Restorative Journeys by Debra Orringer

Five Historic Hotels With a Ghost Story, for a Halloween Stay With a Little Shiver

Five American hotels where the past is said to linger, from a 1773 inn in the Berkshires to a 1927 inn in the Arizona mountains.

Part of the pleasure of an old hotel is knowing how many people have slept there before you, and a few of America’s historic hotels are happy to suggest that some of those guests never quite checked out. Each of the five below has a ghost story the hotel itself enjoys telling, so a night there comes with a good tale attached, whether you believe a word of it or simply like the idea.

Stockbridge, Massachusetts

This inn in the Berkshires dates to 1773, which means travelers have been sleeping under its roof for more than 250 years. The stories told about it include a young girl carrying flowers, cold spots and unexplained knocks, and guests who say they’ve woken to the feeling of someone standing at the foot of the bed, which is one way to make sure you’re up in time for breakfast.

San Antonio, Texas

This hotel has stood in downtown San Antonio since 1909, and over the years guests have described piano music drifting from spaces that once hosted live performances, along with cold spots nobody can quite explain. It’s a fitting story for a hotel with that much music in its past, and the requests, as far as anyone knows, are still not being taken.

Jekyll Island, Georgia

This island club opened in 1887 as a retreat for some of America’s wealthiest families, and its Gilded Age history comes with a woman in a blue party dress who is said to drift through the halls, still looking for her lost love. The club has gentler ghosts too, including a bellman who delivers freshly pressed suits and a guest so fond of the morning routine that people have returned to find their coffee sipped and their newspaper moved.

Salem, Massachusetts

Salem in October needs very little help feeling mysterious, and one hotel there, established in 1925, adds a story of its own. Guests in one of its rooms have reported cold spots and the scent of fresh-cut flowers, which would sound lovely in any other hotel and feels a little different when nobody has brought flowers.

Prescott, Arizona

This inn in the Arizona mountains opened in 1927, and its best-known guest is Faith, who checked in that same year on her honeymoon. As the story goes, her new husband stepped out for cigarettes and never came back, and she has been part of the inn ever since. Her presence seems to be a kindly one, because one guest woke to someone hugging him and was told by the desk clerk, “Oh, that’s just Faith.”

A stay built around a story

A historic hotel gives a weekend a strong sense of place, with old staircases, long porches and dining rooms that have welcomed generations of guests. The ghost stories add something to talk about over dinner and again at breakfast, which is why these stays are so much fun with a friend sharing the room. For women in midlife and menopause who love history and a little mischief, a night in one of these hotels turns an ordinary weekend into one you’ll keep telling people about, and the stories are just as good long after the last of the Halloween candy is gone. If you’d like to know which five hotels these are, just ask and I’ll send you all five names.

Restorative Journeys by Debra Orringer