Halloween Break At Jersey’s Top Hotel

AT Hallowe’en, Jersey’s leading hotel, Longueville Manor, remembers Anthoine, the wrongly hanged butcher tenant of Longueville’s Cottage, and offers guests a Halloween cocktail to keep at bay the restless spirit of the murderous Hoste Nichole, 17th Century Seigneur of Longueville and Bailiff of Jersey.  

The 14th century Relais & Châteaux hotel’s two-night Hallowe’en Break celebrates one of the Channel Island’s many spooky tales. Back in the 16th century Hoste Nichole wanted Anthoine remove him from Longueville’s Priest House (now The Cottage), so he slaughtered two of his own sheep and planted them on Anthoine, who was found guilty by a court presided over by Nichole in the (hotel’s) Great Hall.  

Anthoine challenged Nichole to appear with him before God three weeks after the day of his hanging. Racked by guilt, Nichole shut himself away and committed suicide on the appointed day. Old Jersey folk say that on the anniversary of Hoste Nichole’s death, the sound of galloping horses taking the Bailiff on his final ride into the abyss can be heard around the Manor.

When Longueville’s current owner, Barbara Lewis, stayed her first night there in 1949, she saw an Elizabethan gentleman cross her bedroom and disappear through a non-existent door.  A refurbishment revealed an old door-frame and sealed-off passage to the next room precisely where the ghost had passed.

Explore the past further on Longueville’s  Hallowe’en Break (October 31 and 31), priced from £230 per person, inclusive of two nights’ half-board accommodation in a luxury double room, a group one hire-car for the duration, afternoon tea each day, service, local taxes and a Halloween cocktail. It is based on two people sharing and subject to availability. Reservations: 01534 725501 or www.longuevillemanor.com. For details of Relais & Chateaux visit this link.

Daily flights to Jersey are available from Channel Islands specialist carrier Blue Islands Airways (www.blueislands.com), British Airways (www.BA.com), easyJet (www.easyjet.com) and FlyBe (www.flybe.com).