Stay at Skirvin Hilton Hotel, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

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This historic 3-towered hotel, originally built in 1911 and renovated in the 2000s, is a 4-minute walk from Cox Convention Center and an 8-minute walk from Chesapeake Energy Arena. All rooms offer classic decor and custom-designed beds, plus desks, flat-screen TVs and WiFi. Plush suites add separate living areas.Amenities include an art deco style grill restaurant serving American and Southern dishes, and a chic cocktail bar with live jazz, plus a heated indoor pool and fitness center. There's also a business center and 18,500 sq ft of meeting space (including 2 ballrooms). Haunting: Rumors of a haunting in the hotel persist, and have even been cited by National Basketball Association (NBA) teams. The most notable examples occurred in 2010, when the New York Knicks famously blamed their loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on the haunting and when the Chicago Bulls reported doors slamming shut on their own and strange sounds outside their rooms.[The story received national attention again in June 2012, when the Miami Heat were staying in the hotel for the NBA Finals. Most recently, the Baylor Lady Bears, who were the defending National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Women's Division I basketball champions, were put up at the Skirvin. In one of the biggest upsets in tournament history, the Lady Bears unexpectedly lost 81–82 to Louisville in the regional semifinals of the 2013 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament. As the story goes, the hotel's original owner, W. B. Skirvin, had an affair with a maid named "Effie", which led to a pregnancy. To protect his reputation and avoid a scandal, Skirvin locked the maid on the 10th floor. The maid became depressed and even after the birth of her child, she was still not let out of her room. She eventually jumped out a window killing herself and the baby, without notice in newspapers. In some versions of the legend, this maid is described as "a woman of loose morals", and men who have stayed in the hotel have reported being propositioned by a female voice while alone in their rooms. Others claim to have seen the figure of a naked woman with them while taking a shower. One man even claimed he was sexually assaulted by an invisible entity during his stay.Over the years, hotel staff say they have seen objects moving by themselves and have heard strange noises at night. According toOklahomanreporters Steve Lackmeyer (who also co-wrote a book about the hotel) and Jason Kersey, Skirvin was "a notorious womanizer and drinker" and the 10th floor was known for various incidents of gambling and other vices, but there is no real-life evidence corresponding to the "Effie" story: Skirvin's family did believe that he had an employee (his assistant and bookkeeper, Mabel Luty) who was also his mistress, but she outlived him.[10]

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