Hotels are leaning into their spookier sides to sell ‘rooms with a boo’

(CNN) — Like many hotels, Red Cliffs Lodge, in the outskirts of Moab, Utah, provides guests with complimentary items like maps, in-room toiletries and, upon request, dental kits stocked with oft-forgotten toothbrushes and toothpaste.

But in the fall of 2023, the property began lending some guests a decidedly different kind of kit: One for hunting ghosts.

It comes with a digital recorder, an electro-magnetic field (or EMF) meter, and a radio device known as a ghost box – all apparatus that some believe can detect paranormal phenomena. Also included is a booklet with more information on the area’s centuries-old history and the property’s trio of specters.

“We know you’re going to see stuff if you’re here, and we do have three very well seen spirits: the smoking cowboy, the headless lady, and the drowned person that walks along the banks of the Colorado [River],” general manager Brian Hunnings told CNN Travel. “Chances are, if you’re attuned to that stuff, you’re probably going to see them. So let’s prepare you for it.”

As mainstream interest in the paranormal continues to grow, thrill-seeking travelers are more eager than ever to bunk up at places where things go bump in the night. To meet that demand, many hotels have added spine-tingling seasonal packages and programming in the lead up to Halloween, while scores of others, like Red Cliffs Lodge, now showcase their resident spirits and haunted histories year round.

“It’s another market segment, and the paranormal is very, very big right now,” hospitality expert and television personality Anthony Melchiorri told CNN Travel. “Our industry, it’s about experiences. This is just another way to create an experience.”

Melchiorri, who’s host of the popular Travel Channel series “Hotel Impossible,” says the prospect for guests to have an eerie encounter can help properties set themselves apart in an increasingly competitive market.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, more and more hotels are happy to show off their spookier side as a result. Since 2018, Historic Hotels of America has released an annual list of its top 25 most haunted historic hotels, which has become one of the organization’s most popular website pages, according to Katherine Orr, director of marketing strategy and communications.

Hospitality giants have joined the freak-out fun as well. Certain properties in the World of Hyatt portfolio openly advertise their reputations as paranormal hotspots on their landing pages, and Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, a blog for Marriott’s loyalty program, shares a list of several haunted properties in the brand’s Autograph Collection.

Sonesta International Hotels, meanwhile, also is responding to “a growing number of travelers looking specifically for spooky season experiences that combine hair-raising local lore with the possibility of paranormal encounters within the hotel walls,” chief brand officer Elizabeth Harlow said via email.

To meet that new demand, Sonesta is “encouraging properties across the portfolio to lean into the thrill of the season with more proactive storytelling, partnerships with local sites/tour operators specializing in ghost or other spooky tales, seasonal packages, and even costume parades.”

The rise of haunted tourism

Like Halloween – which is expected to generate some $11.6 billion in consumer sales in 2024, according to the National Retail Federation – “haunted tourism” is increasingly big business. It’s related to another niche of the $11 trillion travel industry known as “dark tourism,” which spans destinations associated with death and tragedy. Data varies, but according to some estimates, dark tourism is valued in 2024 at nearly $32 billion, a figure that could surpass $40 billion by 2034.

In the quest to grab some of that revenue, some hoteliers have their eye on travelers who seek out bone-chilling experiences. The result is a notable shift in marketing strategies from decades past, in which the general rule of thumb was to keep ghost stories out of guests’ earshot.

“They ditched the [premise of], ‘Oh, people may be scared,’ and said, ‘Wow, people will come and I can market it, so we’re a haunted hotel,’” said Melchiorri.

The property that set the new spooky standard is The Stanley Hotel, in Estes Park, Colorado. The inspiration for Stephen King’s novel-turned-film “The Shining,” the 420-room grande dame, whose imposing facade is nearly as dramatic as its Rocky Mountains backdrop, is arguably the world’s most famous haunted hotel. It has cemented its reputation with a calendar chock-full of creepy activities, from seances to ghost hunts to sessions with paranormal experts. The hotel also is a popular destination for macabre-themed weddings, especially in October.

On October 26, 2024, The Shining Ball, a sold-out event, commemorated the 50th anniversary of King’s legendary overnight stay. The author’s room, 217, is designated on the Stanley’s website as the “Stephen King Suite” under the “Spirited Room” category – which also includes Rooms 401, 407 and 428, the most requested among guests, the hotel claims.

From a business perspective, capitalizing on “The Shining”’s massive popularity was a no-brainer: “Can you imagine the Stanley Hotel not doubling down on its marketing?” said Melchiorri. The formula has proven so successful that the property’s latest venture is The Stanley Film Center, an in-the-works project expected to become a community venue for horror film fans – while undoubtedly boosting hotel revenue in the process.

Respecting history

Other properties prefer to take a more subtle approach to embracing their haunted histories. At Red Cliffs Lodge, that means presenting the resident spirits as just one aspect of the storied heritage of the site, whose inhabitants have included many Native American tribes, Mormon settlers, cattle ranchers and Western film industry pioneers, Hunnings said.

