Ipanema Ghost

My boyfriend and I are currently traveling in South America. I was unsure of submitting this story but felt compelled to after a few sleepless nights.

We visited Rio de Janeiro and originally stayed at a big hotel on the main avenue of Ipanema but decided to stay longer due to the incredible weather. The hotel we stayed were booked unfortunately and because the service was quite poor anyway, we decided to look for other accommodation. The hotel we decided on was a small boutique type and was recently renovated. Also noticeable was ongoing construction on both sides of the building.

The hotel itself was reminiscent of a Japanese capsule hotel. Rooms were clean, well furnished but on the smaller side. At least the room we booked was anyway. It was the last room in the hotel and we were lucky to get it over a weekend which tends to be quite busy in the summer months with both locals and tourists descending upon Ipanema.

We stayed 2 nights in the hotel. The first night was quite incident free and aside from a passing creepiness I felt while using the bathroom mirror which I attributed to the mirror facing another mirror behind me when the bathroom door was open, the room was comfortable. I did notice that one of the pot lights that had a dimmer switch was not working during our check in but thought nothing of it.

After a wonderful dinner at the restaurant in the hotel on our second night, we retired to the bedroom and decided to watch a movie. My boyfriend was about to fall asleep so I turned off the pot light on his side. I will note it was a dimmer switch and the dial had to be turned all the way to switch off the light as with the other pot light. The other pot light on my side of the bed was not on and was not working as I noted earlier. The room was fully dark and all the lights were switched off before I decided to also turn in the for the night.

I may have been asleep for an hour, maybe more when I suddenly woke up to a very bright light. I was in a daze and thought maybe it was morning. It took another second to realize that the pot light on my side had been fully turned on and that the light on my boyfriend's side was also switched on, but not as brightly. I quickly turned the dimmer switches for both lights and told my boyfriend the lights were on. He mumbled something about he's tired and I should sleep. I was in too much shock to wake him further. Unfortunately my mobile phone which is almost always beside me was charging in the bathroom so I could not see what time it was.

I grabbed the sheets and held on to a pillow, and forced myself to think nothing of it. I was still awake when I felt the blanket pull ever so slightly on my side. I know it could not have been my boyfriend as he was on the other side and there was no air in the room apart from the A/C which hummed quietly in the background. I don't know how but I forced myself to forget about it. I could not even open my eyes and look around the room as I was afraid I would see something I did not want to.

After a long sleepless night, morning finally came and I was relieved to see my boyfriend was awake. I told him of the story and he asked me if I was sure I turned off the lights. I assured him yes and reminded him that the lights were already off when he fell asleep. I also showed him that the light on my side was now fully functional despite it not working the night before. He could not believe that I managed to sleep through it all as he would have been terrified if it happened to him. I told him I realized how people must feel in that situation where they just will themselves to forget about it as I could not even bring myself to leave the bed, let alone leave the room.

During breakfast, he asked the hotel staff if any such occurrence with the lights had happened before, to which the concierge said no. He also said he would check the room for us to see if there was an issue with the lights. We were due to check out that morning so we returned to our room and packed up. On our way out, the door which never closed by itself and would stay ajar unless one were to push or pull it gently, closed firmly before our eyes. We looked at each other and got in the hotel elevator.

Curious whether the renovation had something to do with all the activity, I asked another guy at the front desk how old the building was. He said it was originally built in 1974 but had been under constant renovation for a while. I am convinced this construction had brought on the haunting. I also noticed there was a photo in the hotel lobby of the building before renovation.

We are now in Salvador, Bahia and I am still wondering about the ghost in Ipanema. As I write this, I have to remind myself that it's unlikely the ghost followed me and that the noises I hear in the room are just exterior noises of the old house which was now converted into a hotel. I really liked the hotel we stayed at in Ipanema but I doubt I will set foot in room 401 again.