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Hilda, I think Dawnski is doing a haunted hotel theme next year, if you haven't seen her work check out the Universal Monster thread, she's amazing.
My Haunted Hotel theme party for 2013
Hi All,
I wanted to document the progress of creating my Haunted Hotel theme for my indoor party this year and have a place to request feedback as I progress in this journey. My normal setting for the party each year is that of an old, decaying house/mansion but I thought about mixing it up this year, a little. With inspiration from previous Haunted Hotels found here, I made the decision that this would be the easiest in order to use a lot of my existing decorations.f
As a save the date message, I sent out hotel reservation confirmation notes to each party guest and included a small key (looked old world and picked up from Michaels) that was attached to a key tag that contained the date and time of the party. I attached tiny magnets to the key tag so they could be mounted to the fridge or such.
I've been buying vintage pieces (hotel desk bell, letter holder, cathedral radio, etc.) to set the tone of a 40's hotel but yesterday (Saturday) was the first day I have had the opportunity to actually work on the project. My house has a large "front room" which contains the foyer, living room, and dinning room all as one big open space. This is where I usually spend most of the time setting the scene for my party. The foyer will become the check in area, the living room will be the lobby extended, and the dinning room will serve as the "lounge" where the party buffet is set. These rooms will be the only areas where the hotel theme is prominent and the music will only be 40's music coming out of the repro cathedral radio. The remainder of the house and the outdoor deck and patio have seasonal decor for Halloween but don't speak specifically to the hotel theme.
Here is the current progress on the check in desk in the foyer. The desk and columns are simply made of foam insulation board covered in wood grain-look contact paper. I still plan to add some type of small lights to the front of each column and add dust and cob-webs to both the desk and the props. Any and all comments are welcome!! I'll go on to put a pile of luggage, my zombie bell hop, and my 6 foot tall metal knight in this area to complete the look.
![Furniture Hardwood Wood stain Wood Desk]()
![Furniture Shelf Hardwood Wood Wood stain]()
![Furniture Mirror Dresser Room Table]()
![Room Furniture Table Bedroom Sewing machine]()
I wanted to document the progress of creating my Haunted Hotel theme for my indoor party this year and have a place to request feedback as I progress in this journey. My normal setting for the party each year is that of an old, decaying house/mansion but I thought about mixing it up this year, a little. With inspiration from previous Haunted Hotels found here, I made the decision that this would be the easiest in order to use a lot of my existing decorations.f
As a save the date message, I sent out hotel reservation confirmation notes to each party guest and included a small key (looked old world and picked up from Michaels) that was attached to a key tag that contained the date and time of the party. I attached tiny magnets to the key tag so they could be mounted to the fridge or such.
I've been buying vintage pieces (hotel desk bell, letter holder, cathedral radio, etc.) to set the tone of a 40's hotel but yesterday (Saturday) was the first day I have had the opportunity to actually work on the project. My house has a large "front room" which contains the foyer, living room, and dinning room all as one big open space. This is where I usually spend most of the time setting the scene for my party. The foyer will become the check in area, the living room will be the lobby extended, and the dinning room will serve as the "lounge" where the party buffet is set. These rooms will be the only areas where the hotel theme is prominent and the music will only be 40's music coming out of the repro cathedral radio. The remainder of the house and the outdoor deck and patio have seasonal decor for Halloween but don't speak specifically to the hotel theme.
Here is the current progress on the check in desk in the foyer. The desk and columns are simply made of foam insulation board covered in wood grain-look contact paper. I still plan to add some type of small lights to the front of each column and add dust and cob-webs to both the desk and the props. Any and all comments are welcome!! I'll go on to put a pile of luggage, my zombie bell hop, and my 6 foot tall metal knight in this area to complete the look.
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G Host Manor Inn Outdoor Haunted Hotel
Unfortunately don't have many photos to share, but my outdoor haunted hotel setting was called "G. Host Manor Inn" (I set up the day of Halloween and take down that night). The owner/proprietor of the hotel was George Host, abbreviated to G HOST to reflect it was occupied by ghosts. Anyway George was a dog lover in his past and present life, and I used a skeleton with top hat to represent him (had planned to dress him in a tux prop but hubby liked him as a skeleton) and used the GrandinRoad skeleton dog prop as his dog. As the kids approached the courtyard they saw signage identifying the proprietor who was shown in a lenticular photograph (photo from either 99 Cent Only Store, Dollar Tree or Target's Dollar Bin). I displayed the sign with one of those easels I had from HomeGoods for artwork. Since I was cheap about it, I only bought one box of lettering, and unfortunately ended up with too few "Gs" for my sign--couldn't spell out George's name in full or instead say something like "with one of his dogs". I like using the lettering so will probably pick up another set during the year.
