This Halloween, thrill-seekers have the chance to spend a night among ghoulish guests at some of the nation's most haunted hotels. From Vermont to Texas to California, we're highlighting AAA 4-Diamond hotels where some visitors refuse to check out - even after death.
Manchester Village, Vermont: Predating the Revolutionary War, the historic inn is considered one of the country's most haunted properties, and the most famous spirit in residence is Mary Todd Lincoln. The First Family often found refuge from D.C.'s oppressive summer heat at the Vermont mountain resort. To this day, guests report seeing apparitions of President Lincoln's widow wandering the third-floor halls with one of her sons.
Coronado, California: In 1892, Kate Morgan checked into the 5-star San Diego oceanfront resort expecting to meet a paramour, but he never showed. After five days, the heartbroken young woman took her own life on the beach, and her shadowy figure still haunts the halls of the hotel. The light over the steps where she died burns out whenever the bulb is replaced, and electric equipment in Kate's original room is said to turn on and off with no explanation.
Austin, Texas: The legendary Austin property is said to be haunted by its namesake owner, cattle baron and Civil War Colonel Jesse Driskill. In life, he businessman spared no expensive on the Romanesque building with marble floors and a stained-glass dome, so it's no wonder he stuck around to savor it in the afterlife as well: Driskill died amid financial troubles just four years after the hotel's completion. Visitors can catch a whiff of his cigar smoke in the lobby -- or head to Room 525, where guests have reported seeing the young spirits of two young brides who took their lives 20 years apart in the same room.
New Orleans, Louisiana: Paranormal investigators claim to have made contact with as many as 100 spirits within this Big Easy establishment. Midnight hauntings such as floating apparitions and banshee bedmates have been recorded in guest rooms. The most common sighting is that of a young woman who was struck and killed by a carriage in front of the hotel. Her appearance is always preceded by the overwhelming scent of rose perfume, and staff members and visitors recall the ghost asking for a ride to the ship terminals.
Washington, D.C.: Before becoming the most famous hotel in our nation's capital, the property on the corner of 16th and H Streets served as the private homes of Secretary of State John Hay and journalist Henry Adams. Adams' wife Clover committed suicide at home in 1885, and when the residences were replaced by a hotel in 1928, her spirit became quite comfortable in the new lavish digs. Nearly a century later, housekeepers find themselves held in an invisible embrace while cleaning, and guests hear a woman crying softly as doors open and close on their own.
Elisabeth Barker is a deal expert at Travelzoo and based in New York. Travelzoo has 250 deal experts from around the world who rigorously research, evaluate and test thousands of deals to find those with true value.