Some people come to Washington for award-winning wine, some to enjoy outdoor adventures in Olympic National Park, but fans of the supernatural come to the Evergreen State for the thrill of ghost hunting. From specters of displaced Native Americans to the ghost of serial killer Ted Bundy's first victim, Washington won't disappoint tourists looking for the strange and spooky. If simply tracking down a ghost sighting isn't enough for you, dare to stay a night in one of the state's haunted hotels.
In downtown Port Townsend sits a lovely Victorian hotel with a dark past. The hotel once served as a brothel known as the Palace of Sweets. As today, life as a prostitute could be difficult and depressing. Women suffered miscarriages, babies often died of disease, and some women took their own lives. But not all ghosts in the Palace are from these sad stories. Some are thought to be of doctors who tended the women; others are of housekeepers who enjoyed their work. In addition to hearing the ghosts knocking on doors and smelling their perfume, visitors have reported being touched by the Palace's ghosts and seeing them emerge from their own images in paintings.
Not far from Pike Place Market, you can stay with ghosts who like to party. Dating from 1925, guests in this 10-story hotel often wake to the sounds of loud music and drunken revelers. When guests call to complain, their neighbors are found to be sound asleep. The partying ghosts are thought to be the spirits of people who enjoyed breaking the rules of Prohibition while jamming to jazz tunes. Sometimes the party even ends in a raucous fight.
Although relatively new, the grounds of the Emerald Queen Casino Hotel in Tacoma refuse to ignore the past. The land on which the hotel was built was once a burial ground for the Puyallup Native Americans. In the early 1900s, a hospital for tuberculosis patients was built on the site; eventually a crematorium was installed for the patients who never rose again from their hospital beds. When the Puyallup later constructed a casino and hotel, they were warned of sightings that had kept other buyers away. Some ghosts can't seem to forget their past and linger around crying and moaning, but other ghosts appear to be enjoying the hotel amenities by turning on TVs to channel surf, playing with light switches and even going for rides in the elevator.
Visitors stopping in Spokane for a convention may find themselves experiencing a little more than a networking opportunity if they stay at the Double Tree Hotel. Ghost watchers aren't certain how this hotel became haunted. Some say a man killed himself, others claim a Halloween gala stirred up some spirits. Whatever the cause, since Halloween of 1998, something has been haunting this hotel. Most apparitions are noises coming from the 15th floor's Gold Room where the Halloween gala took place, but strange and shadowy sightings are also seen in other parts of the hotel.
