Haunted hotels in Europe: 10 luxury stays with a ghost, from room 333 at London’s Langham to Scotland

A lady in grey on the staircase, a monk in the corridors, a room you only request if you know what you are getting into. Across Europe, a handful of upmarket hotels nurture their ghost and tell the story themselves, from the Langham in London to castles in Scotland, Ireland, Anjou, Catalonia and on Lake Maggiore. Here are ten addresses where you can spend the night with a legend, along with the price of Halloween night, checked on 18 October 2026.

☰Contents

1. Ten haunted hotels and their Halloween prices
2. The Langham: what happened in room 333?
3. Dalhousie Castle and its Grey Lady of 1500
4. Ruthin Castle, a Grey Lady on the ramparts
5. Ballygally and the ghost room in the turret
6. Kinnitty Castle, the monk of the abbey ruins
7. Kilkea and its Wizard Earl, back every 7 years
8. Brissac, the tallest château in France
9. Parador de Cardona and the riddle of room 712
10. Castello Dal Pozzo, Barbara’s tower since 1467
11. Dragsholm Slot, a White Lady inside the wall
12. Booking your haunted night before 31 October

Ten haunted hotels and their Halloween prices

Prices checked on 18 October 2026 on the official booking engines, for two adults on the night of Saturday 31 October, taxes included; pounds and kroner converted at the ECB rate of 16 October. They move with remaining availability.

The Langham: what happened in room 333?

Opened on 10 June 1865, The Langham bills itself as Europe’s first ‘Grand Hotel’. The BBC’s Broadcasting House stands just opposite, and it was a radio presenter who started the legend.

According to VisitBritain, the British tourist board, he woke up in room 333 to find a ball of light slowly taking human form, floating above the floor. The same account mentions a German prince who is said to have thrown himself from a fourth-floor window and now walks through closed doors.

On the night of 31 October 2026, the Superior King or Queen cost £570 (≈ €675) on a prepaid, non-refundable, room-only rate, and the Classic with breakfast £650 (≈ €770). The flexible rate starts at £580 (≈ €687) in a Classic.

Dalhousie Castle and its Grey Lady of 1500

South of Edinburgh, Dalhousie Castle is a red sandstone castle founded in the 13th century and rebuilt around 1450, which became a hotel in 1972. Edward I slept here before the Battle of Falkirk, Cromwell moved in, and Queen Victoria took tea here in 1840.

The hotel says so itself: Dalhousie is reputedly haunted by several ghosts. The best known is the Grey Lady, Lady Catherine, mistress of a Ramsay laird, whose wife is said to have had her locked in a turret and left to die around 1500. Guests can also see the ‘bottle dungeon’, a windowless pit into which prisoners were lowered on a rope.

On Halloween night, the Castle Classic Room cost £315 (≈ €373) with a Scottish breakfast, on a non-refundable rate. The castle has just emerged from a six-million-pound renovation, covered in our article on the Dalhousie refurbishment.

Ruthin Castle, a Grey Lady on the ramparts

In North Wales, Ruthin Castle combines the ruins of a fortress more than 800 years old with red sandstone buildings, and a spa set in the former moat. The de Grey family held it until 1508.

On 14 October 2026, the hotel reminded its social media followers of its ‘Grey Lady’, who glides along the ramparts. Visit Wales, the Welsh tourist board, points to her grave outside the walls: according to legend, she was executed for killing her husband.

Good news for late planners: the hotel still had rooms for Halloween. The Castle Double cost £199 (≈ €236) on a flexible room-only rate, or £225 (≈ €267) with breakfast.

Ballygally and the ghost room in the turret

On the Antrim coast road, in Northern Ireland, Ballygally Castle was built in 1625 by the Shaw family and celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2025. It has 54 rooms facing Ballygally Bay.

The hotel’s website tells the story of Lady Isabella Shaw: after giving birth to a daughter, she was locked by her husband in a small room in the turret, then fell while trying to escape through the window. She is said to still knock on doors at night, while another resident, Madame Nixon, rustles her silk skirts.

This room, known as the ‘Ghost Room’, is not let as a bedroom: guests used to ask for its key to go up. The Superior Room cost £180 (≈ €213) on 31 October, room only with free cancellation, or £210 (≈ €249) with breakfast.

Kinnitty Castle, the monk of the abbey ruins

At the foot of the Slieve Bloom Mountains, in the heart of Ireland, Kinnitty Castle stands where Saint Finian founded an abbey. The 1630 castle, burnt in 1922 and later rebuilt, has been a 37-room hotel since 1994.

