In the spirit of Halloween, I’d like to share a couple layover hotel ghost stories from flight attendants I know…
At a hotel in San Francisco the water kept turning itself on during the night. After the 3rd or 4th time, instead of getting up and turning it off, I had a little talk with the ghost. I was thinking I must have lost my mind. Water went off automatically. Never came on again! – Vicki Howell
At our current Paris hotel, I had an apparition appear at the foot of my bed. At first I didn’t think it was anything until I felt somebody sit on my bed. I turned on the light near the bed and of course there was nothing there. – John Gonzales
On a layover in Miami, I felt someone/something pull the covers off of my shoulder and breathe cold air onto the back of my neck. I jumped out of bed, ran for the door, turned on the light… and no one was there. On the next trip another flight attendant couldn’t get into that same room with her key. Security couldn’t get in either. They had to change her room. Gives me the chills even talking about it. – Penni Reynolds Piskor
At a Sheraton in New Jersey in 1989, I kept thinking there was someone in my room. Woke up several times convinced. Searched the room. Nothing was there. Found out later the hotel was reputedly haunted, and one of the elevators was known to run all night, stopping at each floor even though nobody called it – Julie Meyer
I always clip my curtains closed so the light will not shine through and wake me up. In the middle of the night it was like someone used their hands to push both curtains back forcefully. I was lying there freaking out! Another time I woke up to find the decorative bed quilt folded neatly in the corner of the room. I don’t fold at home nor am I good at it, so I know I didn’t do it in my sleep. The third time we did a seance. We asked for a sign and all the elevators opened simultaneously. We jumped up and ran! – Lynne Smith
photo courtesy of dantc
“and one of the elevators was known to run all night, stopping at each floor even though nobody called it”
This one had me laughing. There is what is called “Shabbat mode” for elevators. Very religious Jewish people do not usually use elevators from Friday sunset for 24 hours (“Shabbat” or Saturday). The elevator has a setting that runs continually so that the religious person only has to get on when it arrives on their floor. Since they can’t press the buttons, they have to wait patiently till it reaches their desired floor, stopping at each floor. As you can imagine, this takes time so usually only elderly, handicapped and parents with strollers do this. The rest take the stairs…
Same goes for most religious holidays. In buildings with multiple elevators, only one will usually be put into Shabbat mode so that others aren’t inconvenienced.
This was in New Jersey, which has a very big Jewish population so it sounds like the elevator somehow got switched into Shabbat mode by accident (or not switched off after sunset on Saturday night or a holiday).
Someone who wasn’t familiar with Jewish customs could come to the conclusion that this was a ghost lol!