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The Haunted Jane Street Hotel: Echoes of the Lost Sailors

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After tragedy struck and the Titanic sank to the bottom of the Atlantic ocean, the surviving crew members were sent to The Jane Street Hotel in New York. According to stories, they are still haunting the rooms, where the trauma of their tragedy lingers. 

In the heart of New York’s West Village stands a hotel where luxury and lingering sorrow intertwine. The Jane Street Hotel, with its vintage charm and storied past, hides a history steeped in tragedy. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from USA

Long before it became a fashionable stay for travelers in Greenwich Village, it was known as the American Seaman’s Friend Society Sailors’ Home and Institute, built in 1908. In 2008, it was restored and came back as a boutique hotel, often called The Jane.

Back then it was a refuge for sailors arriving from the high seas. But the souls who once found rest within its walls may never have truly left.

The Jane Hotel: at 505-507 West Street on the corner of Jane Street in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City was built in 1907-08 as the American Seamen’s Friend Society Sailors’ Home and Institute, and was designed by William A. Boring as a hotel for sailors.// Source

The Titanic Tragedy

The hauntings are often linked to one of the most heartbreaking events in the hotel’s history. In 1912, after the sinking of the Titanic, the Jane Street building became a temporary shelter for surviving crew members brought ashore in New York, mostly British Sailors. 

The survivors of the Titanic stayed at the hotel until the end of the American Inquiry into the ship’s sinking. The surviving crew held a memorial service at the hotel four days after the ship sank. More than a hundred survivors were said to have stayed here after the accident. Afterward, the ASFS commissioned a plaque for the building, memorializing those who died in the sinking.

RMS Titanic: The largest ocean liner in service at the time, Titanic was four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. on 15 April 1912 in the North Atlantic Ocean, she hit an iceberg and sank. Out of the 2,224 people onboard, 1,635 died. Many of them are now believed to haunt different parts of the world. //Image: 1912 illustration by Willy Stöwer.

According to the stories, some of the Titanic sailors, still traumatized from the tragedy, went mad. One allegedly hanged himself. Although mostly the dead from a tragedy like this are said to be the ghosts, but this time, it is the spirit of the survivors that are still here in their afterlife. Many believe that the cries heard in the night belong to these surviving sailors, still mourning the shipmates they left behind in the freezing Atlantic.

The Haunted Jane Street Hotel

Guests who spend the night here speak of strange occurrences that defy reason. According to founder of the Haunted Manhattan walking tour, Brent Pedersen, people have even fled from their rooms because of the paranormal activity. Wailing and moaning echo down the narrow hallways, often in the dead of night when the city outside lies still. The elevators stop and move by themself. Doors creak open on their own, and the sound of heavy footsteps can be heard pacing through empty corridors. 

Read More: Check out all haunted hotels around the world

Some visitors have reported seeing faint figures drifting through the dimly lit rooms, their features blurred like mist, vanishing when approached. Others speak of sudden, icy chills that move through the air, lingering only long enough to raise the hair on the back of the neck.

Source

According to Pedersen, a woman staying at the hotel heard a man weeping outside of her room. When she peeked outside, no one was in the hallway, but the crying continued. When she saw the face of a crying sailor in the mirror, she screamed and checked out from the hotel at once. 

Source

Another case was on the third floor. A guest staying at the hotel noticed a figure of a woman in white through a porthole on a door. The guest opened and checked, but the woman vanished. But when the door was closed once again and the guest checked, the ghostly figure was still there, on the other side of the porthole. 

Though the Jane Street Hotel has since been transformed into a trendy boutique destination, its past continues to whisper beneath the polished wood and warm lighting. Guests may come for the vintage elegance and charm, but some leave with stories they cannot explain. Perhaps it is only the old building settling in the night. Or perhaps it is the restless souls of sailors who still wander the halls, searching for the peace they never found at sea.

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References:

Inside the city’s spookiest destination for Halloween

Historic NYC Hotel | The Jane | Titanic Hotel Manhattan

The Jane – Wikipedia

Part of NYC’s legendary Jane Hotel to become private club

Ghostly Tales from the Titanic 

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The Silent Music Haunting Hald Pensjonat

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Who can be haunting the old Hald Pensjonat in Mandal? Playing soft piano music in the afterlife, and rumours about the footsteps of a Norwegian pirate seems to linger. 

In the coastal town of Mandal, where summer light lingers long into the evening, Hald Pensjonat appears by the shore, unassuming. But legend has it that it is haunted, although the details of it are scarce.  

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway

In the left wing there is a carved and decorated ceiling in the Renaissance style with 42 carved heads. The heads are all different and symbolize, among other things, sorrow, joy, despondency and despair. Perhaps they are the only ones who can sway what’s really going on inside of these walls.  

Hald Pensjonat: The historic Hald Pensjonat in Mandal, is thought to be haunted by the soft piano music, although no one is playing. // Foto: Daniel DeNiazi

The Assembling of Hald Pensjonat

The property is a building complex consisting of one central building and two wings. The building in the middle was originally built around 1795 in Eikvåg outside Farsund , and was called “Krohn’s House”. Around 1897, Jens Bugge moved this building to Mandal.

The two wings have also been moved to their current location from other locations. The west wing was originally an older house in the Malmö district of Mandal . The east wing was an older house in Kleven in Mandal, built around 1750. In all, the history of this house comes from multiple parts of the country.

Today, the Hald International Center has premises here. In the summer, the site is used as a guesthouse. The building absorbed the presence of countless visitors, their routines, their conversations, their quiet moments. But not everyone who stayed here is believed to have left.

The Moved Building: Is the haunting from one of the buildings that were moved to Mandal years ago? Here from Farsund, where the pirate, John Jahnse lived in his time.

