Would You Stay At A Haunted Hotel? Or One With Bad Vibes?

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a quirky person, and some people will probably think I’m really strange for admitting these things. However, I’m curious if I’m alone in feeling this way. I’ve written in the past about some of my strange habits when staying at hotels, but let me admit an unusual habit I have when it comes to actually deciding which hotels I book…

I avoid haunted hotels, and hotels with bad energy

There are quite a few hotels out there that some people believe are haunted, whatever that actually means. For some hotels, being haunted is a selling point, and they lean into paranormal tourism.

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For other hotels, it’s something they don’t try to highlight, and it simply reflects something in the property’s past. Maybe it’s about the land the hotel is built on, maybe it’s because of something tragic that happened at the hotel in the past, etc.

I have to admit, regardless of whether it’s something the hotel tries to promote or deny, I avoid hotels that are rumored to be haunted. Let me be clear — it’s not that I’m actually scared for my safety, and think I’m going to be abducted, or something.

However, I’m a spiritually open person, and I do on some level believe in the energy of a place. I’m not some conspiracy theorist when it comes to this kind of stuff, but sometimes I walk into a room and just feel like the energy is bad, and the room gives me chills. Now, the mind is powerful, and that might largely reflect what’s going on in my head and what I’m perceiving, rather than anything that actually exists in a space.

Regardless, I probably get in my own way when it comes to “haunted” places. I just don’t feel at ease, and I won’t stay at them. Speaking of energy, sometimes I’ve walked into hotel rooms and have gotten a really strange vibe. In fairness, the bad energy thing is a two-way street. After all, I’ve had hotel owners accuse me of having bad energy. 😉

Roughly a decade ago, I checked into a fairly new hotel in Abu Dhabi, and something about the room felt off. I just didn’t feel comfortable staying in the room, and I wasn’t sure why. So I went to the front desk and asked if I could get a different room. It’s kind of hard to make that request without sounding a little nuts, but hey, if you don’t feel comfortable staying somewhere, it’s better to raise a concern early.

I think on some level this all goes back to me being really introverted. I spend a lot of time thinking, and perhaps I get in my own way. I’m curious, and I’d love to hear from OMAAT readers. If you know that a hotel is rumored to be haunted, does it make you more likely to stay, less likely to stay, or does it have no impact on your decision at all?

I also don’t like hotels where gruesome things happened

This is a bit more concrete, but I also avoid hotels where I know especially unpleasant things happened (beyond just denied suite upgrades). It’s not uncommon to see gruesome deaths or murders happen at hotels, given the number of people staying in hotels at any given point.

Perhaps this falls into the category of “what you don’t know can’t hurt you,” but if I’m aware of a negative high profile event that happened at a hotel, I typically avoid it. At an absolute minimum, I’d make sure that I stay in a room not anywhere close to where the event happened.

I know this also sounds sort of of silly, but this is clearly an area where I know I’d just find myself thinking about that event too much, to the point that it would impact my sleep quality. Let me emphasize that I’m sure I’ve stayed at a lot of hotels where bad things happened, but I didn’t know about them.

I’m curious if I’m alone in taking this approach, so I’d love to hear from OMAAT readers. Do you in any way avoid a hotel if you know of something awful that happened there? Would you avoid the hotel altogether, just avoid the type of room, or does it not impact your decision at all? Like, would you be happy staying in the exact room where someone was brutally murdered weeks earlier, or where is your line?

Bottom line

I avoid hotels that are known to be haunted, or where I know something bad happened, which might throw off the energy of a place. I know people will judge me for that, and I’m fine with that. What I’m curious about is if I’m alone in feeling this way.

Are you at all impacted (one way or another) by whether hotels have a reputation for being haunted, or have been the scene of some bad event?