SPOOKY TRAVEL STORIES
Are you brave enough to stay at these haunted hotels in Asia?
Ever experienced checking into an extremely eerie hotel? Or, maybe you've heard scary hotel stories that tickle your sixth sense? With Halloween just around the corner, might as well we talk about these hotels in Asia that are said to be haunted and are perfect for you to visit - that is if you're brave enough.
Taipei, Taiwan
GRAND HYATT
Grand Hyatt was rumored to be built atop a World War II prison camp, though the Grand Hyatt says it was simply a military warehouse and no one was ever held there as a prisoner. Two scrolls that have since been removed from the lobby were said to have been talismans, protecting visitors from the supernatural, but Hyatt says they were simply gifts from generous benefactors.
Although the Grand Hyatt Taipei repeatedly denies being haunted, hotel patrons say otherwise. In fact, if you Google the five-star hotel and you'll also call up posts about experiences with scares, not stars, including disembodied knocks on door and windows at night, voices in the halls, and ghosts lurking about. Another guest was purportedly kept up the whole night by a non-faulty toilet that was being flushed repeatedly.
Baguio City, Philippines
DIPLOMAT HOTEL
This eerie abandoned building is one of the most haunted places in the Philippines.
The Dominican Hill Retreat House commonly known as The Diplomat Hotel was built in 1913 atop a hill in the famed Philippine City of Pines. During World War II, it became a camp for refugees escaping the Japanese army, but was eventually invaded. The Japanese secret police, the Kempeitai, committed terrible acts of brutality, massacring, raping, and torturing many of the inhabitants, and even decapitating nuns and priests. It is believed to be the reason why some visitors have reported seeing headless ghosts, hearing screams, cries, banging on doors, and other strange and desperate noises during the night inside the hotel. What a perfect place for paranormal hunters! Don't you think? Also, you can no longer book a room in this hotel as it is abandoned.
Bangkok, Thailand
BAIYOKE SKY HOTEL
The Baiyoke Sky Hotel is one of the tallest hotels in Bangkok, Thailand which was rumored to be haunted after 3 workers tragically fell to their deaths in 2012, when the gondola holding them up to the 9th floor broke. Since its opening, hotel guests have reported numerous haunted happenings, including items mysteriously vanishing, spooky noises and eerie chills, things being moved around in rooms, feeling a cold hand when no one is there, and footsteps in the night to name a few.
Genting, Malaysia
FIRST WORLD HOTEL
Behind The First World Hotel's iconic colorful facade are grim backstories. The largest hotel in the world is said to be completely haunted by ghosts of frustrated and unlucky casino patrons, who took their lives inside the hotel rooms. Guests have reportedly been spooked out by eerie sounds in the middle of the night and some unseen forces pressing down on them while they were sleeping. Locals even claim that some hotel rooms are never rented out even if the hotel is fully booked, because occupants fall sick after their stay. There were also reports that the entire 21st floor is haunted as the lift would either skip the 21st floor or would not even reach the 21st floor.
Chengde China
YU SHAN FAN DIAN
The 220-room hotel, Yun Shan Fan Dian was built on the very same grounds where Manchu royalty would escape the summer heat of Beijing and is believed to be haunted by no less a person than the Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908, Qing Dynasty). Over the years, several guests have reported sightings of the Empress wandering along the corridor of the 8th floor and tending her beloved gardens. Some even said they’ve seen her spirit sitting eerily in the shadows of certain rooms. When they look directly at her she lunges at them but turn to mist and disappear.
Mumbai, India
TAJ MAHAL PALACE HOTEL
This massive five-star hotel that overlooks the Gateway of India began construction in 1898 and opened to guests in 1902. As crazy as it may sound, the Taj Mahal Palace is haunted by the ghost of its architect W. A. Chambers. Chambers drew up the floor plan for the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. But when Chambers returned to India from a trip to England, he apparently found that the hotel was built in the opposite way he had intended. Chambers was so distraught that he took his life by jumping from the fifth floor of the hotel. He still haunts the hotel today. Hotel staff and guests claim that his ghost roams the old wing of the hotel often heard (and sometimes seen) crying about this monumental mistake.
Macau, Hong Kong
HOTEL PRESIDENT
This hotel in Macau has a gruesome murder story to tell. It was said that in 1997, a man checked in one of the hotel's rooms and ended up killing them both, chopped up their bodies and flushed the parts down the toilet. Guests who have stayed in this room have apparently reported smelling a strange perfume from the bathroom and even finding their make-ups which have been laid neatly – in disarray. Another guest said that he saw a man entering a room, which he had just checked into, and vanished without any trace. Well, at least he was considerate and didn't make any noise.