The Piano Playing Alone

But who is the one behind the haunted rumors? Some say it had to be John Jahnse, a pirate and hijacker of ships who used to live in one of the rooms in the 1700s. This particular room was one of those that were moved from Farsund to Hald. Footsteps were apparently heard around the house and during the second world war, it was said to scare the German soldiers who took over the house. The footsteps frightened them so much that they shot at the ceiling in the fireplace room. Stories say you can still see the bullet hole. 

The most well known phenomenon at Hald Pensjonat centers around the piano music seemingly coming from the fireplace room. More than once, music has reportedly been heard drifting through the rooms without a visible player. 

Sources tell that in the fall of 2000, when a group heard the piano music, they went to check it out. When investigated, the piano is found untouched. The lid closed and the room was empty.

The Mysterious Piano Music: The cozy interior of Hald Pensjonat, featuring a comfortable seating area and an antique piano, where ghostly piano music has been reported. // Source: Ssu/Wikimedia

The Figure in the Corridors

Equally unsettling is the figure some claim to have seen in the hallways. The figure appears briefly, then disappears around a corner or into a shadow where no doorway exists.

But who could this figure be? The building is from a time after the reformation, so no monks lived there. Some speculate a former caretaker. Others suggest a deeply religious guest who once sought solitude within these walls. There are no records to confirm any theory.

A Place that Remembers

Unlike many haunted hotels that have been leaning into its house spirits, the manager for the bed and breakfast used to say that the Bible didn’t want the living to contact the dead and didn’t want people to come seeking ghosts. 

When the summer season ends and the house grows still, some believe the music returns. Soft notes echoing through empty rooms. At Hald Pensjonat, something remains awake long after the guests have gone.

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References:

La spøkelsene leve i fred – NRK Sørlandet

Hald (bygning) – Wikipedia

Tør du sove her?

Hald Pensjonat Mandal Her, i et av rommene bodde Skips kapreren John Jahnsen. Dette rommet var fra før et hus som sto i Farsund og senere flyttet til Hald. Han har vandret rundt i rommet og har ikke forlatt huset. Det er hele tiden hørt fot trinn rundt i huset. Under andre verdenskrig, når tyskerne tok over huset ble de så redde av fottrinnene at de fyrte av et skudd mot taket i peisestuen. Kulehullet finnes der fremdeles. Det er og observert en munk som går rundt i gangene. Høsten 2000 hørte de plutselig piano spilling fra peisestua, de gikk inn, men ingen folk å se. bilde tatt fra hjemmesiden til Hald pensjonat 37 Halseveien, Mandal, Norge, 4517

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The Womanizer of Room 315 Haunting at Sauda Fjordhotel

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The once stately Sauda Fjordhotel is said to be haunted by a remorseful colonel, who took his own life when his womanizing ways lost him the love of his life. 

At Sauda Fjordhotell in Rogaland, the fjord lies calm and dark beneath the mountains, reflecting a building that has witnessed more than a century of guests, celebrations, and quiet departures. Sauda Fjord Hotel is a manor hotel that was built in 1914 as a recreation center for the wealthy. Until 1931, Sauda had no road connection with the outside world. All traffic was by boat, which caused problems when the winters were cold and the ice was thick on the fjord.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway

In more modern times, the hotel has gone bankrupt time and time again, and the reviews tells of a tired place in need of renovations. Most guests check out and leave with memories. Some never do though. On the third floor, behind the closed door of room 315, something restless is said to remain.

Sauda Fjordhotell: Neitakk at Norwegian Wikipedia

Sounds in the Night at Sauda Fjordhotel

Guests assigned to room 315 often report disturbances that begin after nightfall. 

Heavy knocks echo through the room, slow and deliberate, like the rhythm of a walking stick striking the floor. Furniture is found moved from its place by morning. Lights flicker on and off without explanation. Glasses slide across tabletops as if nudged by an unseen hand.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from haunted hotels

Some speak of a shadowy figure standing at the edge of the room. Others describe the sensation of being watched, studied, appraised. The air grows colder without warning, and sleep becomes difficult to hold onto.

The Colonel Who Loved Too Much

According to local legend, the presence belongs to a colonel who stayed at the hotel in the early years of the twentieth century. He was a man of rank and charm, accustomed to attention and admiration. Engaged to be married, he could not resist flirting with other women, even as his wedding day approached.

His fiancée, humiliated and enraged, called off the marriage entirely. Only then did the colonel realize what he had lost. In despair and shame, he took his own life in room 315, hanging himself where he had once prepared for a future that would never come. He was only 28 years old. 

A Ghost That Never Changed

Death, it seems, did not temper his nature. The colonel is said to have remained a womanizer even beyond the grave. Female guests have reported the unsettling feeling of cold hands brushing against them in the darkness. A touch on the arm. A presence too close to ignore. Always brief. Always chilling.

One of the hotel’s managers has stated that many guests in room 315 have asked to change rooms because they feel that someone is lying next to them.

Room 315 at Sauda Fjordhotell is still in use. The door still opens. The lights still work. But when night falls and the sounds begin, some guests come to understand that not every check in is followed by a check out.

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References:

– Har skjedd ting me ikkje kan forklare 

FLERE GJENFERD SOM OGSÅ VILLE VÆRE MED – Issuu 

Sauda Fjordhotell 

Sauda Fjordhotell

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The Haunted Shelbourne Hotel and the Ghost of Mary Masters

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According to staff members and guests, paranormal investigators and even celebrities, the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin is haunted. Legend has it that a young cholera victim called Mary Masters has been haunting the place for centuries. 

