We got such a response when we previewed haunted hotels that are scary good for destination weddings we decided Halloween would be the perfect day to share four more with you. Each has a ghost story or two attached to it and a team ready to help plan your own spirited destination wedding, no matter what the season.
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The Stanley Hotel
The Stanley Hotel
Estes Park, Colorado
Why it’s spooky
The fact that Stephen King’s stay at The Stanley Hotel inspired him to write The Shining is almost enough said. But one of a number of ghosts allegedly haunting this historic hotel is that of a former housekeeper, Elizabeth Wilson, who occasionally still turns down the beds and helps guests unpack, especially in room 217, now known as the Stephen King Suite, where in 1911 an explosion while Ms. Wilson was lighting a lamp rather abruptly propelled her to the floor below. Other rooms favored by the spirits, and popular with guests, are 401, 407, 428, and 1302.
Why get married here
Built by the same man who invented the Stanley Steamer automobile, and located less than six miles from Rocky Mountain National Park, the 140-room Stanley combines a beautiful mountain setting with a sense of history (it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places). Weddings are popular here, with multiple indoor and outdoor venues both at the main hotel, whose MacGregor Ballroom, with its picture-window mountain views, can accommodate up to 200 guests, and the 40-room lodge, which is favored by smaller groups wanting to do a buyout. Another plus is that its location, about an hour from Denver, helps simplify travel planning.
Del Coronado
Hotel Del Coronado
Coronado, California
Why it’s spooky
Ever since the violent death under mysterious circumstances of a young woman (apparently a jilted lover) at the Hotel Del Coronado in 1892 there have been so many stories of a ghost wandering about that in 2002 the hotel itself published a book entitled “Beautiful Stranger – The Ghost of Kate Morgan and the Hotel del Coronado,” which we are told continues to have spirited sales in the gift shop.
Why get married here
Ghosts or not, this National Historic Landmark, with its red-turreted Victorian architecture and its 28 oceanfront acres, is one of the most popular destination wedding hotels in the country. Its myriad of wedding venues include beach, lawn, and garden locations, as well as 42 indoor spaces ranging from a ballroom that can seat up to 750 guests to the Crown Room, whose chandeliers were designed by Wizard of Oz Author L. Frank Baum.
The Queen Mary
The Queen Mary
Long Beach, California
Why it’s spooky
Why get married here
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The 1886 Crescent Hotel
1886 Crescent Hotel and Spa
Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Why it’s spooky
Why wouldn’t the 1886 Crescent Hotel and Spa be spooky? It has its own morgue. The decidedly creepy basement room is left over from the time, following the Great Depression, when the hotel served as a cancer hospital run by a man who was considered a huckster and needed somewhere to hide the evidence that his cure wasn’t all that he claimed. Ghosts have been seen all around the property, including one of a cat, but the most notorious was an apparition apparently caught on a thermal imaging camera in the morgue by a crew from the TV show “Ghost Hunters.”
Why get married here
Despite the ghoulish stories, which have earned the Crescent the title “Most Haunted Hotel in America,” its castle-like Victorian architecture and its pretty setting, on 15 acres atop an Ozark mountain, make it popular with brides and grooms from across the South. The fountain garden can accommodate 350 guests, but there are many other venues, outdoors and in, grand and intimate.
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Want to know more about planning destination wedding travel? Our travel partners at Coastline Travel Advisors, a Virtuoso agency, are ready to help.
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