Why some hotels skip the 13th Floor
Well, most of the hotels miss number 13, either in terms of floors or hotel room. They skip number 13 and go straight to number 14 or even 12A when numbering the floors. This also applies to other large buildings. This is due to several factors as listed below. Why Some Hotels Skip the 13th Floor
Fear of Number 13: Triskaidekaphobia
Triskaidekaphobia is a severe fear of number 13. People with this condition show symptoms of acute fear when they encounter or face the object of their fear. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, difficulty breathing, fast heartbeat, sweating and panic. Skipping the 13th floor in hotels helps patrons with the disorder Triskaidekaphobia if they are in elevators or rooms on number 13.
Superstition and 13
It is believed that fear of the number 13 dates back to one of the earliest written texts – the Code of Hammurabi. Also known as the Babylonian code of law. The story goes that the writers of the code left out the 13th law on the list. However, the list has no numbers. Nonetheless, superstitious fear of the number 13 did crop up. The number 13 may have been bad in early religions. Some say Loki was the 13th Norse god. However, the superstition was not blatant until the 17th century.
History of the Matter
When skyscrapers started being built around 1885, it was rare for a hotel or other building be more than 12 stories high. That’s because superstitious builders thought that omitting the 13th and subsequent floors would increase street congestion and ominous shadows, and lower property values. Eventually, someone convinced them that it was OK to build taller buildings, but the lack of a 13th floor persisted.
Judas
In Christianity, Judas Iscariot, the 13th of Jesus’s 12 disciples at the Last Supper, was said to have betrayed Jesus. So again, 13 = badness.
Why Some Hotels Skip the 13th Floor, is it Everywhere
Not at all. It all depends on where you are, how much faith society has put into the superstitions above, and how much they cater to people who buy into the superstitions.
Chinese Number 4.
Source: Wikipedia
The number 4 is considered an unlucky number in Chinese because it is nearly homophonous to the word “death”. Some buildings in East Asia omit floors and room numbers containing 4, similar to the Western practice of some buildings not having a 13th floor because 13 is considered unlucky. Where East Asian and Western cultures blend, such as in Hong Kong, it is possible in some buildings that the thirteenth floor along with all the floors with 4s to be omitted. Thus, a building whose top floor is numbered 100 would, in fact, have just eighty-one floors.
