Reuters has a report on a website called professionaltravelguide that has compiled a list of hotels that seek to lure clients seeking a ghostly experience to go with halloween. The themes include from "suicide, murder, untimely deaths, all set the grisly stage for macabre stories of hauntings". Since Halloween is celebrated most widely in the US all except one of the nine hotels on the list are found in the US.

They include Hotel Del Coronado, Coronado, California where "Kate Morgan's (an Iowan) body was found six days after she checked into Room 302 of the Hotel del Coronado to meet her estranged husband on Thanksgiving Day 1892. He reportedly never showed up. Room 302 is now known as Room 3312, but Kate's spirit is said to roam the entire hotel. The story at the Sagamore in Bolton Landing, New York is about "the ghost of a boy from the 1950s. The boy would collect lost golf balls and sell them to the pro shop for extra cash.

Running after a ball one day, he was fatally struck by a car. Apparently, guests still see the boy on the golf course sometimes". For a decidedly more blood curdling experience guests could consider the Hotel Provincial in New Orleans,LA where "part of the hotel was once a Confederate hospital. Maids have reported bloodstains mysteriously appearing and disappearing. Once, as the elevator opened on the second floor, the vision of an entire hospital apparently came into view"!

The sole non-US hotel on the list, the Shieldhill Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland is rather tame in comparison. Guests tell stories of "The Gray Lady" who is said to haunt the hotel. According to legend, she was the daughter of the family who owned the castle until the mid-20th century. She is said to have fallen in love with one of the hired hands. When her father disapproved of the marriage, she committed suicide.

Halloween may well result in "ghost" hotels in parts of the US owing to the severe economic contraction under way. In order to avert a rash of empty rooms some chains are offering to open their doors to halloween revelers by offering "freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies to anyone who walks in". Anything to keep the ghosts out and the guests in ought to be welcome.

Vijay is Chief Operating Officer and part-founder of Apple Core Hotels- a chain of 5 midtown Manhattan hotels offering value and comfort in the heart of the city.Member of the board of Directors - Hotel Association of New York. www.vijaydandapani.com