On the grand curve of St. Stephen’s Green stands The Shelbourne Hotel, a place of elegance, history, and lingering whispers of a ghostly presence. Beneath its crystal chandeliers and polished marble lies nearly two centuries of a mystery. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Ireland

Since opening its doors in 1824, the Shelbourne has welcomed royalty, revolutionaries, poets, and presidents. Among its most enduring guests is one who never left, a little ghost known as Mary Masters.

Shelbourne Hotel: Joseph Mischyshyn / Dublin – Shellbourne Hotel / CC BY-SA 2.0

A Hotel of Grandeur and Ghosts

The Shelbourne Hotel was designed to embody luxury and sophistication, its Georgian façade a testament to Dublin’s golden age. Inside, generations of visitors have come seeking comfort and refinement. Martin Burke from Tupperary bought three of the townhouses on St. Stephen’s Green, wanting to make the grand hotel. 

The Haunted Hotel: Image from 1885 of Shelbourne Hotel.

It is said that one room, in particular, has a reputation that chills even the most skeptical guests: Room 526. Staff and visitors alike have spoken of eerie occurrences like lights flickering, taps turning on by themselves, and the distinct feeling of being watched. The culprit, they say, is a child.

The Haunted Shelbourne Hotel

The story of the haunting came to prominence in 1965 when famed American paranormal investigator Hans Holzer and British psychic Sybil Leek visited The Shelbourne. They were on a tour to explore some of the most haunted places in Dublin. The hotel had already become notorious among staff for unexplainable events, and Holzer was invited to investigate. And if the haunting was a well known thing before they arrived, it certainly became notorious after.

Paranormal Investigators: Sybil Leek (née Fawcett; 22 February 1917 – 26 October 1982) was an English witch, astrologer, occult author and self-proclaimed psychic. She was called Britain’s most famous witch by the BBC. Hans Holzer (26 January 1920 – 26 April 2009) wrote more than 120 books on supernatural and occult and hosted a television show, Ghost Hunter.

How they investigated the hotel and got their information, was not necessarily through historical records. During a séance held in Room 526, or 256 by some accounts, Leek made contact with a spirit who identified herself as Mary Masters.

Read More: Check out all haunted hotels around the world

The first night, Sybil invited the ghost child into her room, and felt a small child climb into her bed, although she couldn’t see anything. She also claimed to have felt a woolly material brush against her cheek and right arm. When she woke up the next morning, her arm was numb, almost as someone had laid upon it. 

The next evening, Sybil went into a trance and had a full conversation with the child that she was unable to remember when she came too. According to Leek, the girl said she was seven years old, named Mary Masters and had died in the building in the 18th century, before the hotel as we know it was completed. According to them, the little girl seemed to be ill. She described herself as lonely and frightened, unable to find her mother. She was also looking for her big sister, Sophie. The room grew cold during the session, and witnesses claimed they heard the faint sound of a child crying near the window.

Encounters with the Spirit of Mary

Since that famous investigation, countless guests have claimed to experience something strange in the hotel. Some report hearing soft footsteps padding across the carpet in the dead of night. Others have woken to the sensation of a small hand touching their cheek. Maids have spoken of seeing the shadow of a little girl reflected in mirrors or vanishing behind curtains.

The encounter is not really isolated to this one room though, as hotel staff have reported seeing her around the hotel, like in the basement and wine cellar when they are stocking wine, or doing laundry. 

Even the celebrity and actress Lily Collins shared publicly about her ghostly encounter when she stayed at the Shelbourne Hotel when she was interviewed on Jimmy Fallon. As she was sleeping in room 255 she felt a presence by her bed and a giggle before doors started slamming and a rush of air flew past her. When asking about it, the hotel staff told her about Mary Masters. 

Lily Collins and her Ghost Experience: Worth noting though, is that Lily Collins is a firm believer in ghosts, as she also claimed to have experienced the ghost of Ted Bundy’s victim when she was filming his biopic, “Extremely Wicked”. Here, she started to wake up at 3:05 am every night in preproduction. “I started being woken up by flashes of images, like the aftermath of a struggle,” she said

Documenting the Haunting at Shelbourne Hotel

In an RTÉ documentary about the staff working at the historical hotel, that seems to be from 2014/2015, management at the palatial hotel admitted that on several occasions, terrified guests had run out of the eerie room screaming in panic.

The hotel managers even gave a staff member orders to stay in the room overnight as there were so many reports about activity, at least 2-3 times per week over a period of six months. The staff member didn’t particularly believe it all, but were convinced when the taps in the bathroom turned as the guests had complained about. 

Uncovering the Mystery of Mary Masters

The ground on which the Shelbourne stands has seen centuries of Dublin’s transformation. Before the hotel was built, this area of St. Stephen’s Green was lined with Georgian townhouses, one of which may have been the Masters’ family home. Early tenants in the 1600 and 1700s built simple two-storey houses, with much of it undeveloped on the 1728 map. By the time of John Roque’s map in 1756, the pace of building had accelerated rapidly.

But who was Mary Masters? The little girl said to haunt the hotel? According to most sources, they claim she used to live in one of the three townhouses that was before the hotel.

According to the paranormal researches in 65, Mary Masters had died in 1846, and was one of the children growing up in the houses that stood on the ground before they were made into the hotel. This is strange to say though, as the hotel was founded in 1824 by Martin Burke. Apparently, Sybil Leek got the year in one of her trances. 

So, it’s rather unlikely that was the year she died. It did get a new owner and was renovated in 1865 by William Jury, Charles Cotton and Christian Goodman, but the building was used as a hotel all the while. 

And as in the retelling from Lily Collins and the staff, they told that Mary had actually died of cholera in 1791 and that little  Mary must have been around 7 years old. This is the year that has been passed around most perhaps, as it seems to fit more with the narrative of the buildings. Although, there have been no traces of any family named Masters or a girl named Mary who lived in one of the three town houses. 

