When we are out on the roads and we’re looking for a hotel, one of the first few things I look out for is clean toilets, good bed, accessibility of the hotel, and of course, reviews of the hotel online.

But usually when I reach the last point – if I read anything remotely suggesting that the hotel I’m looking at might be haunted, the first few points will not matter anymore; sorry, a haunted hotel with clean toilet, good internet connections and a big comfy bed does not appeal to me.

Let’s talk about haunted hotels, so that you can save some time and eliminate these altogether before you start researching about your shortlisted hotels. These are also popular cities we Singaporeans like to visit, hopefully it will help you save some time. Heh!

We’ll start with somewhere near home.

1. ASIA HOTEL, BANGKOK THAILAND

I have heard truckload of stories about Asia Hotel in Bangkok. So exactly how haunted is this damn place? Some simple Googling online brought me lots and lots of comments and citing of this hotel being one of the most haunted in Bangkok.
I also came across this encounter:

“My ex and I went to bkk for a 2days 3nights getaway and we opted for this hotel cos its cheap and close to mrt station and many singaporeans and malaysians like to stay there. we were given this corner room at the end of the corridor. when we entered the room, we did not feel anything at all. we even have sex in the room that afternoon. the next morning i was lying in bed facing my ex bf with my back facing the window. the curtains were drawn and it was daybreak. my eyes were already opened looking at my ex still sleeping.
suddenly, i felt the portion of the mattress behind me sank in. it was so obvious because i could feel my back san in a little with the mattress as if someone just sat behind me and put a hand on my arm. i was so frightened and i remembered that i started to chant a buddhlst chant and then i gathered my courage and turn around violently to face my fear. i did not see anything but i knew that was for real.
for all who encounter unfriendly spirits, i recommend you memorise some prayers or chants because such spirits get annoyed when human beings start to focus their minds on something powerful. apparently, our bodies throw off sparks of white light when we chant or pray and this should annoy the hell out of them!”

Asia Hotel has a fantastic location, and apart from being slightly old, I suppose whether one will enjoy one’s stay there will pretty much depend on one’s luck.

2. BAIYOKE SKY HOTEL, BANGKOK

This hotel is located in one of the prime district in Bangkok, and offers great views of the city during the buffet breakfasts in the morning. But unfortunately, it appeared in many Haunted Hotel Lists I’ve searched in. I didn’t look for any stories from online because I personally know a close friend who stayed there with another 3 friends in two adjoining rooms and had some strange encounters there.

During their stay, when one of the four girls was having a shower, she heard one of the other girls trying to talk to her across the toilet door. Obviously, it sounded muffled to her because of the running water and the distance to the door. The girl who was in the shower later mentioned that she saw shadows in the slit under the door when she looked out, trying to hear better. Of course, the girls who were outside said no one tried to talk to her while she was in the shower.

The following morning, they found (get this!) an extra toothbrush in the glass where all their toothbrushes are in. The extra toothbrush was not a brand new hotel toothbrush but it appeared to be used.

That’s creepy enough for me to eliminate Baiyoke Sky Hotel from my list the next time I’m trying to find a place to stay in Bangkok.

3. FIRST HOTEL, BANGKOK THAILAND

This hotel is pretty fierce. Strategically located on Phetchaburi road, in the midst of Pratunam’s wholesale garment shopping scene, this hotel is near a BTS station and is actually pretty well-located.

But there were many reports of sightings of charred bodies in the hotel premises.
Well, those are stories. But here’s a fact – a big fire once broke out in First Hotel in January 1988. There were more than 400 people in First Hotel during the fire and it took them more than 4 hours to put out the fire. 13 were killed.

Unfortunately, a popular Singaporean singer, Shi Ni and her mother were among the victims in this tragedy. You will be able to read the coverage on our Lianhe Zaobao in 1988.

And maybe you can also read the rest of this article while Shi Ni sings to you.

