Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
Haunted Hotels Anybody?
A lot goes on behind the scenes in every hotel in the world. There’s drama between guests, between staff, and between staff and guests. The buildings have quirks; sometimes, the supernatural makes its presence known to the team.
For good or ill, here is a curated selection of ghostly encounters from the Malaysian hospitality industry.
The Festival Continued.
I was working at a small hotel in Genting Highlands. The team breathed a sigh of relief: Good Vibes 2019 had just ended, the festival goers had gone home, and we were grateful for the quiet and lower-stress period.
I was working the 7am shift at the front desk and reviewing the night manager’s log about noise complaints: There were five complaints from the 7th and 8th floors about loud music coming from occupied rooms at opposite ends of their respective floors.
Stock image used for illustrative purposes.
“Staff were dispatched to check because we had multiple noise sources or a single moving source causing these complaints.”
But all have found nothing. Then the complaints started flooding in again, from the same occupied rooms and guests as the previous night. I went up, along with housekeeping and security staff.
It was strange.
There was music playing. We could hear it. But we couldn’t find a source, and we could all recognize the music by “Cigarettes After Sex.” Their songs “Crush,” “Sweet,” and “Sunset” were on a continuous, unending loop.
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We had staff from three departments doing checks of empty rooms, occupied rooms, and back-of-house areas, including the emergency staircases. We found nothing.
“The music was taunting us: it seemed to stop when we were close to its source and then resume once we left. I am convinced that something was playing with us.”
The musical loop of madness continued for another two days, at odd hours of the day and night, and then stopped – no more noise complaints. The whole thing was just weird. Three years on, I’m still not too fond of those songs or the artist.
Mana Ada Speakers?
Hotel legend states that during the grand opening (in the late 1990s), a guest using a toilet on the 12th floor snorted cocaine, died, and now haunts the entire floor. Veteran staff from housekeeping, banqueting, and even security refused to work or patrol that floor alone.
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The toilets on 12 needed a quick cleaning, and nobody wanted to do it because of the ghost.
I was the young, inexperienced (dumb) intern who didn’t believe it, so I volunteered for the job.
“I was finishing the last toilet when I heard a girlish laugh behind me, and something brushed my shoulder. I snapped around, but there was no one behind me.”
I turned back to the sink counter to find white powder sprinkled everywhere. I KNOW that it was not there beforehand: I was still holding the damp cleaning cloth.
Then the temperature spiked, and I started to sweat. Suddenly, my heart was pounding in my ears, and I could hear the “default” background music playing before any hotel event started. I ran like the hounds of hell were at my heels.
Five minutes later, I was sweat-soaked, dizzy and trying desperately to cool down in the housekeeping office. The duty supervisor raised an eyebrow.
He remembered my assignment, “Cuba solo 12 ke?” I nodded. “Patutlah, muka you pucat. Nampak hantu kan?!”
I replied that I had not seen anything but that someone had to switch off the music coming through the speakers. “What music?” she asked, confused, “You blur ke? 12 mana ada speakers? Only Grand Ballroom on 15 ada.”
I refused to work 12 on my own after that, and not even the Department Head minded.
Sibling Spirits
In Langkawi, one of the resort hotels has its own Kid’s Club that offers babysitting services and activities to keep the guests’ children entertained. At the same time, the parents did whatever they wanted from 9 am to 9 pm daily.
“The haunting of the Kid’s Club started about a year after it opened, and it’s still haunted.”
Security patrols in pairs: Doors are locked but ice cold to the touch, even when the air conditioner is off. Lights turn on and off from room to room throughout the night.
There’s splashing in the kiddie pool, toilets flush, and something uses the swings. The happy laughter of children after closing time was a common occurrence.
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Security guards could be standing there, and the green light on the camera is on. Still, the video footage is always snowy and static.
They’ve replaced the entire surveillance system. Twice. But “system problems” continue.
It’s believed that sibling spirits haunted the Kid’s Club: They died during their car ride to the airport when leaving Langkawi. Since it was the last place they were delighted, they decided to “check-in” again.
“Since the spirits are shy and don’t bother anyone by day, management has decided to leave their unnatural ‘guests’ alone.”
The Faceless Woman
This hotel in KL closed down almost 11 years ago, and when I worked there, it was haunted.
Guests and staff alike have reported seeing a dark, slim-figured female wandering guest floors and back-of-house areas, including employee locker rooms, housekeeping stores, and even the loading dock at the back of the building.
She also disturbed things around the hotel: hanging lights would start swinging, and RFID locks needed constant resetting. Cupboards would suddenly swing open for no reason. Some mornings saw kitchen equipment scattered across the floor. It was a laundry list of minor petty annoyances.
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“I met the spirit. She sat on a sofa at the top of the spiral staircase that led down to the coffee shop.”
Her dress was grey with blue and red streaks, decorated with sparkling sequins. It was like she was wearing a meteor shower. She had long silvery grey hair flowing down her back as she sobbed into her hands.
I mistook her for a guest and asked her if she was alright.
She cried with pain and turned towards me with her hands outstretched. I will never forget her missing face: There was a gaping black maw where her lips should have met over her teeth, below a smashed nose, and eye sockets filled with a black oily tar that trailed down her cheeks.
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I collapsed and started seizing. I was taken to Kuala Lumpur Hospital by ambulance. I had a week’s bed rest, a lot of expensive medical tests, six stitches in my tongue, and several chipped teeth.
I was back at work when I described what I saw to several colleagues. Those in the know added the details: she was a guest that had fallen down that flight of stairs, shattered her skull and died at Kuala Lumpur Hospital.
I never saw her again, had another seizure, or went back to Kuala Lumpur Hospital.
Not the Supernatural too!
There’s no telling what else is happening behind the scenes in a hotel. Even so, hospitality workers have enough on their plates just dealing with human guests.
Here’s hoping you don’t need an Iman, Priest, Bomoh or all three the next time you check in!
Know anyone with an exciting story to share? Drop us an email at hello@inreallife.my, and we may feature the tale!
For more stories like this, read:
10 Years Ago, We Made Contact With A Spirit On Halloween & It Ruined Our Lives
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