Welcome to NYC’s most haunted hotel – The Bowery Hotel! Thankfully, we didn’t encounter any ghosts (remember The Shining?)
But that doesn’t mean others haven’t reported about elevators behaving weirdly at night. We also heard about the resident poltergeist (albeit nothing like Peeves). We had heard that the spookiness goes out of control at exactly 1 AM every night – but unfortunately, we weren’t awake to witness the same.
Having said that, here’s what we found out!
Stay tuned!
The Roots: Where Is The Bowery Hotel?
335 BOWERY, EAST VILLAGE, NEW YORK, NY 10003, better known as Bowery Hotel, is often lauded as one of the most haunted places in New York. People have claimed that they have been touched, felt whispers, seen apparitions, heard footsteps, and even felt cold spots in a specific part of the hotel. Therefore, it is obvious that Bowery is a place with a bloody history.
Currently, Bowery Hotel stands as one of the most premium places in New York where the rich and the affluent come to party, but this was not always the case. But back in the day, the hotel and the neighborhood of the Lower East Side were a breeding ground for poverty, crimes, and drugs. Lower East Side was a safe haven for the poorest section of New York. Therefore, it was lauded as one of the shadiest neighborhoods in existence. In fact, the Lower East Side was a place where some of the most popular brothels, flophouses, and gang warfare took place. Martin Scorsese’s famous film Gangs of New York tried to capture the essence of Bowery and the Lower East Side.
Right now, where the famous Bowery Hotel stands, the land actually belonged to a Dry Dock Savings Bank. A Czech artist named Leopold Eidlitz built this bank. The architect tried modeling his creation after the Ruskinian Gothic style of his native city of Prague.
Basic Details About The Hotel: At A Glance
Google Rating | 4.5 |
Address | 335 Bowery, New York, NY 10003, United States |
Phone Number | +1 212-505-9100 |
Basic Price | 600 USD – 650 USD (Approximately) |
The Architecture: When Was The Bowery Hotel Built?
Even though the Bowery Hotel grounds have a bloody and shady history, it is still one of the most aesthetic places that you can stay in New York. The current hotel that we are talking about was built back in 2002. The vibrant neighborhood and elegant architecture really give Bowery a new characteristic. But, underneath all the beauty, there lies a rot. A rot that the naked eye cannot see.
The Bowery Hotel boasts at least 135 rooms with a clear view of the sun. Floor-to-ceiling factory-style windows, hardwood flooring, velvet drapes, and Victorian-styled rugs really make the hotel seem like it is out of time.
However, the hotel houses every amenity one might need while staying. The hotel has 24-hour internet services. Secondly, the hotel has 24-hour room and gym services, along with PC or Apple Laptop access. Therefore, if you visit the hotel, you will get access to all the modern amenities.
Hauntings Of Bowery: Why Is The Bowery Hotel Famous?
So, now that we have talked about basic details like where is the Bowery hotel in NYC, let’s address the elephant in the room.
The primary appeal of staying at a haunted hotel is not the room service or the free Wi-Fi but the ghosts. And Bowery seems to be a breeding ground for the undead. At least 1 in every 5 residents has experienced some sort of ghostly incident that left them scarred for life.
Poltergeists seem to be a staple in most of the stories that we hear. Some say that they have seen an elevator operator dressed in Old School clothing operating lifts at a particular time. Some residents also reported that elevators across the hotel go haywire and start malfunctioning every day at 1 am. It has become a pattern. In fact, some ex-employees of the hotel confessed that they hated taking the elevator.
Several guests claim that they have seen a woman in white. Guests claim that the woman is sentient and interacts with them. Some users claimed that this woman approached them. The woman usually starts by asking for directions and then dissipates mid-sentence. This is something that over 700 guests have reported. The shocking part is that none of them stayed at the hotel at the same time.
Apart from these hauntings, there are some other minor cases of haunting. One that caught my attention the most was that of beer glasses smacked out of guest’s hands. A guest, whom we will call Mike, says that he was having a drink in his room. Suddenly, he felt chills down his spine, and then he felt like something had literally smacked his hands. This resulted in his glass flying across the room with force. The worst part is this did not happen once. The same man said that something similar happened when he was sitting in the bar as well. Therefore, the spirit that we are dealing with is a sentient spirit that does not like people drinking.
People also felt that they were being strangulated while they were sleeping. Or that they felt extreme cold spots in some specific parts of the hotel. This makes things even more interesting and spooky.
Hauntings Near Bowery
Bowery Hotel is one of the most haunted hotels in New York. However, it is not the only haunted place in the vicinity. In fact, just around the hotel, there are a number of other haunted places that add an equal sense of dread and death to the whole equation. Here is a small list of those places for reference. See if you could feel and experience something otherworldly as well:
- New York City Marble Cemetery
- St Mark’s Church
- Merchant’s House Museum
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