Agoda.com Offers Roundup of Haunted Hotels from around the World

SINGAPORE & NORWALK, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Just in time for Halloween, Agoda.com, the Asian online hotel service that is part of priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) today released its list of the most celebrated haunted hotels around the world. Halloween falls on a Friday this year, making it possible to take a long and exotic scary weekend. Many haunted hotels in the U.S. and abroad are still available for booking through www.agoda.com, www.priceline.com and www.booking.com. Booking.com is the European online hotel reservation service that is also part of priceline.com.

So darken the lights and pull up a chair. It's time to introduce Agoda's haunted favorites:

The Nottingham Road Hotel (South Africa)

What's the best way to keep good staff? Don't let them leave. This hotel in KwaZulu-Natal has a barmaid who apparently decided the tips were just too good. The barmaid's spirit has been known to move pots around the pub, open beer taps, ring a service bell (which was supposedly no longer in working order) and has even been attributed to deflating tires of certain guests. They were poor tippers of course.

Buma Inn (China)

The Chinese take their spirits seriously, and this one at the Buma Inn in Beijing seriously wants revenge. Apparently, a guest at the Inn was poisoned by the chef and subsequently died. The chef took his own life afterwards. The murdered guest is said to be seen roaming the halls forever in search of the chef, looking to inflict his revenge.

Toftaholm Herrgard (Sweden)

Once home to a baron, this hotel in Toftaholm is haunted by a young boy. The boy, a commoner, fell in love with the baron's daughter. The baron disapproved and arranged for his daughter to be married to someone else. On the day of the wedding, the boy hanged himself from the rafters. His spirit is said to haunt Room 324 where the rafters once were.

Breakfast Creek Inn (Australia)

According to the local Visitor's Guide, this Brisbane hotel and its legend are known throughout the continent. Breakfast Creek Inn was built in 1889 by William Galloway, the former Lord Mayor of Brisbane. One night, after a drinking bout, he fell from a second floor window to his death. Galloway's has been seen and heard wandering the older, original portions of the hotel.

Genting Highlands Resort (Malaysia)

Located just north of Kuala Lumpur, this popular resort and casino has apparently seen its fair share of suicides by those distraught after incurring gambling debts at the tables. Various visitors have related stories of seeing a man jump from the top of the hotel only to vanish before hitting the ground. It's also said there are rooms in the hotel that are not available to stay in no matter what the occupancy level of the hotel, because of the strong presence of otherworldly spirits.

Ballygally Castle Hotel ()

Ballygally Castle Hotel is haunted by Lady Isabella Shaw, who was imprisoned here in the 17th century for the horrible crime of giving birth to a daughter instead of a boy. She apparently jumped from the parapets to her death clutching her newborn daughter. Her ghost is said to wander the halls, knocking on doors while holding her crying baby.

Dragsholm Slot-Hotel (Denmark)

Another castle, this one is located in Sealand, Denmark, and is home to three ; The Gray Lady, The White Lady and The Earl of Bothwell. The Gray Lady is apparently a maiden who was so devoted to the castle she returns nightly to check on the grounds. The Earl of Bothwell was captured here in the 1500s and imprisoned in the cellar where he subsequently went mad and died. He, too, wanders the halls. The White Lady is a daughter of one of the former owners who fell in love with a commoner. Her father found out about the illicit affair and imprisoned her in the castle. During renovations in the 1930s, a skeleton in a white dress actually was found behind one of the walls. The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel (Canada)

Set in picturesque Banff, Alberta, the Fairmont is said to be haunted by a ghost bride. Legend has it that a bride was walking down the grand staircase to the lobby for her wedding reception. The flowing train on her gown apparently brushed against one of the numerous candles used to light the lobby and caught fire. In her panic, she tripped and fell down the stairs, breaking her neck. Her ghost has been seen wandering the halls still in her wedding gown.

The Savoy Hotel (India)

Located in Mussoorie, India, the Savoy is famous as the inspiration of Agatha Christie's first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles. The hotel is reportedly haunted by its former owner, Lady Orme, who died after sipping strychnine mysteriously placed in her medicine bottle. Ms. Orme's murderer was never found. Her ghost has reportedly been seen aimlessly walking the halls of her old hotel.

The Langham Hilton Hotel ()

An iconic hotel in the middle of , the Langham is reputedly one of the hotels in the world, with as many as 7 different ghosts seen from time to time. Some of the ghosts are dressed in Victorian clothing, one of the ghosts is said to be that of a German soldier, another is said to be the ghost of a doctor who murdered his wife and then killed himself, and the Emperor Louis Napolean III is said to haunt the basement. Room 333 is supposed to be the most haunted of all, in which a BBC reporter watched a specter appear from a floating, glowing ball, right in front of his eyes.

About Priceline.com® Incorporated

Priceline.com Incorporated (Nasdaq: PCLN) www.priceline.com provides online travel services in 21 languages in over 60 countries in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Included in the priceline.com family of companies is Booking.com, a leading international online hotel reservation service, priceline.com, a leading U.S. online travel service for value-conscious leisure travelers, and Agoda.com, an Asian online hotel reservation service.

Priceline.com believes that Booking.com is Europe's largest and fastest growing hotel reservation service, with a network of affiliated Web sites. Booking.com operates in over 65 countries in 18 languages and offers its customers access to over 52,000 participating hotels worldwide. Agoda (agoda.com) is based in Singapore with operations in Bangkok and the Philippines. Agoda's network includes 7,000 hotels in Asia and more than 45,000 worldwide.

In the U.S., priceline.com gives customers more ways to save on their airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises than any other Internet travel service. In addition to getting great published prices, leisure travelers can narrow their searches using priceline.com's TripFilter advanced search technology, customize their search activity through priceline.com's Inside Track features, create packages to save even more money, and take advantage of priceline.com's famous Name Your Own Price® service, which can deliver the lowest prices available.

Priceline.com also operates the following travel websites: Travelweb.com, Lowestfare.com, RentalCars.com and BreezeNet.com. Priceline.com also has a personal finance service that offers home mortgages, refinancing and home equity loans through an independent licensee. Priceline.com licenses its business model to independent licensees, including priceline mortgage and certain international licensees.

Source: Priceline.com Incorporated