Built in 1895, and tucked away in the Shawangunk Mountains in Ulster County, New York, The Shanley Hotel is widely understood to be one of the most haunted hotels in the world.
People who stay report feeling lightheaded, or like they’re unable to breathe. There’s ominous whistling, thought to belong to James Shanley, the deceased former owner. There are footsteps in the halls, and loud thumps up the stairs. Doors open and close, clocks chime on their own accord, and there are unusual smells that are believed to belong to people long dead. Rocking chairs are rarely still, piano music echoes through the halls, and guests hear whispering voices and children’s laughter. Sometimes, their possessions are moved to unusual places. There have been reports of shadows and apparitions, and guests cannot shake the sense throughout their stay that they’re being watched.
James and Beatrice Shanley opened the hotel in the late 19th Century, and welcomed notable guests like Thomas Edison and Eleanor Roosevelt.
But despite the success of the hotel, tragedy struck their family. Beatrice birthed three children, all of whom died before their first birthday.
The hotel barber, who lived in The Shanley, lost his four-year-old daughter Rosie in 1911, when she went for a walk one afternoon and fell to her death into a deep well.
A few years later, Beatrice's sister died of influenza in one of the hotel rooms.
