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Haunted Hotels & Hotel Ghost Encounters (IHTM)

escargot said:
I'll add that CCTV is problematic when it comes to ghosts.
Sometimes a figure is recorded standing beside a person who can't see it: other times a figure has allegedly been seen by a reliable witness but isn't on the CCTV.
I've personally been given accounts of both these examples by people I trust.
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I don't put too much emphasis on CCTV. I work with it and it's notorious for freezing, for showing what happened ten minutes ago and for just plain being useless.
 
catseye said:
Ah, yes, I missed that bit! But, of course, that doesn't mean it was true. Or that the other young couple being the only guests means that there was nobody else staying at the hotel - staff may have slept over, late admission guests, guests that the person saying 'there were only two sets of guests' didn't know about.

Edited to add that, having known a lot of 'backroom hotel workers', there are a lot of shenanigans that go on in hotels that the guests (and even sometimes some of the staff) don't know about - even to the extent of hotel workers letting friends sleep over in empty rooms.
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Yup, but clandestine guests wouldn't call attention to themselves by causing trouble!

There's also the question of why the couple had a car if they'd been relying on trains.
They may have hired one, or perhaps they don't live together (the bloke is the 'boyfriend' not 'partner', which to me implies that although I admit it's a bit thin.) So the bloke might have needed running to the station in the morning.

What we need is to track down this hotel and book every room on that particular corridor. ;)

The post has gone now. Perhaps the fervid interest was too intrusive. :(
 
escargot said:
Yup, but clandestine guests wouldn't call attention to themselves by causing trouble!

There's also the question of why the couple had a car if they'd been relying on trains.
They may have hired one, or perhaps they don't live together (the bloke is the 'boyfriend' not 'partner', which to me implies that although I admit it's a bit thin.) So the bloke might have needed running to the station in the morning.

What we need is to track down this hotel and book every room on that particular corridor. ;)

The post has gone now. Perhaps the fervid interest was too intrusive. :(
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I was wondering why the hotel was so quiet...only two rooms booked? Really?
 
hunck said:
Seems a big flaw in the story. It wasn’t hired - she says "i went out to my car”.
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It might still be a hire car. If I hire a car it's 'mine' for the time I have it, I don't tell people it's hired.
As I said though, it might be hers and she was doing the driving and taking him for his train next day.
If the post were still up we could grill her!
 
DrPaulLee said:
A quick good search reveals that spook chasers have been there before.
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I wonder if that was on the basis of people hearing banging on doors at night, like this couple?
Have to say I'm intrigued and would certainly book that room!

DrPaulLee said:
It sounds like the Lambton Arms to me. Not only is the location right, but you can see the "La" in the email address and then could be an "m" and a "b".
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Great detective work there. :cool:
 
I’m suspecting fiction with this story. The only part she witnesses is the knock on the door on the night they rebook & there's no-one there. The rest is as told to her by her boyfriend.

Ghostly activity like this would’ve either happened before & be known about, or this couple were 2 of the few people or maybe the only people who’d experienced it.

If it were going on it’d be the talk of The Lambton Arms wouldn’t it - you wouldn’t keep quiet about it - it’d be a major attraction.

But I’m a sceptical bastard.
 
The UK Paranormal database has just been updated and this caught my eye:

Man behind the Bed​


Location: Brighton (Sussex) - Royal Albion Hotel, Old Steine (destroyed by fire, July 2023)
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 2010
Further Comments: One witness staying in this flat watched a male figure pass behind the bed and cross the room. The hotel is said to be haunted by Sir Harry Preston.

https://www.paranormaldatabase.com/recent/index.php
 
hunck said:
I’m suspecting fiction with this story. The only part she witnesses is the knock on the door on the night they rebook & there's no-one there. The rest is as told to her by her boyfriend.

Ghostly activity like this would’ve either happened before & be known about, or this couple were 2 of the few people or maybe the only people who’d experienced it.

