Many of Britain’s hotels have taken on a ghostly aura. Far from scaring off potential visitors, inexplicable phenomena seem to be a highly marketable asset these days. In hostelries throughout the land, Grey Ladies (or Ladies in Black, or White, or Blue, occasionally a daring shade of Red) are reported to drift through walls and float over lakes, accompanied by spectral orbs and sudden icy chills. Hooves clatter at midnight, ghostly legions march past along old Roman roads, doors lock and unlock of their own accord, and hidden children laugh or sob on secret stairwells.

Historic buildings in atmospheric surroundings – of which Britain, with its long history, has many -- predictably take the lead in these alleged phenomena, coaxing medieval monks, Victorian serving girls, and unhappy lovers to revisit old haunts. If some grisly tale of a tragic death can be unearthed from bygone days, or better still, a skeleton in a cupboard somewhere, the psychic portents perk up no end. Specialist short-break operators can arrange all sorts of hair-raising experiences involving séances, dowsing rods and ouija boards for hopeful ghost-hunters, or at least, a promising setting in which they might just happen. Of course, nothing is guaranteed and the chances are you will enjoy a perfect night’s rest.

For most of us, the faint chance of some other-worldly experience adds no more than an amusing frisson to a hotel stay – at least, in broad daylight. For others, it’s a serious quest to prove there are more things in heaven and earth, undertaken only with quantities of recording equipment and a determination to stay awake all night. Certain hotels crop up repeatedly on the paranormal lists. Cornwall, in South-West England, famed as a land of myths and legends, is a classic venue for ghosts. Guests and staff of the Wellington Hotel in Boscastle have experienced many strange apparitions, dark shapes and inexplicable sounds, including a figure in period dress vanishing into a wall and an old lady passing through a closed bedroom door. Not to mention the mystifying case of a small dog (a real one belonging to a writer staying at the hotel), which suddenly got up and trotted out one night yapping and wagging ts tail as if being taken for a walk by some unseen presence.Immortalised in Daphne du Maurier’s novel, Jamaica Inn, once on a wild and lonely turnpike road across Bodmin Moor, has strong associations with smugglers.

Disembodied voices speak in the long-dead Cornish language, and a coach and horses crunches across the gravelled courtyard at midnight ... In fact, that courtyard was resurfaced with cobbles recently, yet the noise of the metal-rimmed wheels remains

the same as in olden times. Odd, isn’t it? But even odder is the stranger in 18th-century dress repeatedly observed sitting on a wall outside the inn. He neither speaks nor moves, but bears an uncanny resemblance to a former guest summoned by a message to meet someone outside. He left the bar and his half-finished tankard of ale, and was later discovered murdered on the moor. Has he returned to finish his drink? Coaching tales are a recurrent theme in some of our fine old former coaching inns.

The Molesworth Arms in Wadebridge is reputedly visited by a ghostly stagecoach at midnight on New Year’s Eve, its four horses whipped on by a headless coachman. At Dartmouth’s Royal Castle in Devon, a mysterious coach and horses draws up at the entrance to collect an unknown passenger and vanish into the night. The 15th-century

Holt Hotel at Steeple Aston in Oxfordshire is haunted by the notorious highwayman Claude Duval, a former footman to the Duke of Richmond. He was apparently so popular with lady victims that tearful petitions for his pardon accompanied him to his execution. A handsome timbered inn called The Feathers in Ludlow, Shropshire has several interesting ghosts. One is a woman who tries to drive rivals away by pulling their hair (beware Room 211 if you’re the female half of a couple staying here). Another is a Victorian gentleman with a dog, and a third seems to be a more modern apparition who confines her appearances to men only. She’s a pretty thing in a miniskirt and a see-through blouse who walks straight through cars parked outside. One shocked guest who witnessed this young lady felt in urgent need of a restorative brandy. Relaying his experience to the hotel barman, he was soon interrupted with the news that she had appeared to several guests on previous occasions.

One of London’s most haunted hotels is the five-star Langham opposite the BBC’s Broadcasting House. Its spectral residents include a silver-haired doctor who murdered his bride while on honeymoon, and a German officer who killed himself shortly before the outbreak of the First World War. Room 333 is said to be a haunted bedroom, as numerous BBC journalists attest.

Ruthin Castle, now a hotel in Denbighshire, North Wales, has a resident Grey Lady, believed to be the wife of one of King Edward I’s lieutenants. She murdered her husband’s mistress with an axe in a jealous rage and was later executed herself. The hotel is noted for its medieval-style banquets. Not all ghosts are sinister or ill-intentioned. In the spa town of Cheltenham’s De La Bere Hotel, a 15th-century manor house once used as a girls’ school, a former matron paces the corridors at night to check that her charges are behaving. In Scotland, Edinburgh’s four-star Royal Terrace Hotel is another much-haunted venue, whose blithe spirits include a nurse in 19th-century uniform, a child from the 1800s, and a gentleman enjoying a drink at the bar. There are also reports of cupboards opening and unbidden noises and movements.

For details of supernatural stays in some of the hotels mentioned above, contact

Haunting Breaks, www.hauntingbreaks.co.uk; tel: 01686 420301. Other spooky websites

include www.hauntedhotelguide.com and www.paranormaltours.com. To plan every aspect

of your holiday in Britain, and search a comprehensive database of quality-assured

accommodation, see www.visitbritain.com

 

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Stay Deansgate Apartments

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Stay Deansgate Apartments

Three stylish fully equipped one bedroom apartments with balconies on Deansgate in central Manchester for short term holiday or business lets of 3 to 90 days.

Much more space flexibility comfort and privacy than a hotel at a sensible price.

Each apartment sleeps two people plus an additional two adults or four children on sofabeds in the living room.

The full size kitchens have a Siemens ceramic hob and oven fridge freezer microwave and washer dryer.

Book online | Check Availability

Spacious living rooms have contemporary leather and glass furniture and flatscreen digital TVs with CD DVD players.

Each apartment has a telephone with a free call allowance and a high speed 8MB wireless broadband connection.

Weekly servicing is included for stays of more than one week.

The apartments are located in the award winning Deansgate Quay development at the Castlefield end of Deansgate adjacent to Deansgate station and G Mex Metrolink and only a few minutes walk from the city s attractions nightlife shopping and business areas including MICC.

Discounted access to the nearby exclusive GL 14 health club with swimming pool and state of the art gymnasium is available.

Deli style breakfasts can be obtained at the acclaimed Love Saves the Day or great value traditional breakfasts can be taken away from the Deansgate Hot Food Bar both are adjacent to Deansgate Quay.

Sainsbury's is a short walk up Deansgate.

Open parking is available directly opposite secure parking costs 13 per 24hrs at the nearby Great Northern NCP.

Detailed directions are sent with confirmation keys are then either sent by post in advance or can be collected locally on arrival Mon Fri only .

All apartments are strictly non smoking an ashtray is provided on the balcony.

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Stay Deansgate Apartments Information

 Stay Deansgate ApartmentsStar Rating 4 stars
No of Rooms 3 rooms
Availability Check Availiability
BookingsBook Online


Address:

Deansgate
Manchester City Centre
M3 4LA

Directions:

StayDeansgate apartments are located at Deansgate Quay adjacent to Deansgate station and G Mex Metrolink. Detailed directions are sent with confirmation.

Location Map:

Book online | Check Availability

Additional Information:

 Stay Deansgate Apartments - Manchester City Centre hotels at LATE RATES - Hotels in Manchester City Centre hotel rooms near Manchester City Centre Wales

 
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