Four historic hotels with haunted histories. Which one is the scariest?

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Happy Halloween, history lovers!

No tricks...but we do have a fun treat, courtesy of our fiendish friends at Historic Hotels of America: four haunted hotels, each with a particularly paranormal provenance.

The Historic Hotels family, launched by the National Trust for Historic Preservation three decades ago, includes more than 300 unforgettable places—many so lovely that their guests seem to have stuck around a few decades longer than expected. From Revolutionary War soldiers to heartbroken lovers to dedicated hoteliers who never left their post, the denizens of these hotels still lurk in the halls and guestrooms, providing guests with some spooktacular stories to tell along with their reservations.

To get you in the mood for Halloween, here are four places where paranormal activity comes standard and the jitters are virtually guaranteed. You tell us—which scary site seems like the most fun?

Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa in Sonoma, California

When the evenings are still and the fog rolls in from the Bay, a hauntingly beautiful woman has been seen strolling the hallways of the Inn in period dress. Many of the Inn’s tenured employees fondly refer to her as Victoria. Legend has it that Victoria’s family traces back to the founding fathers of Sonoma Valley, and that she celebrated her wedding and many anniversaries at the resort.

1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa in Eureka Springs, Arkansas

There are many paranormal patrons with terrifying tales to tell at this mountaintop spa resort. Among those is Michael, the Irish stonemason who, while constructing the building back in 1885, fell to his death in the footprint of what is now Room 218. He has been reported to be a frequent visitor to the room since the day of his death. There’s also Theodora—a patient and helper when the hotel was used as a Cancer Curing Hospital in the early 20th century—who resides in Room 419. Guests have reported that she puts bags in front of the door from the inside, making it hard for guests to open their door upon their return. Dozens and dozens of ghost-like encounters and creepy, unexplained occurrences happen at this hotel on a regular basis.

Hassayampa Inn in Prescott, Arizona

The year it opened in 1927, the Hassayampa Inn developed its most famous legend. A very young bride named Faith Summers checked into a balcony suite with her much older husband. As the story goes, Faith’s husband went out to buy cigarettes and never returned. Faith waited for three days and then took her life in despair. Since then, countless hotel guests and employees have reported encounters throughout the hotel with a young woman either crying at the end of a bed, dressed in a pink gown in the hallway, or appearing and disappearing from rooms. Kitchen staff have reported feeling Faith’s presence in the kitchen, right before the burners on the stove suddenly went out. Others have reported strange cold spots in Faith’s honeymoon suite. The heartbroken ghost appears unable to move on from her anguish.

Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, Massachusetts

The city of Salem is notorious for the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 and is known for hauntings and visiting spirits. The hotel also has its ghost stories, mostly attributed to the sea captains who used the Hawthorne as their gathering place. Guests staying in rooms 612 and 325, in particular, have reported ghostly occurrences such as lights mysteriously turning off and on and experiencing a general uneasy feeling when inside the rooms.

VOTE FOR THE SCARIEST HISTORIC HOTEL
 

P.S. Want to learn more about these and other historic hotels? Check out the more than 300 hotels that are part of the Historic Hotels of America® program.

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