If it were going on it’d be the talk of The Lambton Arms wouldn’t it - you wouldn’t keep quiet about it - it’d be a major attraction.

But I’m a sceptical bastard.
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I agree, which is why my original post mentions that it's a great story 'if it's true'.

The OP on Facebook supplied their name. Wish I'd made a note of it!

The OP does claim that the knocking is a frequent and well-known phenomenon. We'll have to look for corroboration.
 
escargot said:
I agree, which is why my original post mentions that it's a great story 'if it's true'.

The OP on Facebook supplied their name. Wish I'd made a note of it!

The OP does claim that the knocking is a frequent and well-known phenomenon. We'll have to look for corroboration.
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I'm mostly sceptical because of the 'oh, there were only you and one other set of guests staying.' It was (I'm guessing from the dates) June? And only two couples at a hotel in a well-advertised, scenic place? And the reply from the hotel doesn't mention management, which the poster said they thought it was, only that they had complained about 'guests knocking'.
 
Mid week in June- not unusual to have empty rooms. We stayed in a large Hotel/ country club near Wareham a few weeks ago and I reckon 6-8 rooms occupied overnight for the Wednesday and 10 on the Thursday. This was a big place in a very popular part of the country.

Mystery knocking- could have been another guest or staff member just "fronting up" fed up with the racket. Regular staff denying it just helps them avoid getting involved.
 
Bit long this one -sorry bout that.

Recent hotel stay in the Algarve. Because of flight and transfer delays we didn’t get to the hotel until almost 1am – by the time we went through the check in process at the hotel desk, we didn’t get into our room until around 1.30am, but I wasn’t going to be miffed about it as we received a free upgrade from a 2-bed apartment to a 3 bed one.

Anyway, the hotel bar area closes at midnight, so in order to “come down” I sat up into the wee small hours having a few beers on the balcony, while everyone else went to bed. Little noises kept coming from the kitchen area, I’d go and look and the noises would stop, went back out to the balcony and my beer can had completely disappeared. Searched high and low for it but it was nowhere to be found – had to get a fresh one from the fridge. Went back to the balcony, and I kept on hearing people talking, again from the kitchen area – went to look, and nobody there.

I then decided that I must be tired and hearing things (see my creepy insomnia post) and went to bed.

Nothing to note the following day / night, nor the next one. On the afternoon of day 3 of the holiday, my daughter and her boyfriend announced that they were going up to the apartment from an afternoon nap, (yeah right) but came back down to the pool area again after only 30 minutes saying that they could hear people walking around inside of the apartment, people speaking in Portuguese coming from the kitchen, and internal doors opening and closing. I told them that the noises must be coming from the apartment below, but they both shook their heads and said the noises definitely came from inside of our apartment.

Things kept on going missing and didn’t show back up again, including the apartment door keys, which I religiously kept in the inside of the main door. Again searched high and low and they couldn’t be found, so Mrs DT went to reception to ask for a replica key, and although she said that the hotel manager was polite and friendly, something was “off” about him, and he was acting shifty and wouldn’t look her in the eyes, like he knew something she didn’t.

On the day we checked out, I thanked the manager for the upgrade but did say the apartment was a bit odd and had anything happened in there, and all I got in reply was laughter and “of course not Sir”.

Thinking about it though, in the height of summer and the hotel packed to the rafters, why would they give out a free last-minute upgrade, unless there was something about the apartment that was undesirable ..?
 
Dick Turpin said:
Bit long this one -sorry bout that.

Recent hotel stay in the Algarve. Because of flight and transfer delays we didn’t get to the hotel until almost 1am – by the time we went through the check in process at the hotel desk, we didn’t get into our room until around 1.30am, but I wasn’t going to be miffed about it as we received a free upgrade from a 2-bed apartment to a 3 bed one.