4. GRAND HYATT, TAIPEI TAIWAN

In the lift lobby of this hotel, lies two huge framed talismans. Although it might not mean anything at all, it is inevitable that one might feel a little creeped out to see huge talismans the first thing you step into your hotel. The hotel was built over a former wartime political prison and is said to be haunted by the ghosts of several inmates who were executed, according to local residents.

I found this review about Grand Hyatt on TripAdvisor, title of the review was “Beyond Haunted”. Ahem!:

“I can’t believe this is a 5 star hotel. I upgraded my hotel to this one too, and without doing research online, I ended up at this haunted place paying a ridiculous amount of money to live at this haunted place. Before coming here, I have already heard stories from friends with “experiences” here. Unfortunately for me, I had these experiences as well as my relative staying in another room. Right when I entered the hotel, I already felt a major headache (I have NEVER had this feeling before). For all the foreigners that aren’t in the know, those decors in the lobby of asian looking charms are to keep spirits away and are quite well known for that purpose. There are 2 massive ones beside the elevators going down to the parking lot, as well as 2 smaller jade like ones by the check-in desk. Also, if you notice carefully when you enter the hotel, above the driveway of the hotel is a wind chime instead of the usual chandelier or light. This is also for feng shui purposes. So we got our rooms and went to the floor and right when we get out of the elevator, we notice ALL the paintings on the walls are disturbing. They are of generals killing spirits, what kind of hotel has this kind of creepy decor on the wall? Oh right, a ridiculously haunted one. So we went to our rooms and actually switched twice before we got a less creepy room, which was still haunted unfortunately. So I noticed that when I walk towards the back end of the room where the desk is, my headache gets especially bad so I avoided it all costs. Normally I’m not afraid to sleep in the dark in hotels, but at this one. I was totally creeped out. So I was sharing a bed with a relative who was fast asleep. (Same situation happened in my other relatives room, one fell asleep quickly while the other got spooked the whole night) So I didn’t sleep the whole night but kept in eyes closed due to the fact that I could hear two very distinct snores. One coming from my left (the couch and desk) and one from my right (my relative) When there wasn’t snoring on the left side, I could feel someone walking and I heard the footsteps and I could sense they were quite close to me. This happened the whole night and I only opened my eyes when the sun came out. As for my relatives room, someone was flushing their toilet the whole night. She even went inside the washroom to check it out and the water was being drained so it wasn’t a faulty toilet. She said that this only occurred when she tried to sleep, so they were trying to keep her up. Anyways, this went on for 2 more days but if you notice carefully, there are many very odd placement of decorations around the hotel which are definitely for feng shui purposes as this is known as one of the most haunted places on earth. Note: 4 rocking chairs outside the side entrance of the hotel by the bus stop. Very very odd.”

There were also reports of people waking up with scratches all over body. Scary.

5. FIRST WORLD HOTEL, GENTING MALAYSIA

This one is freaking creepy because it just LOOKS creepy being so old and rundown. And no, its colourful facade did not help at all.
There are stories of like corpses hidden in “cut out human shape holes” in the mattress (sounds a little out of the world to me), people committing suicide after a bad day in the casino, etc. When I do go to Genting, I try not to stay here. Better be safe than sorry.

Here is an encounter I found online:

“My bro’s friend, a pretty lady who looks like Shu Qi went in genting with her group of frens and they decided to stay in First world hotel. They separate into few rooms n she slept with 2 other girls. When she sleep, she dream of herself sleeping on the bed.. And suddenly, a unlce out of nowhere go on top of her and trying to rape her. He touches her, kiss her and even tried to undress her. The only thing that the poor girl can do is Struggle and struggle… think her action pissed that uncle and he actually straches her hard on her thigh… She continue to struggle but in vain. All she can do is close her eyes and scream n scream for help. Then suddenly, she heard her frens calling out her name and she open her eyes. Her fren surround her and told her that they was sound asleep n they heard her screaming for helps, so they faster try to wake her up but in vian. Then one of the girl then say out some prayers while another fren keeping calling he, Then she woke up.
They then realise that she had a nightmare n they thought that it is just a dream.
Until they saw the scratch mark and fingerprint mark on her thighs and there is still some fresh blood on her thigh… Scared out of their wits, they faster ran over to the guys room n stay e night there.”