But was there cholera in Ireland in 1791? It is believed that Cholera were introduced to Ireland from India, probably through British troops. The epidemic in Ireland was in the 1830s, and killed 50 000 people. It is said that the illness started in India in 1817. So this story is also rather improbable. 

While skeptics dismiss the tale as hotel folklore, the stories persist. Modern visitors still ask for Room 526, curious or brave enough to see if the stories are true. Some leave convinced they felt something unseen, while others depart with nothing more than a chill that refuses to fade.

According to investigators, most of the supposed haunting has turned out to be banging noises from plumbing, bad wiring that increases the electromagnetic field that has turned out makes people paranoid and seeing things. There are also scratching noises in the attic that have turned out to be mice and rats. But as always, there are some points that are still left unanswered.

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References:

Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin, Ireland | Haunted Rooms®

Actress Lily Collins haunted by Dublin hotel ghost | Irish Independent

Ghost of young girl haunts Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel, claim guests and staff

Epidemics in Ireland – A Short History – The Irish Story 

Ukategorisert

Room 407 and the Gentle Ghost of Fleischer’s Hotel

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As the first hostess of the hotel in Voss, Norway, the ghost of Magdalene at the historic and majestic Fleischier’s Hotel is said to linger inside of Room 407. 

Fleischer’s Hotel stands proudly beside the lake at Voss, a grand wooden hotel steeped in family history and tradition right by the train station. The hotel was built in the Swiss style. This style of building was popular in Norway from about 1850-1910 and is inspired by the architecture of the Alps.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway

For generations, guests have spoken in hushed tones about one particular room. Room 407 with a grand view over the water Vossvangen is built around, is said to be occupied, even when no name is written in the ledger. According to long held legend, this is where the spirit of the hotel’s very first hostess still resides.

Fleischer’s Hotel: The hotel by Evangervegen road (E16) in Voss, Norway is thought to be haunted by the ghost of one of the founders.// Photo

Magdalene Fleischer’s Unfinished Watch

The ghost is believed to be Magdalene Fleischer herself, the woman who helped shape Fleischer’s the hotel that is still running by her rules it seems. 

Her full name was Magdalene Margrethe von Schlanbusch (1839-1915),  married to Fredrik Lyth Ørum Fleischer (1834-1906) who founded the hotel after they sold the family owned church to Voss.

The two ran the hotel from 1864 to 1906. Magdalene was Fleischer’s savior when the husband thought all was lost when the new building burned down in 1888, only 13 days after it opened. Magdalene had single-handedly insured the existing hotel and the new building during construction, without her husband’s knowledge. The hotel was rebuilt the next year and is still standing. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from haunted hotels

Witnesses describe seeing a female figure dressed in black, moving silently through Room 407 or standing near the bed. Why exactly this room, sources never claim to have an answer to. Others speak of sudden cold drafts that pass through the room without warning, and chandeliers that flicker and glow for no earthly reason.

Despite these unsettling signs, Magdalene is not considered a malevolent presence. Quite the opposite. Staff and guests alike describe her as protective and deeply concerned with the well being of those who stay at the hotel. It is said she refuses to leave because her sense of duty to the guests never truly ended.

A Touch in the Night

One of the most striking accounts comes from a guest who claimed to have awakened during the night to feel a gentle hand patting her cheek. When she opened her eyes, the room was empty, yet the sense of comfort lingered. There was no fear, only the impression of being cared for, as if checked on by a devoted hostess making her rounds.

Hotel staff have their own stories. An employee once claimed that flickering lights appeared when Magdalene seemed displeased, particularly if she felt the service provided to guests was lacking. In these moments, the lights were not threatening but insistent, a quiet reminder that standards must be upheld.

– Guests who have stayed here for several nights have on several occasions come down to the reception and said that they no longer want to stay in room 407. They have had the feeling that someone was watching them, said Butler, Michael Pedersen. He also claimed to have felt or heard someone walking in the hallways. 

Magdalene Fleischer

– I heard lots of women’s voices from inside the toilet, as if they were talking to each other. I got a little scared, and hurried on, but had to go back to take a look. Still, I didn’t dare open the door to look. I was completely in shock. I knew there couldn’t possibly be anyone there, because the door to the hallway was locked. I rushed out and locked it behind me! Source

Also the descendants of the alleged ghosts, comes with a few ghost stories of her own. Asta Maria Fleischer Tønjum, the great granddaughter, worked all her life at the hotel as well. 

– Not so many years ago, a regular male guest stopped by the reception and reported an incident in room 407. This was passed on to me, and I called the man, who told me that a lady had appeared in the room. She had come over to his bed and stood there for a while before she dissolved and disappeared. The lady had a black, unbuttoned blouse and buttoned boots. The man had not been scared, because he felt that the lady was kind-hearted and was there to look after him. When he heard the story about Magdalene, he thought that the woman who appeared to him could well be her, says Asta Marie. Source

A Spirit Bound by Care

Unlike many haunted hotels where spirits are tied to tragedy or unrest, Fleischer’s tells a different kind of ghost story. As her descendants claim, she was a warm and kind lady in life as she seems to have been in her afterlife as well. Magdalene Fleischer is said to remain out of love and responsibility rather than sorrow. 

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References:

Magic Magasin – Det spøker på Fleischers Hotel

Fleischer’s Hotel – Wikipedia

Ukategorisert

Utne Hotel and the Watchful Spirit of “Mor Utne”

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In one of the oldest hotels in Norway in the serene Hardangerfjord, Mother Utne is said to still be running things. After working 70 years at Hotel Utne, management at the hotel claims that she is still the one in charge. 

On the quiet shores of the Hardangerfjord stands Utne Hotel, one of Norway’s oldest wooden hotels and has been in operation since 1722. Here they serve the famed Hardanger cider and the national dish Fårikål, with their ghost stories. Its rooms are filled with antiques, its walls layered with centuries of hospitality and human presence. 