Anyway, the hotel bar area closes at midnight, so in order to “come down” I sat up into the wee small hours having a few beers on the balcony, while everyone else went to bed. Little noises kept coming from the kitchen area, I’d go and look and the noises would stop, went back out to the balcony and my beer can had completely disappeared. Searched high and low for it but it was nowhere to be found – had to get a fresh one from the fridge. Went back to the balcony, and I kept on hearing people talking, again from the kitchen area – went to look, and nobody there.

I then decided that I must be tired and hearing things (see my creepy insomnia post) and went to bed.

Nothing to note the following day / night, nor the next one. On the afternoon of day 3 of the holiday, my daughter and her boyfriend announced that they were going up to the apartment from an afternoon nap, (yeah right) but came back down to the pool area again after only 30 minutes saying that they could hear people walking around inside of the apartment, people speaking in Portuguese coming from the kitchen, and internal doors opening and closing. I told them that the noises must be coming from the apartment below, but they both shook their heads and said the noises definitely came from inside of our apartment.

Things kept on going missing and didn’t show back up again, including the apartment door keys, which I religiously kept in the inside of the main door. Again searched high and low and they couldn’t be found, so Mrs DT went to reception to ask for a replica key, and although she said that the hotel manager was polite and friendly, something was “off” about him, and he was acting shifty and wouldn’t look her in the eyes, like he knew something she didn’t.

On the day we checked out, I thanked the manager for the upgrade but did say the apartment was a bit odd and had anything happened in there, and all I got in reply was laughter and “of course not Sir”.

Thinking about it though, in the height of summer and the hotel packed to the rafters, why would they give out a free last-minute upgrade, unless there was something about the apartment that was undesirable ..?
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Was it an old building D? (Not that that necessarily means anything, but just out of interest).
 
Floyd1 said:
Was it an old building D? (Not that that necessarily means anything, but just out of interest).
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Not at all Mr F. Is was quite a modern complex. Well, when I say modern I'd say early to mid 1980's.

The apartment was at the very top of the complex block. We had no-one either side of us and directly below us was a family from Ireland, so the Portuguese speakers that my daughter and her boyfriend mentioned was odd
 
Dick Turpin said:
Not at all Mr F. Is was quite a modern complex. Well, when I say modern I'd say early to mid 1980's.

The apartment was at the very top of the complex block. We had no-one either side of us and directly below us was a family from Ireland, so the Portuguese speakers that my daughter and her boyfriend mentioned was odd
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Any 'shutes' for rubbish or lift shafts that sound could have come from maybe?
 
Dick Turpin said:
Bit long this one -sorry bout that.

Recent hotel stay in the Algarve. Because of flight and transfer delays we didn’t get to the hotel until almost 1am – by the time we went through the check in process at the hotel desk, we didn’t get into our room until around 1.30am, but I wasn’t going to be miffed about it as we received a free upgrade from a 2-bed apartment to a 3 bed one.

Anyway, the hotel bar area closes at midnight, so in order to “come down” I sat up into the wee small hours having a few beers on the balcony, while everyone else went to bed. Little noises kept coming from the kitchen area, I’d go and look and the noises would stop, went back out to the balcony and my beer can had completely disappeared. Searched high and low for it but it was nowhere to be found – had to get a fresh one from the fridge. Went back to the balcony, and I kept on hearing people talking, again from the kitchen area – went to look, and nobody there.

I then decided that I must be tired and hearing things (see my creepy insomnia post) and went to bed.

Nothing to note the following day / night, nor the next one. On the afternoon of day 3 of the holiday, my daughter and her boyfriend announced that they were going up to the apartment from an afternoon nap, (yeah right) but came back down to the pool area again after only 30 minutes saying that they could hear people walking around inside of the apartment, people speaking in Portuguese coming from the kitchen, and internal doors opening and closing. I told them that the noises must be coming from the apartment below, but they both shook their heads and said the noises definitely came from inside of our apartment.