Discover Ireland, the Irish tourist board, puts it plainly: the castle has its resident ghost, known as ‘the monk’, and the walls of the 12th-century Augustinian abbey still stand in the grounds. Visit Offaly adds that it is reputedly haunted by several figures, this monk among them.

Dinner is served in the Dungeon Bar, carved into the stone foundations. Halloween night was fully booked on 18 October; on Wednesday 4 November, the Baronial Double, under the castle roof, cost €189 for two, Irish breakfast included, cancellable up to 48 hours before.

Kilkea and its Wizard Earl, back every 7 years

An hour from Dublin, Kilkea Castle dates back to 1180 and describes itself as one of the oldest inhabited castles in Ireland, seat of the FitzGeralds, Earls of Kildare. The estate has 140 rooms across the castle, the courtyard and its lodges.

On its website, the hotel relays the legend of Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare, nicknamed the ‘Wizard Earl’: he is said to have practised magic in the highest tower. His ghost supposedly returns to the castle every seven years.

Halloween night was still available: the Classic Castle Bedroom, in the castle itself, cost €383.90 for two on a flexible rate, Irish breakfast included, or €345.51 prepaid and non-refundable. Cancellation is free up to 72 hours before arrival.

Brissac, the tallest château in France

In Anjou, the Château de Brissac rises seven storeys and has 204 rooms: it is the tallest château in France, home of the Dukes of Brissac. It lets a few guest rooms, their walls hung with 17th-century tapestries.

The château tells its own tragedy: in the 15th century, Jacques de Brézé caught his wife Charlotte, daughter of King Charles VII and Agnès Sorel, with a friend and killed them both. He is said to have left Brissac ‘perhaps the ghost’ of Charlotte, a restless soul of feverish nights. Atout France adds that, according to legend, the couple still haunt the place.

Note that the rooms are only open from 15 April to 15 October, so the haunted night is one to book for spring. The website lists a rate from €590 for one or two people, breakfast and a tour of the château included, with bookings by email. For winter, see our most beautiful château hotels in France.

Parador de Cardona and the riddle of room 712

Atop a promontory in Catalonia, the Parador de Cardona occupies the medieval castle that towers over the town. The Cardona tourist office counts 54 rooms.

The state-run Paradores chain tells the legend of Adalès: her father is said to have locked her in the so-called Minyona tower, ‘the young girl’ in Catalan, to keep her away from the Muslim man she loved, and she died there. Room 712 adjoins this tower. For years, according to Paradores, an unknown force would gather the furniture in the middle of the room every night.

Guests in neighbouring rooms often report hearing noises and voices coming from 712. Paradores, which keeps it for those who ask for it, says it wants to ‘neither confirm nor deny’. The rate calendar on its official page showed €289 for the night of 31 October, against €134 on some weeknights in the same month.

Castello Dal Pozzo, Barbara’s tower since 1467

On the hills overlooking Lake Maggiore, the Castello Dal Pozzo has belonged to the same family for six generations and welcomes guests as a five-star resort spread across the castle, the stables and the palace.

The castle tells the legend of Barbara, daughter of the nobleman Alberto Visconti, who fell for Captain Matteo de Grandis in 1467. Their forbidden love is said to echo within the walls still, and her spirit wanders silently through the tower that bears her name.

The resort does not publish prices outside its booking engine, which you can check for your dates. Cancellation is free up to three days before arrival, according to its FAQ, and the tourist tax is €2 per person per night.

Dragsholm Slot, a White Lady inside the wall

In Odsherred, in the north-west of the island of Zealand, Dragsholm Slot has watched over the countryside for more than 800 years; today it is a luxury hotel and a gastronomic restaurant.

VisitDenmark, the Danish tourist board, presents it as one of the most haunted castles in Europe: a White Lady is said to have been walled up alive around 1550. It credits the castle with three ghosts in all, including a Grey Lady, all of them ‘friendly’, it notes. The castle was also a royal prison, where the Earl of Bothwell, third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, was held.

The hotel has 41 double rooms, a 1 hr 10 min drive from Copenhagen. It does not publish dated prices outside its booking engine, but advertises its autumn package from 2,235 Danish kroner (≈ €299), with a three-course dinner in the bistro, a night in a double room and breakfast.

Booking your haunted night before 31 October

Halloween falls on a Saturday in 2026: book directly on the hotel’s website, where flexible rates allow free cancellation, from the day before (Langham, Ballygally) to five days before (Dalhousie). None of these houses guarantees a sighting: if you want a specific room, such as 333 or 712, ask for it when booking.

To keep the chills going, read our list of the 25 most haunted hotels in the United States and the story of the Pfister, in Milwaukee, opened in 1893 and said to be haunted.