Haunted hotels

3 of a kind

GRAND HOTEL VILLA DI CORLIANO, ITALY

San Giuliano Terme, Italy, tel: 0039-50 818193, villacorliano.it

Not only does the ghost of a former countess roam this hotel but it is said to have played a part in the creation of Frankenstein. The 16th-century building also retains the spirit of the Renaissance with its original frescoes.

Giggly, mischievous and beautiful are the words often used to describe the ghost of Teresa della Seta Bocca Gaetani, who married count Cosimo Baldassarre Agostini in 1755. She is said to move through the halls, adjusting tapestries, knocking on doors, opening windows and giggling. Staff member Rosanna and some of her colleagues heard her one moonlit night. “She likes happy people only,” says Rosanna, and “loves Corliano”.

The Frankenstein connection comes from the 1800s when father and son Francesco and Andrea Vaccà Berlinghieri did experiments in galvanism, or electrophysiology, which involves bringing organisms to life using electricity.

Percy and Mary Shelley visited the hotel in the early 1800s and Andrea is said to have treated Percy for nerves. Now people are investigating the link between his galvanism experiments and Mary Shelley’s writing of Frankenstein (a similar name to Francesco).

Rooms: The 16th-century villa is part of a complex including a chapel, farmhouse and mill set in a park. The place is a mix of family home and Renaissance palace, with frescoes, chandeliers and marble statues. The rooms are furnished with antiques and four-poster beds. Doubles from €50.

RUTHIN CASTLE, WALES

Castle Street, Ruthin, Denbighshire, Wales, 0044-1824702664, ruthincastle.co.uk

War and murder have given Ruthin a bloody history. Owners of the castle, set in woods and parkland about 30km (20 miles) from Chester, have included Edward I, Henry VII and Elizabeth I. The castle was embroiled in the 1400 Welsh uprising, and later Cromwell attacked it, unsuccessfully, during the civil war (1642-1651).

But it was an extramarital affair that led to the murder and the haunting of the castle. During Edward I’s reign (1272-1307) the castle’s second-in-command took a lover and his miffed wife took to her with an axe. She was executed for the murder and, not being allowed to be buried in consecrated ground, was laid to rest outside the castle walls. Her grave is still there. It is here that the “Grey Lady” roams, as well as on the battlements, in the chapel and medieval banqueting hall.

Rooms: Suites are named after famous visitors to the castle such as Oscar Wilde and Lillie Langtry, lover of Edward Prince of Wales. She wasn't his only lover, though: another suite is named after another lover, Patsy (aka Mary Cornwallis-West). Standard rooms include castle, regal and noble rooms. Doubles from £90 (€110.40).

THE STANLEY HOTEL, US

333 Wonderview Avenue, Estes Park, Colorado,

tel: 001-800-9761377, stanleyhotel.com

Ghostly goings on at this hotel, built in 1909, inspired Stephen King to write The Shining. He was living in Boulder at the time and stayed in room 217 although in the film, which was shot elsewhere, the room number was changed to 237 (a documentary called Room 237 about The Shining is screening as part of the IFI’s Horrorthon until October 29th).

The Stanley, in Estes Park at the gateway to the Rocky Mountain National Park, is known as one of the most haunted hotels in the US with reports of many uncanny events. But there’s a specific story about room 217.

When head housekeeper Elizabeth Wilson was lighting acetylene lanterns (a back-up to the hotel’s electricity) in room 217 during a storm on June 25th, 1911, an explosion broke her ankles. From the 1950s onwards there were reports of her ghostly presence and she seemed to have taken her duties beyond the grave: people staying in the room have reported extra-curricular housekeeping services such as having clothes unpacked and put away.

But room 217 is not alone: eerie occurrences have been reported in every single room in the hotel. If you stay here don’t be surprised if your things are moved about and lights are turned on and off. On the fourth floor, people have heard children from times past running along the hallways, giggling as they go. Guests have even reported being tucked in at night and staff say they have seen the founders of the hotel, FO and Flora Stanley – he walks in the lobby and she plays the piano in the music room.

Lest such spectral spectacles freak you out, the hotel is keen to point out that – despite Stephen King’s take on the place – nothing sinister has happened here and it is just visited by happy ghosts.

Should you be haunted not by the past but by the present or the future, you could consult resident psychic Madame Vera, who has been at the hotel for 25 years.

You can also go on a ghost tour, attend a storytelling, or have a spirited night out at the Halloween Shining Ball and Murder Mystery Dinner.

Rooms: There are rooms of various categories including, most popular, the haunted rooms: these include room 217 (the Stephen King suite), 410 (Ghost Hunters' favourite), 407, 428 and 1302. There is also accommodation in the lodge beside the hotel or one-, two- and three-bed condos in the grounds. Doubles from $159 (€121.70).