Things kept on going missing and didn’t show back up again, including the apartment door keys, which I religiously kept in the inside of the main door. Again searched high and low and they couldn’t be found, so Mrs DT went to reception to ask for a replica key, and although she said that the hotel manager was polite and friendly, something was “off” about him, and he was acting shifty and wouldn’t look her in the eyes, like he knew something she didn’t.

On the day we checked out, I thanked the manager for the upgrade but did say the apartment was a bit odd and had anything happened in there, and all I got in reply was laughter and “of course not Sir”.

Thinking about it though, in the height of summer and the hotel packed to the rafters, why would they give out a free last-minute upgrade, unless there was something about the apartment that was undesirable ..?
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I'd take that apartment. :cool:
 
Floyd1 said:
Very odd.
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The funny thing is, is that when you vacate a hotel, especially after a week’s (or more) stay most people literally go through the room or apartment with a fine toothcomb, for anything that might be left behind. Looking under beds, putting your hands beneath sofa cushions looking in wardrobes etc, but the items missing never turned up.

If we ever go back on holiday to the same hotel complex, then I'll seek out whoever is staying in that apartment and if they are English speakers ask them if any weirdness has been noticed.
 
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Dick Turpin said:
The funny thing is, is that when you vacate a hotel, especially after a week’s (or more) stay most people literally go through the room or apartment with a fine toothcomb, for anything that might be left behind. Looking under beds, putting your hands beneath sofa cushions looking in wardrobes etc, but the items missing never turned up.

If we ever go back on holiday to the same hotel complex, then I'll seek out whoever is staying in that apartment and if they are English speakers ask them if any weirdness has been noticed.
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Talking of toothbrushes, I can't help but recall a tale from years ago where a family had gone on a caravan holiday and when they got home they looked at their holiday snaps (pre mobile phones) and amongst them were a few of some oiks bent over, with the toothbrushes up their backsides.
 
hunck said:
If it were going on it’d be the talk of The Lambton Arms wouldn’t it - you wouldn’t keep quiet about it - it’d be a major attraction.
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I don't know. When I worked as night porter at The Red Lion Hotel in my home town, the owner of the place didn't want the bad publicity fearing it might put potential guests off. I gave a small investigation crew a couple of hours in there anyway when I knew she wouldn't be about.

I'd prefer not to name the hotel I now work in but the owners there aren't at all squeamish about their place being known in small circles as being haunted. Both hotels were designed and built by the same man in the 1890's. DrPaulLee knows about both locations.
 
I'm far more apprehensive and wary of other (living) hotel guests than of any possible ghosts or other supernatural entities. Unlike the dead the living can be noisy, inconsiderate, rude and dangerous!
 
AnonyJ said:
I'm far more apprehensive and wary of other (living) hotel guests than of any possible ghosts or other supernatural entities. Unlike the dead the living can be noisy, inconsiderate, rude and dangerous!
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100% ... and as the chef at my new place said to his staff about the hauntings instead of the 'fleshies', "Don't bother them and they won't bother you."
 
Dick Turpin said:
The apartment was at the very top of the complex block. We had no-one either side of us and directly below us was a family from Ireland, so the Portuguese speakers that my daughter and her boyfriend mentioned was odd
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Dick Turpin said:
Quite a few items. A new stationary set bought from the airport for my sons return to school. The odd flip flop etc, a brand new bottle of aftershave, 2 teeth brushes and a few other bits. None of it very expensive but still.......
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Sounds to me like Portuguese speakers were staying on the roof (not directly above, or you would have heard them stepping around up there) and dropped in to "borrow" a few useful items. Even the odd flip flop is useful if you've lost one of your own while clmabering over the roof tops. And stationary to write home to mom.
 
When I was doing my ghost survey, hotels were the least likely to reply, whether yes or no (the majority of respondents said "no, nothing recent"). A couple did say that they feared for their reputation/custom if word spread. One replied "plz ignore" to my initial query!
 
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