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Among the portraits and heirlooms, one figure holds particular power over the building. Her painted gaze follows guests from the wall, calm yet unyielding. She is known simply as Mor Utne. And many believe she never truly left.

Hotell Utne: The old hotel is said to be haunted by the matroness, called mother Utne. // photo was taken by Jarle Vines. © 2009 Jarle Vines, some rights reserved.

The Woman Who Became the Hotel

Mor Utne was the hotel’s hostess for more than seventy years in the mid-19th century. Generations of travelers passed through under her watchful eye, and the hotel’s routines and traditions became inseparable from her presence. She knew every room, every floorboard, every sound the old building could make. When she finally died, the hotel continued on. But those who live and work there insist that something essential remains behind.

Mother Utne:Torbjørg Johannesdatter Utne (1812-1903) was a well known figure at the hotel, even after she was widowed in 1882, and left the business to her son, Svein Utne. Her portrait was done by Eilif Pettersen.

Her portrait still hangs on the wall, and beneath it stands her favourite rocking chair in the fireplace lounge. It is her chair alone. Guests avoid sitting in it, even when the hotel is full and no other seats remain. During renovations, workers left the chair untouched, some out of respect, others out of an unspoken unease they could not quite explain.

Still, she seems to be a rather helpful ghost, returning objects to what she deems the right place, and the staff claims that she exudes a warmth when her presence enters a room. 

Signs of a Quiet Guardian

Staff and guests alike have reported strange happenings throughout the hotel. Lamps are said to switch on and off without reason. Doors open and close on their own, slow and deliberate, as if guided by an unseen hand. Figures are sensed rather than seen, a presence felt just behind the shoulder or at the edge of a corridor.

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These events are rarely frightening. Instead, they carry a feeling of supervision, as though the hotel is being quietly inspected. Many believe this is Mor Utne, still tending to her duties, ensuring that everything remains as it should be.

The Girl From the Ghost Room

According to local legend though, Mother Utne is not the only one said to be haunting the hotel. Room 15 is often called the Ghost Room, and that strange things keeps happening there. Could it be that Mother Utne is making her presence known in this particular room, or could it be that there is another ghost roaming the hotel as well. 

It is said that an 18 year old girl once jumped from the window and died and there is in fact her, not Mother Utne haunting this part of the hotel. But although we know quite a bit about Mother Utne as an actual figure, this tale seems to be lost in history and is now merely a legend. 

A Presence That Endures

Unlike many haunted places, Utne Hotel is not known for terror or violence. Its haunting is subtle and intimate. Mor Utne is said to watch, not to warn. She is not bound by tragedy but by devotion. After a lifetime spent caring for the hotel and its guests, perhaps she simply could not let go.

Those who stay the night often speak of restful sleep mixed with an odd awareness, as if someone is nearby, listening. Some wake convinced they have been gently checked on, though no one ever enters their room.

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References:

Følte at noen forsøkte å dytte dem ut mens de vasket vinduet

Utne Hotell

Torbjørg Utne – hotelleier – Store norske leksikon

Det uforklarlige

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The Tragic Ghost of the Maid Haunting Visnes Hotel

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A maid who once worked at the hotel allegedly took her own life at the old Visnes Hotel, deep in the Norwegian fjords. Now it is said she is lingering in the afterlife in the old rooms she once worked in.

Visnes Hotel stands quietly on the edge of Stryn, its Swiss style facade looking out over the dramatic landscapes of western Norway. Surrounded by fjords, mountains, and deep history, the hotel is known today for its charm, warmth, and long tradition of hospitality. 

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But what is it about the haunted rumors that seem to follow the hotel, even after several rebrandings and renovations? It is said that behind its carefully preserved rooms and peaceful gardens, a far darker story is said to linger.

Haunted Hotel: Visnes Hotel in Stryn, Norway. Wooden hotel built in 1850. It is said to be haunted by a maid who took her own life in the hotel. // Source: Jorid Martinsen/Wikimedia

A Hotel Built on Long Memory

The story of Visnes began in 1850, when Anton Visnes opened his farmhouse to travelers passing through the region. Over the decades, the property slowly evolved, until his son Arne formally transformed it into a hotel in 1887. 

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Since then, Visnes Hotel has remained in operation, carrying the marks of many eras within its walls. The large courtyard, the old barn, and the historic interiors give the building a sense of deep continuity, as though the past never truly left.

It is perhaps this unbroken history that has allowed one restless spirit to remain behind.

Stryn: DXR/Wikimedia

The Maid Who Never Left

Local legend speaks of a young maid who once worked at Visnes during its early hotel years. Both her life and death carries almost no details and proof, and little is known about both her and the legends she left behind.

She was said to be hardworking and quiet, spending long days tending to guests, cleaning rooms, and moving silently through the halls. 

Over time, sorrow settled over her. Some say she fell in love with someone she could never have, while others believe she was overwhelmed by isolation and hardship. What is agreed upon is that her life ended tragically when she took her own life within the hotel grounds.

Her death was quietly buried in time, but her presence, according to many, was not.

Signs of a Restless Spirit

Guests and staff have reported unexplained footsteps in empty corridors late at night, doors that open and close on their own, and a feeling of being watched when no one else is nearby. Some claim to have seen the faint outline of a young woman in old fashioned clothing near the rooms once reserved for staff. 

There have been reports of strange knocking sounds in the walls as well as the sound of someone crying, although the rooms and corridors are empty. Others describe soft sounds, like someone tidying or moving furniture, long after the building has gone still.

The old barn on the property, now being restored, is also said to carry an uneasy atmosphere. Workers have spoken of sudden cold air, strange noises, and the sense that someone is standing just out of sight.

