A UK hotel guide with a paranormal slant
Written: Sep 10 '06 (Updated Jul 11 '09)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Lots of good haunted hotels to visit in the UK
Cons: Its organization, no London entries, out of print and hard to find
The Bottom Line: Despite this book's shortcomings, it is very useful for anyone looking for paranormal adventure while traveling in the UK or simple fun for anyone wanting armchair reading.
|
|
|
| adriennefoster's Full Review: Weekend Haunts: A Guide to Haunted Hotels in the U... |
A year before Travel Writer Robin Mead released his book, Haunted Hotels, he produced Weekend Haunts, a guide to haunted lodgings in his home country, the United Kingdom. While most people would rather not live with a ghost, they're still drawn to visit them. Despite the reluctance some managers have about exposing the hauntings at their hotels, it has been proven that when word gets out, patronage rises. This book provides several leads to professional lodgings reputed to have ghosts. Regardless of whether a reader is looking for a haunted place to stay or supernatural tales, this book will satisfy on both counts.
This trade paperback includes listings for 84 hotels throughout the UK, including Northern Ireland. Entries are listed alphabetically by name first, then by county in the case of duplicate names. Like its companion book, each listing describes the facility and its amenities, local attractions, established history, and price range, then elaborates on its haunting. Unlike its companion book, the features that support the main body are a little different, which include acknowledgments, an introduction, regional maps and indexes in alphabetical and regional order. Several of the entries are accompanied by black & white line drawings of the structures done by Pamela Wright.
—In Biggar, Lanarkshire, Scotland; Shieldhill was built by the Chancellor family in 1199 and remained the family seat until 1959. During the strife the area dealt with during the Jacobean conflicts of the 18th century, one of the Chancellor daughters was raped by a passing soldier and became pregnant. Despite the circumstances and the family's efforts for a discreet confinement and birth, the young woman wanted to keep the baby. The horrified family took the infant and left it outside to die from the elements. While installing a central heating system in the building a couple of centuries later, a plumber saw the upset young mother walk through the wall between the Culloden Room and the honeymoon suite, looking for her child. Mead claims he heard footsteps overhead, another manifestation attributed to her, when he stayed as research for this book.
—The legend at the Dolphin Hotel in Southampton, Hampshire, is less dramatic. It has accommodated many seagoing illustrious figures before their voyages, including William IV, Victoria, Jane Austen, and William Thackery. Late night staff and guests claim to have seen the 19th-century figure of a maid going about her chores. A job she apparently enjoyed so much not even death kept her from leaving.
—The current building of the Mermaid Hotel in Rye, Sussex, first opened in 1420, but this location has been known for its hospitality before the 14th century. Its biggest ups were during the 16th century, when Elizabeth I paid a visit, and its worst downs occurred during the 18th, when it was associated with violent smugglers. One more recent American guest was awakened one night to watch a couple of men in 1700s fashion in the midst of a soundless swordfight. She watched as the victor killed his opponent and dumped the body behind a secret panel.
While the number of hotels Mead covers is substantial, this book is by no means comprehensive. Three significant ones that were missed are the Brocket Arms, in St. Albans, Hertfordshire; Famous Schooner Hotel in Alnmouth, Northumberland; and the Central Hotel in Glasgow. (The latter was sold to the Quality chain after this book was released.) Probably the biggest disappointment is that none of the entries include a hotel in London. The country's largest metropolitan center certainly has them, so it's amazing a UK resident author was at a loss to find one.
Aside from the entertaining ghost folklore each entry supplies, the descriptions of these accommodations' facilities and services help give a mental image of what these places are like. Mead personally stayed at every hotel he wrote about, which is more than many other ghostlore writers would do. Although I never made it to any he covered during my last trip, I found the descriptions in Haunted Hotels to be accurate.
As a travel guide, the organization of this book's material proved awkward. Despite the regional index at the back, it would be so much easier for readers if the lodgings had been arranged by county. It would save anyone shopping for a place to stay from having to jump back and forth around the book to see what a particular region has to offer. This was handled much better in Mead's North American volume.
The maps are a helpful feature for those not very well versed in the UK countryside. They help pinpoint where these accommodations are, although for more precise determinations, a reader may want to compare it to the appropriate city street map.
Having been published in 1994, a great deal of the contact info this book provides is likely to be outdated. Some hotels may be out of business altogether. Anyone interested in staying at any of these places may need to do more research before booking.
Aside from being out of print, this book was also published by a UK house, Impact Books, for a UK market. It is a bit hard for Americans to find. (Try Abebooks.com.) Providing the information this directory contains is updated, it would be well worth reissuing.
Despite Weekend Haunts's shortcomings, it is a very useful book for those looking for a little supernatural adventure while traveling in the UK. It is also a good one for people who simply want armchair reading. Recommended to anyone who enjoys traveling and ghost folklore. The UK does it best.
More haunted hospitality guides:
Haunted Inns of New England, by Mark Jasper
Haunted Inns of Britain & Ireland, by Richard Jones
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.