 deaths, with 31 of these deaths occurring within the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.
But the hotel’s ghostly reputation is attributed to the ghost of its architect. According to legend, the building’s architect jumped to his death from the fifth floor. Being a perfectionist, W.A. Chambers had been very distraught when he discovered the hotel was built in the wrong direction, after returning from a trip.
A certain kind of medieval charm greets guests at this 15th-century inn in Rye, England. Visitors will find secret priest holes, tunnels and hidden passageways at the venue that has a history dating back to the 1100s. In the past, it was frequented by smugglers and Catholic priests.
These days, however, the inn’s regular guests are usually history buffs and ghost hunters.
The inn’s ghostly sightings usually happen at six of its 32 rooms. There have been reports of guests waking up at night in Room 16 to a duel being fought. Elsewhere in Room 5, a woman in white has been sighted at the foot of the bed.
Every castle would have at least one ghost story and Ballygally Castle in Ballygally is no different. Its most prominent ghost is Lady Isabella Shaw, wife of Lord James Shaw (who built the castle). She apparently has a habit of knocking on doors in the castle, which has since been converted into a hotel.
“Legend has it that Lord Shaw wanted a son, and when his wife delivered his heir, he snatched the baby from his wife and locked her in a room at the top of the castle.
While trying to escape and to search for her beloved child, Lady Isabella fell to her death from the tower window.
“Another theory is that she was actually thrown from the window by the cruel Lord Shaw or one of his henchmen,” the hotel said on its website.
The hotel assures guests that Lady Isabella is “friendly”. There are, however, accounts from guests of other ghosts who are more mischievous. Over the years, mediums that stayed at the hotel said there are more ghosts than living guests at the place. There’s also a small room in a corner of the castle known as “The Ghost Room” that is not reserved for guests.
Located next to the iconic Taipei 101, there’s nothing on the outside to indicate that this luxury hotel is haunted. But many locals refuse to step inside, claiming that the place is tainted by bad energy and spirits. It doesn’t help that many believe the hotel was built on the site of a prisoner-of-war camp (a story that has since been debunked to be untrue).
The hotel’s spooky reputation is further perpetuated by the presence of two giant talismans that are displayed in the lobby. The hotel is highly rated by travellers on online review platforms.
However, there are also several accounts of the paranormal. A guest alleged that he woke up in the morning to find unexplained scratches on his back.
The tallest hotel in Bangkok is also notorious for being one of the most haunted places in all of Thailand. Standing at 88-storeys high, the Baiyoke Sky Hotel offers a sweeping panoramic view of the glistening metropolitan.
Unfortunately, tragedy plagued the hotel when during construction, three workers fell to their deaths when the platform they were standing on collapsed.
Since then, guests have complained about feeling uneasy during their stay. There were also reports of things being moved around in their rooms and sightings of dark shadows.
A Singaporean guest who stayed in Room 6203, in a review she posted online, said that the toilet was “creepy”. She wrote: “It was like someone is in the toilet staring at us all the time.”
What if you woke up in the middle of the night and saw an uninvited young boy staring at you from the foot of the bed?
Guests at this hotel have allegedly said that a little boy asked them to play with him in the middle of the night. It’s uncertain whether the boy spoke Japanese or another language. But the peculiar thing is that guests always understood his request, despite their nationality.
Located about 15 minutes from the airport, the hotel is usually frequented by flight crew. Many have said that they felt uneasy during their short stay.
Perhaps it was a real haunting, or maybe it was just jet lag.
The gruesome history of this hotel is too chilling to ignore. In the late 1990s, cult members had placed the rotting body of a man for months in Room 1272. They turned away housekeeping services and refused to leave the hotel. When police entered the room by force, they found a mummified corpse dressed in a bathrobe!
The corpse was identified as Shinichi Kobayashi. Apparently, the cult leader had been trying to treat Kobayashi’s brain injury through healing touches, but police said the victim had died within a few days of checking in to the hotel.
Since then, guests have reported hearing strange noises at night. A flight attendant once allegedly heard loud footsteps in the room above her. The thing is, she was staying at the highest floor of the hotel.
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