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My front desk was a metal bakers rack set up for the essentials: vintage phone, vintage looking desk bell, wilting Roses vase prop, hotel keys, some photos of past guests. Would have liked to have done a different desk set up but that didn't happen. The front desk area also had some drapery. I had figured out how to suspend the haunted chandelier which was to go in the Front Desk area but it got too late the night before halloween to set up and I was going to need my husband's help due to the height and being a 2-person job to suspend. Really had wanted that up this year. The haunted duster was dusting the baker's rack countertop and the haunted vacuum (Cracker Barrel) was cleaning the Front Desk area.
At the Fountain in our courtyard we had set up several dining tables and positioned George at one of them. Tables were covered with some halloween spider web fabric I had bought from Joann's. Hubby actually liked the tablecloth idea which was surprising. I didn't agree with this but hubby moved George's table further away from the fountain because it was more out of the wind, and he offered to sit outside all night to guard the skeleton and dog props while handing out candy (skeleton was zip tied to the chair but the dog we didn't have time to do an "anti-theft leash").
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I will have to come back and post a photo of my directory (above). The one I took that night was too blurry and I haven't packed that sign away yet. I used those white plastic letters pushed into black foam board from Dollar Tree and encased in a Dollar Tree 11x14 frame. It was mounted to a pole and set out near the driveway. I unfortunately never got around to doing the elevator (with or without the severed hand stuck in between the doors). The hotel rooms were a Scene Setter of a vintage hotel wing and was affixed to the garage door and flanked by faux potted plants. I never got around to finishing the hotel name sign and was kind of bummed about this. I did put the name of the hotel on the directory though to make up for it.
I used Dminor's Rona Ghost Maid projection, big hit, in the hotel room above the main garage. Got lots of comments from the kids as well as some parents. One of our other hotel rooms visible from the street had a ghostly poster prop of a vintage dressed woman holding a baby in her arms. It was black light lit. I was able to suspend my Illusive Concepts Headless Ghost prop behind our water fountain in the courtyard and loved his look. Probably a bit more I could add but that was pretty much it. Oh and GR's Victoria, Stone Lady, Helsa and Stone Man were at the other tables. Can't believe I forgot to get a picture of them. Disappointed I didn't get to pull off the elevator idea I wanted to get done. And I had intended to put a graveyard outside the courtyard area with a tombstone for George (bought two lenticulars of the man and dog photo frame for this purpose) and a tombstone for Bonez. I'm contemplating doing this theme again next year and adding more to it. We'll see. I have another Bonez I could use and two resin dogs who could all be visiting the gravesite, maybe dropping off flowers and bones for the deceased. I'd like to do some foam facade work this coming year and maybe make it a whole yard walk-thru.
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Most importantly I think the kids enjoyed it and it was a nice night here for Halloween.
Unfortunately don't have many photos to share, but my outdoor haunted hotel setting was called "G. Host Manor Inn" (I set up the day of Halloween and take down that night). The owner/proprietor of the hotel was George Host, abbreviated to G HOST to reflect it was occupied by ghosts. Anyway George was a dog lover in his past and present life, and I used a skeleton with top hat to represent him (had planned to dress him in a tux prop but hubby liked him as a skeleton) and used the GrandinRoad skeleton dog prop as his dog. As the kids approached the courtyard they saw signage identifying the proprietor who was shown in a lenticular photograph (photo from either 99 Cent Only Store, Dollar Tree or Target's Dollar Bin). I displayed the sign with one of those easels I had from HomeGoods for artwork. Since I was cheap about it, I only bought one box of lettering, and unfortunately ended up with too few "Gs" for my sign--couldn't spell out George's name in full or instead say something like "with one of his dogs". I like using the lettering so will probably pick up another set during the year.
My front desk was a metal bakers rack set up for the essentials: vintage phone, vintage looking desk bell, wilting Roses vase prop, hotel keys, some photos of past guests. Would have liked to have done a different desk set up but that didn't happen. The front desk area also had some drapery. I had figured out how to suspend the haunted chandelier which was to go in the Front Desk area but it got too late the night before halloween to set up and I was going to need my husband's help due to the height and being a 2-person job to suspend. Really had wanted that up this year. The haunted duster was dusting the baker's rack countertop and the haunted vacuum (Cracker Barrel) was cleaning the Front Desk area.
At the Fountain in our courtyard we had set up several dining tables and positioned George at one of them. Tables were covered with some halloween spider web fabric I had bought from Joann's. Hubby actually liked the tablecloth idea which was surprising. I didn't agree with this but hubby moved George's table further away from the fountain because it was more out of the wind, and he offered to sit outside all night to guard the skeleton and dog props while handing out candy (skeleton was zip tied to the chair but the dog we didn't have time to do an "anti-theft leash").
