HAUNTING HOTEL

Looking for luxury and a haunting this Halloween? Rest your head at this historic hotel. The Omni Parker House Hotel in downtown Boston is America’s longest continuously operating luxury hotel. Opened in 1855, the hotel has had its share of famous guests. John F. Kennedy announced his candidacy for Congress in the Omni Press Room; he also proposed to Jackie Kennedy at the hotel and held his bachelor party there. Even earlier in history the Omni was home to the Saturday Night Club, where literary greats like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Henry David Thoreau, Charles Dickens and Ralph Waldo Emerson gathered.

But it’s the paranormal presence at the Omni that makes it perfect for a Halloween stay. The third floor in particular is said to be a ghostly hotspot.

In 1876 Charlotte Cushman, a renowned 19^th century stage actress, died in her room on the third floor. One of the Omni’s elevators is said to often travel on its own to the third floor, even when no buttons are pushed. Is it Charlotte? Or is it Longfellow, whose favorite room was on the third floor? Or is it the businessman who died in room 303? After the Omni received a large number of complaints about the loud laughter and smell of whisky coming from the suite, room 303 was converted into a closet.

Beyond the third floor some hotel guests have reported seeing the hotel’s founder Henry Parker. Guests recall hearing Parker asking them about their stay. Mr. Parker died in 1884.

Happy Hotel Haunting!