A Gentle but Lingering Presence

Unlike many ghost stories filled with terror, the spirit of Visnes Hotel is often described as sad rather than threatening. She is believed to be bound to the place where she lived and worked, repeating the quiet routines of a life that ended too soon. Some say she appears most often to those who are alone, as if drawn to familiar loneliness.

Today, guests come to Visnes Hotel for its history, beauty, and tranquility. But as night falls and the halls grow silent, some believe the young maid still walks softly through the building, unable to leave the place that defined her life and her death.

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References:

Visnes Hotel – Historisk hotell i Stryn 

Visnes hotel | Kulturminnefondet 

Forbruker, Reiseliv | Tør du sove her?

Skremmende overnattingssteder Norge rundt – steinkjer24.no 

Ukategorisert

Val Sinestra Hotel and the Ghost of Hermann Haunting the Lower Engadine

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In an old sanatorium in Switzerland the ghost of Hermann is said to have been haunting the Val Sinestra Hotel for ages. But who was he when he was alive, and what was his true name before he died in the remote fortress up in the mountains? And is he still haunting the old halls where he never made his recovery?

Tucked away in the silent snowscape of Switzerland’s remote Lower Engadine Valley lies Val Sinestra, a former 1912 spa-hotel, or a Kurhaus, once famed for its healing mineral springs in the Grisons region of Switzerland. The Kurhaus ‘Val Sinestra’ grew into a real sensation, the foreign newspapers and magazines were full of it and the high society came there to take the cure. Some say that that some of the patients never left.

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Although once a stately institution, In 1914, this glorious period came to an end as the First World War broke out and the Belle Epoque was over for good. The therapy activities of Val Sinestra Hotel closed in 1972, but beneath its former Belle Époque elegance, it harbors a secret far colder in the form of a ghost named “Hermann” who has been haunting its corridors for nearly a century. 

The Haunted Hotel: Hotel Val Sinestra in Graubünden is said to be haunted by a former patient, now known as Hermann. // Source: Agnes Monkelbaan/Wiki

From Spa to Specter: The Legend of Hermann

Originally built to treat tuberculosis patients, Val Sinestra drew visitors seeking cures and rest 1500 metres above the sea levels in the remote parts of Switzerland. The Hotel Val Sinestra stands like a fortress on the rock, eleven stories high with a pointed tower, looming above the valley overlooking La Brancla river. The rust-red, arsenic-laden water from the Ulrich spring was said to cure syphilis, people with consumption and anemic patients.

One of the more talked about ghosts has been one named Herman. Hotel owner Adrienne Kruit has claimed strange things have happened since 1978 when her husband bought the building. He passed away in 2018, and most of the ghost stories told from the hotel, comes from their time running the place. It is said that he was greeted at the door by a spirit screaming at him, scaring him so badly he drove all night to the North Sea. 

“There were loud noises, keys were swinging on their hooks, and the windows were suddenly open!” she said about her experiences since taking over the Val Sinestra Hotel. “Once, a wall clock fell to the floor right next to me. But the hook was stuck in the wall.”

But who was the famed ghost? There have been a lot of theories, but most of them claim was a Belgian patient, who reportedly stayed so long and grew so attached to the Val Sinestra Hotel and its staff  that he refused to leave. He was for a long time known as Hermann.  

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In 2010 there were also two mediums ordered to check out the haunting of the Val Sinestra Hotel, and said it was a tuberculosis patient called Gilbert, Guillon or Guillaume, perhaps a Belgium soldier from World War I who stayed there in the 1920s haunting the hotel. 

It is said that he fell in love with Maria, an employee. After his death in the late 1920s, sightings began: a tall, pale figure wandering the old bathhouse halls at night, sometimes glimpsed in the lobby or elevator area. It is said he mostly haunts the lower floors where the patients used to stay. 

Staff and guests describe Hermann as mischievously protective of the Val Sinestra Hotel. Windows will open on their own, the lift runs unoccupied, and he’s even moved objects. 

Haunted Floors & Hotel Whispers

There is little evidence to the story of the poor patient at Val Sinestra Hotel today, especially since the guestbook from this time was stolen at some point. 

The old bathhouse floor—a place of healing in life—has become the epicenter of paranormal activity. Lights flicker, faucets run without explanation, windows open suddenly, wine glasses begin to ring, balls of light emerge at night and cold drafts pierce the temperature of the rooms. Visitors report waking to the hiss of steam and feeling a distant presence when alone..

The Old Sanatorium: Val Sinestra Hotel. // Source: Agnes Monkelbaan/Wiki

Visiting the Phantom’s Realm at Val Sinestra Hotel

Val Sinestra remains an operational hotel, its ghostly inhabitant part of its allure. Guests hoping to connect with Hermann are advised to stay near the old bathhouse, wander empty corridors at dusk, and be open to subtle signs: a misplaced key, sudden draft, or perhaps a feeling of presence. As one medium noted, Hermann doesn’t mean harm—he’s just a restless guardian who cares deeply… and quietly.

According to Thomas Frei and other ghost hunters who have investigated the hotel for years, there are other ghosts said to haunt it as well. A man, a woman and a little girl is also said to be lingering inside of the halls. 

Val Sinestra Hotel stands as a beautifully preserved relic of early 20th-century health resorts—but it is Hermann’s spectral shadow that lingers darkest. And in the silent snowfall of Lower Engadine, the gentle hum of unseen footsteps may well be the echo of a man who never truly left.