I will have to come back and post a photo of my directory (above). The one I took that night was too blurry and I haven't packed that sign away yet. I used those white plastic letters pushed into black foam board from Dollar Tree and encased in a Dollar Tree 11x14 frame. It was mounted to a pole and set out near the driveway. I unfortunately never got around to doing the elevator (with or without the severed hand stuck in between the doors). The hotel rooms were a Scene Setter of a vintage hotel wing and was affixed to the garage door and flanked by faux potted plants. I never got around to finishing the hotel name sign and was kind of bummed about this. I did put the name of the hotel on the directory though to make up for it.
I used Dminor's Rona Ghost Maid projection, big hit, in the hotel room above the main garage. Got lots of comments from the kids as well as some parents. One of our other hotel rooms visible from the street had a ghostly poster prop of a vintage dressed woman holding a baby in her arms. It was black light lit. I was able to suspend my Illusive Concepts Headless Ghost prop behind our water fountain in the courtyard and loved his look. Probably a bit more I could add but that was pretty much it. Oh and GR's Victoria, Stone Lady, Helsa and Stone Man were at the other tables. Can't believe I forgot to get a picture of them. Disappointed I didn't get to pull off the elevator idea I wanted to get done. And I had intended to put a graveyard outside the courtyard area with a tombstone for George (bought two lenticulars of the man and dog photo frame for this purpose) and a tombstone for Bonez. I'm contemplating doing this theme again next year and adding more to it. We'll see. I have another Bonez I could use and two resin dogs who could all be visiting the gravesite, maybe dropping off flowers and bones for the deceased. I'd like to do some foam facade work this coming year and maybe make it a whole yard walk-thru.
Most importantly I think the kids enjoyed it and it was a nice night here for Halloween.
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Thanks guys. I added the Directory photo above. Had cobwebs hanging off it for Halloween and a crow sitting on top. I had a lot of fun pulling things together for this theme and loved all the inspiration I got from this thread.
BTW I used one of those Tiki brand cast iron tiki pole stands for anchoring and supporting my pole signage. Had my elevator gotten made in time, I was going to use two more of the tiki bases to support the poles for the roped off area. Bought a few when Orchard Supply Hardware was closing out of them and then cleared out Walmart's remaining supply this past summer when they had summer items on sale for more than half off. Worked well for the Hotel Directory. When I originally bought them, I planned to use them to hold static props or jungle torches for Halloween. Plus they do double duty during the summer with tiki torches in the landscaping. Not really something you notice but thought I'd mention in case anyone else is looking for supports similar to this.
BTW I used one of those Tiki brand cast iron tiki pole stands for anchoring and supporting my pole signage. Had my elevator gotten made in time, I was going to use two more of the tiki bases to support the poles for the roped off area. Bought a few when Orchard Supply Hardware was closing out of them and then cleared out Walmart's remaining supply this past summer when they had summer items on sale for more than half off. Worked well for the Hotel Directory. When I originally bought them, I planned to use them to hold static props or jungle torches for Halloween. Plus they do double duty during the summer with tiki torches in the landscaping. Not really something you notice but thought I'd mention in case anyone else is looking for supports similar to this.
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Checking back in here...
we had some frantic days overhere so wasn't able to check in sooner...
no pictures yet but hubbie did some filming in our Haunted Hotel nightof the party
Wanted to share it...it is a tour of the hotelgrounds before all the guests arived...
(It's a silent movie for the most part lol)
Nevermind the not-so-scary-but -rather-funny gohst ...it's just me trying to avoid being caught on camera
Pictures will folloow shortly...now I have to check out what everybody on the forum has been up to
we had some frantic days overhere so wasn't able to check in sooner...
no pictures yet but hubbie did some filming in our Haunted Hotel nightof the party
Wanted to share it...it is a tour of the hotelgrounds before all the guests arived...
(It's a silent movie for the most part lol)
Nevermind the not-so-scary-but -rather-funny gohst ...it's just me trying to avoid being caught on camera
Pictures will folloow shortly...now I have to check out what everybody on the forum has been up to
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3,704 Posts
Frogkid your hotel pics look just fabulous!!! Your whole front desk area is spot on. Do you have a better pic of your bellhop? Your sign turned out nice too. Were you able to get it to light up?
Kirstenoellers your lobby looked terrifying too! I don't think I would ever check in there!
GOS, loved your signage and ghost windows.
Hilda I look forward to seeing your d&d pics next year!
Kirstenoellers your lobby looked terrifying too! I don't think I would ever check in there!
GOS, loved your signage and ghost windows.
Hilda I look forward to seeing your d&d pics next year!
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Great thread. Everyone's hotel themes look killer. Frogkid.................amazing.
Hilda............WOW.
Hilda............WOW.
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Is there a 2014 thread running around that I can't find?
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TRH, forum member dawnski is doing this theme for 2014 and here is her link:
http://www.halloweenforum.com/party...33612-2014-haunted-hotel-halloween-party.html
http://www.halloweenforum.com/party...33612-2014-haunted-hotel-halloween-party.html
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