That backstory is detailed at the property’s onsite Moab Museum of Film and Western Heritage, a small space filled with historic photographs and a few artifacts that, along with the lodge itself, opened in 2002. More recently, the property has partnered with local psychic mediums for various events.

But during a two-week period in 2023, two separate psychics had the same message for management: “Your spirits really, really want you to tell their story,” Hunnings said – a “one-two punch” that was impossible to ignore.

“That’s when we were like, ‘Why are we trying to hide it?’” he said. “You know, we have a museum in the basement where we’re talking about their history. Let’s be accurate and true to it. And that was really kind of the tipping point.”

Steven Azar has a similar mission for the Gifford House, a historic 33-room property in Provincetown, Massachusetts, that he purchased in April 2023: to “hold space for authenticity and authentic expression.” That applies to everything from performances at several on-site stages to unexplained occurrences at the 166-year-old building, which Azar says have been “a little out of this world” since he took ownership.

One particularly memorable incident happened soon after Azar received the keys. He was in the building by himself when a battery-powered Halloween decoration suddenly started laughing and shrieking “Don’t be afraid!” in another room.

“I literally dropped the box [I was holding],” Azar told CNN Travel. “It gave me chills, but at the same time it made me realize that the spirit of whoever it is is kind of a jokester.”

Azar aims to retain that sense of playful (if not hair-raising) hospitality in the building as he continues the ambitious renovation and expansion project he has undertaken since coming onboard. His goal is to reflect in the hotel what he describes as Provincetown’s distinctly “witchy” vibe as a way to honor local culture – while inspiring guests to think about things in a new way.

To that end, an octagonal-shaped room on the lobby level is well suited to psychic readings, and decks of tarot cards, books about Provincetown’s ghost stories and even a crystal ball add an element of mystery to common areas.

Guests who ask about the most famous ghost – reportedly a shirtless cowboy who occasionally shows up on the dance floor of the downstairs club – will hear the honest answer: Nobody really knows, but he’s not malicious.

“In terms of paranormal [experiences] on the property, I honor and respect everything that could be,” Azar said, adding that the occurrences fit right in with the spirit of what he’s trying to build in the hotel’s next chapter. “Everything we do is about creating that ethos where people can actually open up or express [themselves], or at least witness it with an open mind – whatever it is.”

‘Something that goes bump in the night’

According to researchers of a 2020 study published in “Cornell Hospitality Quarterly,” haunted tourism can be a key driver in helping maintain aging buildings with spooky histories, such as abandoned schools, prisons or hospitals, by bringing in necessary funds for improvements and renovations.

But researchers also warned that “site curators may struggle with preserving the real history” – in other words, making sure the facts don’t become overshadowed by rumors and hearsay. Hotels aiming to share their histories, haunted or not, face similar challenges: avoiding sensationalism, especially if a tragedy or violent death is involved, and focusing on authentic, fact-based storytelling that’s also culturally sensitive.

“The best ghost stories at historic hotels are ones that are grounded in real people that they can prove were there,” Orr explained, citing The Menger Hotel in San Antonio, Texas, as an example. Located steps from the Alamo, the property was built in 1859 and is rumored to have several resident spirits – including that of chambermaid Sallie White, who was murdered in 1876 by her husband.

The hotel paid for White’s funeral costs, and because guests reportedly kept seeing her spirit around the property, management decided to display the original paperwork documenting her burial expenses in the lobby as a way to honor her memory.

“Things like that I think can boost the authenticity and the believability and the general quality of the experience,” Orr explained.

From a messaging and marketing perspective, hotels should share their ghost stories or spooky lore “in a way that they don’t surprise anyone,” Orr said. She recommends clearly identifying activities, website pages and marketing materials so guests can be aware of what they’re getting into – “kind of like a trigger warning or a content warning.”

However, Orr also notes that because many prospective guests “are drawn to that kind of thrill, that experience,” hotels must perform a balancing act of sorts in deciding how – or whether – to publicly disclose that those footsteps down the hallway in the middle of the night might not be from room service.

“They have to find a way to appeal to the pro-ghost and the anti-ghost people,” Orr said.

A hotel’s specific clientele can play a key role in shaping strategies, too. According to Hunnings, the guest demographic at Red Cliffs Lodge – “off the beaten path, looking for these kinds of experiences” – is a good fit for the property’s unconventional extras like the ghost hunting kit. Activities like sound bathing and palm reading also are included in the resort fee.

Guests are “really looking for a reason to dig into the history, dig into the culture,” Hunnings said. “So it works for us. It wouldn’t work in every hotel.”

But whether guests are seeking out a spooky encounter or not, one might be in store regardless – especially at a property that’s been around for a while.

“My experience is, whether they will admit it or not, most hotels have something that goes bump in the night,” Hunnings said. “They just might not tell you.”

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