6. TAMBUN INN, IPOH MALAYSIA

This place was listed as one of the top 15 haunted places in Malaysia. The Tambun Inn in Ipon is a three-storey commercial building in the residential area of Ipoh near an old Chinese cemetery. (Wah lao look at this place, who dare to stay inside?!)

There were many documented accounts of sightings of ghosts wandering around the the hotel premises, lights switching on and off, eerie whispers, shouts and screams from entities. There is also a source that claimed apparitions of ghosts appearing on a road leading to the hotel. One other story says that if you ever see a little girl in a light blue dress, don’t ever talk to her. (Why does this remind me of The Shining?)

7. SWISSOTEL HOTEL, SINGAPORE

This is a five star hotel in Singapore and it is known for its beautiful rooms and the great views it offers from the higher storeys. This 73-level hotel is said to be build on execution grounds during Japanese Occupation during World War II. There were also reports of apparitions of execution victims roaming the hallways at night asking for mercy.

In the recent years, we have also seen a number of unexplained deaths at the hotel.

In March 2013, a Russian tourist fell to his death from Swissotel; he was staying on the 59th floor and believed to have fallen from a height of at least 60-storeys in the wee hours of the morning. His body was removed from a fifth floor beam by the SCDF team.

Later in 2015, there were two deaths at this same hotel as well. The body of a 59-year-old Australian tourist was discovered on the parapet of the second floor of Swissotel Stamford. The lady allegedly fell from the 60th floor of the building. (You may read more from this link. Warning – Graphic Images)

The third similar case within the two years also occurred in 2015 where a 33-year-old man also plunged to his death from high floors at the same building.

There were rumours online about the 50th storey being haunted, I also saw someone who described that he had some strange encounters in Room 2559.

8. HOTEL ISTANA, KUALA LUMPUR MALAYSIA

There must be something in Room 712 because there are so many websites citing this particular room. One of the sites even mentioned the sighting of a Pontianak int his room! Horrors!

Oh the other hand, I guess the chances of you accidentally checking into this hotel is quite low since their ratings on the hotel sites are nowhere near impressive. Heh!

9. CORDIS LANGHAM PLACE, HONG KONG

This hotel looks just like any other proper hotel located in the popular tourist spot in Mong Kok, Hong Kong. But there have been numerous reports of guests claiming that they feel strange and being watched when they are in the rooms.

This is an excerpt from a review I took from their TripAdvisor page:

“After we checked out, my partner told me he had heard strange noises in the room which woke him up a few times during the night, it was a tapping sound very very close to his ear. He felt a presence in the room which he thought was a ghost on the following night (he normally thinks of that sort of stuff as rubbish). During the day when I was in the room by myself I felt like I was being ‘watched’. It’s hard to describe, but really eerie. He didn’t tell me how he felt during the stay because he knew I would have left the hotel immediately!”

10. 云山饭店 YUN SHAN FAN DIAN, CHENG DE CHINA

This hotel has 220 rooms and is said to be built not he very same grounds where Manchu royalty would escape the summer heat of Beijing. Over the years, there were actually reported sightings of (freaking fierce) Dowger Express Cixi herself, tending to her garden.

This hotel is also said to be haunted by a man in a Western getup, and a lady in an Empress outfit who would always roam around the end of the corridor on Level 8.

I also found this written by someone who lives in Cheng De:
“I am an American that has been living here in Chengde, China for several years. The story you have heard and read about is a true one. I am actually trying to setup my own Ghost Hunters team but it is hard to find qualified people here in China.

The story you heard i was told about several years ago. There have been countless eyewitnesses and i have met many people with first hand reports.

There are several ghosts sightings here. The city dates back to 1703, much has happened here both good and bad, there are many reasons for ghosts to linger here. However, there is no reason i can find that the ghost should be in that hotel. The hotel is not very old, yet peoples reports of what they have seen as far as clothes people wear, do not coincide with the dating of the location.”