The Queen Mary’s Art Deco style and great majesty hide a darker force, if you dare.
The Queen Mary, a former ocean liner turned hotel in Long Beach, California, is elegant. Despite its luxurious exterior, it’s one of America’s most haunted hotels (and maybe the most haunted ship).
While you consider staying on the scary but clean ship, here’s all you need to know about its terrible past and spirits. It was extensively renovated in early 2023.
Queen Mary’s Haunted Past
Cunard-White Star Line launched the Queen Mary as a cruise liner. Queen Mary christened the ship on September 26, 1934, and it carried luxury and military passengers for over 30 years. World War II saw the ship shuttle soldiers between fronts. The liner was retired in 1967 and presented to Long Beach. Five years later, it reopened as a floating hotel, letting guests sleep among the original wood paneling and portholes and imagine crossing the Atlantic in style.
The antique ship has hosted more than living visitors. At least 49 people have died on the QM since its initial voyage, and tradition says many sections have been haunted. To capitalize on the ghost legends, the hotel offers day and night ghost excursions.
“Not only does the Queen Mary offer a transatlantic history, but it is known as one of the most haunted destinations in America,” Queen Mary marketing director Chris Wilmoth emailed Travel + Leisure. “The unique history of the ship allows us to offer one-of-a-kind and authentic experiences that delve into the paranormal, from evening tours and ghost investigations to overnight stays in our most haunted Stateroom, B340.”
If you want to visit the world’s most haunted ship or stay at America’s most haunted hotel, expect Queen Mary sightings.
Queen Mary’s Most Haunted Room:
Stateroom B340
Before the Queen Mary became a hotel, this cabin was problematic. In 1948, British third-class passenger Walter J. Adamson died in the apartment under unknown circumstances. A woman in the room was woken up in 1966 when the bed coverings were removed and she spotted a man at the foot of her bed. She shouted and called the steward, but he vanished.
In recent years, guests have reported hearing a tap on the door at night and seeing restroom lights come on. Even the hotel’s maids have reported bathroom water running while no one was in the room for days and bed coverings being removed after making the bed.
After years of closure, the room is now open for eerie enjoyment.
Mauretania Room
For a VIP reception in 1989, two women cleaned this lounge. A guest was discreetly seated on a chair in the midst of the dance floor when they entered. A third woman helping with the cleaning noticed the guest watching and requested him to move.
All three women saw the guest vanish in front of them while the employees called security.
Mayfair Room
This room was the ship’s beauty salon but now houses hotel personnel’ offices. In 2001, an accounting employee arrived at work at 5:30 a.m. and felt weird. After doing her office work, she felt particularly cold at her desk.
Later, someone touched the back of her chair, but no one was there. Minutes later, the woman observed a transparent white person traverse the room and enter. As expected, the employee grabbed her keys and exited the room until her coworkers arrived.
Classy Swimming Pool
With a lighted fountain, mother-of-pearl ceiling, and mosaic tiles, this abandoned onboard pool was luxurious. California code difficulties prevent the pool from being used, but it remains a paranormal hotspot aboard the ship.
A young woman in a tennis skirt walking downstairs and disappearing behind a pillar, a woman in an old wedding gown next to the pool with a little boy in a suit, and a cloud of steam with a little girl in a blue and white dress who disappears instantly have all been seen here.
Fourth Boiler Room
Many individuals have seen a tiny child sucking her thumb or holding a doll in this region. Whether that young child haunts the room or not, we’ll probably keep away.
13th Hatch Door
In a horrific accident, a crewman was crushed to death at Shaft Alley, this hatch entrance.
Closed watertight engine and boiler room doors were required one night in 1966. Five minutes later, an 18-year-old Yorkshire crew member was crushed in Hatch #13’s door with his arms pinned to his side. He was rescued and sent to the hospital, but it was too late. His limbs, chest, and pelvis were crushed, and his nose was gushing. He died shortly after the morphine injection.
His spirit is now spotted chasing behind people and whistling. Others may have touched the unlucky crewman, noticing grease fingerprints on their faces. Some have spotted a bearded man in blue coveralls that resembles the deceased out of the corner of their eye. Others say they observed an engineer asking guests if they saw his wrench in the hallways but found him gone when they returned.