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References:

TVI Traveler – Hotel Val Sinestra

Geisterjäger sicher: Im Hotel Val Sinestra spukt es wirklich – 20 Minuten

Schweizer Ghosthunter kommen im Val Sinestra mehreren Geistern auf die Spur

Val Sinestra (2019) CH

historie — Hotel Val Sinestra

A letto con gli spiriti nella Val Sinestra – Ticinonline

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The Ghosts of the Britannia Adelphi Hotel: Shadows in Liverpool

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The current Britannia Adelphi Hotel is the third building here used as a hotel, and filled with ghosts according to rumours. From the dark basement to the haunted suites in the upper floors, this Liverpool hotel is often dubbed Britain’s most haunted one. 

In the center of Liverpool stands a grand and opulent hotel whose luxury hides a darker history. The Britannia Adelphi Hotel, once hailed as the most elegant hotel outside of London, has long been a magnet for both travelers and the supernatural. 

Behind the crystal chandeliers and marble halls lurk whispers of ghostly figures, disembodied voices and strange tapping noises from the walls, and something much more sinister said to dwell on the third floor. Guests have checked in expecting a night of comfort only to find themselves face-to-face with the unknown.

A History of Grandeur and Ghosts

A hotel has occupied this site since 1826, when it first replaced Ranaleigh Gardens, one of Liverpool’s earliest public recreation spaces. The original building gave way to a second hotel fifty years later, which was purchased by Midland Railway in 1892. By 1911, the current Adelphi Hotel replaced the old ones. When it opened its doors, it quickly became a symbol of wealth and sophistication, welcoming guests from across the world.

Famous figures such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, and Laurel and Hardy once graced its rooms. Even Roy Rogers brought his beloved horse, Trigger, to stay within its walls. Yet despite its polished surface, the Adelphi has always seemed to carry something restless beneath its grandeur, as though the echoes of its past refuse to fade.

The Haunted Adelphi Hotel

According to the stories, Adelphi is haunted because of the many deaths and suicides that have taken place here since it opened. 

Read More: Check out more haunted hotels around the world

There are plenty of ghosts believed to haunt the hotel. One of them being a bellboy, 15 year old Raymond Brown, who was trapped in the baggage lift and died in 1961. He can now be seen picking up guests’ bags and carrying their luggage before he disappears around a corner or slips into the shadows. 

In the elevators there is a whistler who is breathing down people’s necks and tapping them on the shoulder. A female ghost who is pickpocketing the guests, rifling through their belongings in the early morning, vanishes when she is caught.

In the basement it is said that a lady wearing Victorian clothing is haunting. Among the many tales, one rumor stands out—accounts of a demon that prowls the upper corridors, growling and whispering in a voice not of this world.

The Haunted Third Floor

The most haunted floor in the hotel is said to be the third floor. This is according to the staff. There have been several reports about people getting sick when staying there for too long, and people also claim to have seen shadows and ghostly figures at the end of their beds. 

It is said that this shadow is the ghost of a man known only as George in a tuxedo and a toothbrush mustache. He is said to stand silently by people’s bed, his expression unreadable, before fading away into the shadows. 

Some believe it is the ghost of a man who took his own life inside the hotel in the 1930s. It is said that he died in the elevator in the hotel or fell to his death. He is also said to call out to people from a particular window on the Brownlow Hill side of the hotel.

The Haunting of the Titanic Crew in The Sefton Suite

It is said that The Sefton Suite in the hotel is an exact replica of the first-class smoking room on the ship. It has later been disproven by the hotel itself. But this myth is perhaps the reason people think that Captain Edward Smith, who went down with the Titanic in 1912, is haunting this hotel. 

A paranormal researcher and author Tom Slemen claims to have witnessed three men haunting the room, saying it was Smith together with two other naval officers who also went down with the ship.

“During one talk, there was standing room only, and I and many other people saw three men standing at the far end of the room who were dressed as naval officers with white caps and dark jackets with all the braiding. The middle officer, who looked about sixty, had a white beard and stood about 5 feet 7 or 8, and the trio were there one moment then gone the next, and there were gasps of shock when this trinity of ghosts vanished.” Source

 It is also said that a woman in a grey Victorian dress is haunting it. 

The Living and the Dead

Today, the Adelphi Hotel continues to welcome guests into its 402 rooms, each richly decorated with touches of old-world charm. Visitors can enjoy fine dining beneath sparkling chandeliers, relax in the sauna and marble swimming pool, or sip a quiet drink in the bar. Yet as night falls, and the last lights dim, the grandeur takes on a different tone. The laughter from the dining halls fades, replaced by faint whispers down long corridors and the creak of unseen footsteps.

For some, the Adelphi is a place of elegance and nostalgia. For others, it is a labyrinth of shadows and memories that refuse to die. Whether George’s ghost still stands watch or something far darker prowls the third floor, one thing is certain—those who stay at the Britannia Adelphi Hotel never quite leave as they arrived.

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References:

The Haunted Britannia Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool

Cumbrian ghost hunter Louis Dee explores Liverpool’s Adelphi Hotel | News and Star

The Eerie Legends of Adelphi Hotel Liverpool – DeadLive Events

Spookiest things to have ever happened at The Adelphi Hotel – Liverpool Echo

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The Blue Room’s Lament The Haunted Legend of Hotel Union Øye

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Left by her lover, the ghost of a maid who once worked at the Hotel Union Øye in Norway is said to be lingering inside of the Blue Room. Is she still staying there?

Hotel Union Øye beside the still waters of Norangsfjorden in Sunnmøre, is known as one of Norway’s most breathtaking historic hotels. Could it be that it is also one of the most haunted ones?

In 1887, Christian Thams, a Norwegian architect, industrialist and diplomat, experienced a violent earthquake that shook the Italian and French Rivieras where he lived, claiming 600 lives, mainly due to the collapse of mortar and brick buildings. He believed that such a tragedy would have been prevented if the building tradition of Norway, with its half-timbered houses. This would eventually lead him home to Norway and build the Hotel Union Øye.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Norway

This way and in this tradition, the hotel opened its door in 1891 with its 38 rooms, all named after their famous guests that would end up staying there, from Emperor William, King Oscar, Queen Maud and Princess Victoria. There were also authors like Karen Blixen, Knut Hamsun, Henrik Ibsen and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; composer Edvard Grieg, mountain pioneers William Cecil Slingsby and Kristoffer Randers and polar explorer Roald Amundsen.

Source

But one room is not named after its famous guest, but rather for its haunting story. Sometimes you can apparently hear the footsteps wandering at night, a chill that slips along the halls and the unmistakable sound of quiet sobbing drifting from a single, timeworn chamber known as the Blue Room. 

A Forbidden Love at the Edge of the Fjord

Near the end of the 1800s, Hotel Union Øye was a retreat for Europe’s elite. Its guestbook carried the names of kings, artists and adventurers. Among its most frequent visitors was Kaiser Wilhelm II, who often traveled with a retinue of officers. Every other year from 1890 to 1908, he holidayed as a guest at the hotel with his entourage. One of these men, a young German count, became the center of a secret affection that would leave a permanent shadow on the hotel.

Linda, a Norwegian maid working at Øye, was known for her warm nature and quiet charm. The officer, Philip von Moltke from Dortmund, Germany, was trapped in a loveless arranged marriage, found in her a kindness and sincerity he had never known at home. Their meetings were discreet, hidden from the eyes of the aristocratic circle surrounding him. When he visited Øye, they stayed together in the Blue Room, a chamber with deep sapphire walls and heavy antique furnishings that seemed to seal them away from the world beyond the fjord.

The love between them grew, but so did the tension around their affair. The count sought a divorce, desperate to free himself and build a life with Linda. He gave her a brooch and a wedding ring before he left. His request was denied, coming from a catholic family. Bound by duty, honor and the rigid expectations of his rank as well as the risk of being banished, he saw no escape. In a moment of despair, he took his own life, leaving Linda shattered. Some say that he jumped off the boat coming back to Norway. 

Her grief was unbearable. Wearing a bridal gown and a crown of flowers meant for a wedding that would never come, she walked into the waters of the fjord and drowned, in 1901, according to some sources.. Some say she waded out into the cold waters to join him in his death, some say that she had lost his brooch gifted to her in the river and that she was looking along the riverbank to find it. 

The Lady in the Blue Room

Since that night, guests who stay in the Blue Room in room nr. 7, often speak of strange happenings and that they are both haunting the area around the Blue Room. The most common report is the sound of a woman crying softly in the darkness. Some say the weeping drifts through the walls as if someone is sitting beside the bed, shoulders shaking with sorrow. Others hear footsteps pacing the floorboards, slow and restless, pausing near the window that overlooks the fjord.

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from haunted hotels

A few visitors claim to have seen the faint outline of a woman in a white gown standing at the foot of the bed. She is described as delicate, her face partially hidden by hair damp and tangled, as if she has just stepped out of the cold fjord. She never approaches. She only fades when the witness blinks or looks away.

Hotel staff speak of sudden pockets of cold air in the Blue Room, even during the warmest summer nights. Objects are sometimes found moved from where they were placed, and the heavy door has been known to creak open by itself. Those who experience these disturbances describe an overwhelming sense of sorrow rather than fear, as if Linda’s grief saturates the very walls.

A Haunting That Became Legend

The story of Linda and the count has become part of the identity of Hotel Union Øye. Some visitors come hoping to glimpse the Blue Room’s restless spirit. Others avoid it entirely. The owners do not shy away from the tale and claim that Linda was in fact a real person, although the details of the story are less certain. Phillip von Moltke on the other hand, is a plausible, but uncertain element. 

It is true that the Moltke family was European nobility in Germany, Prussia and Scandinavia, and made into counts in 1868 by King William 1. Curiously though, the closest friends of Kaiser Wilhelm II were Prince Philip von Eulenburg and General Moltke, involved in the Eulenburg scandal about homosexual affairs within the Kaiser’s closest circle. So if there ever was an officer von Moltke who had an affair with a maid in Norway, there is little to no evidence of it found. 

Source

They preserve the room exactly as it has been described for more than a century, honoring the tragic love that took place within it.

In the reception, a bowl of garlic is placed for the guests staying in the Blue Room they can bring to the room. Placing it inside will keep the ghost away, so you will have a good night’s sleep. If you want something more happening throughout the night, you place the bowl outside the door. 

Despite its haunting reputation, the hotel is not known for malevolent spirits. According to an article, there has only been one cancellation when people have heard about the haunted rumours. The haunting of the Blue Room is quiet, mournful and deeply human. It is the echo of a promise that could never be fulfilled, preserved in the heavy silence of the fjord and the deep blue walls of the room where two lovers once found a fleeting happiness.

Guests leave Hotel Union Øye with memories of grandeur, mountain shadows and still waters. Some leave with more. They speak of tears that were not their own, the faint scent of wet flowers, or the unsettling certainty that someone unseen sat beside them in the dark.

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    The DNT Cabin Flisberget deep in the mystical forest of Finnskogen, bordering Norway and Sweden has a lot of strange tales coming from it. So much so, that it was voted the scariest cabin in the country.

References:

https://www.unionoye.no/no/hotellet/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23046816155&gbraid=0AAAAADeWuny510Elimp6MbDkZox2IlNrq&gclid=CjwKCAiAxc_JBhA2EiwAFVs7XNZhAeuBCWFT9yJCokGesPRGskVkFP5VUw2YthAPBhZsXCbZRUv9CxoClVUQAvD_BwE

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Spøkelset på Union Øye

Moltke family – Wikipedia