Haunted? 
You be the judge! 

What seemed to be a pretty normal Saturday night was anything but normal.  It was a rather balmy December evening two years ago with a forecast for thunderstorms rolling in just after midnight.  I had just finished my regular routine of checking doors, turning down lights, etc. before retiring to the innkeeper’s quarters for the night.  I could tell the winds were picking up and it had begun to rain.  It was at this moment that what sounded like a women’s scream sent cold chills up and down my spine.  As I was stepping into the hall, I thought perhaps it was a cat until I looked up and saw the blood soaked figure.  Just joking, sometimes my imagination gets the best of me.  However, as the owners of this hotel since 2004, we have had a few experiences both first hand and reported by guests.  If walls could talk, I’m sure we could write a book.  The following are just some of the experiences reported by guests, staff and others over the past couple of years. 

 

The Story:  Room 19 is the room to request - or avoid - since it has been the location of several occurrences.  A guest, feeling uneasy, awoke in the middle of the night to find a women standing at the foot of the bed looking at her.  The guest indicated that she was never scared or even startled.  When she reached over to turn on the night light her visitor vanished.  And There's More:  Another guest in this room reported that she had very carefully hung several items of clothing in the closet prior to going to bed only to find them on the floor in the morning hangers and all.  However, the clothes bar was perfectly intact as if someone had purposely laid them on the floor during the night.

 

The Story:  Prior to our purchase of the hotel, a gentleman had been a permanent residence here for the prior twelve years.  Ten of those years had been spent in a tiny third floor room that looked like a horrible crime scene due to the nicotine that oozed down the walls from cigarette smoke (renovated but now used as a maintenance room).  His last two years were spent in Room 13 which he occupied up to the day of closing.  All of the permanent residents were to vacate the property prior to closing per our contract since we were planning on renovating the building and taking the business in a different direction.  The prior owners had made other living arrangements for the gentleman but in a haste of anger, he literally just walked away.  Leaving everything he owned in his room and never returning for it.  Several local residents knew the man and reported that he was seen walking to Granbury.  He passed away within the year and it is thought that he returns on occasion to the hotel.

The Haunting:  Periodically, cigarette smoke can be smelled only for an instance in various places in the hotel but most often in the back lobby.  Yet, the hotel has a very strict no smoking policy and none of the staff smokes.  “Stinky” as he is affectionately known for his smoking propensity is suspected of being the source of these periodic smells.  I wonder if third hand smoke smell has been studied by the Surgeon General.

 

The Story:  The hotel, built in the 1920s, originally had guest rooms with no bathrooms.  Modernization later put a shared bathroom between many of the guest rooms.  However, some guests may have suitemates that they were unaware of.

The Haunting:  Several guests have reported toiletry items being moved are falling in their bathrooms after very specifically placing and even replacing them to have it happen again.  Our guests don’t seem to mind sharing a bathroom as long as it is not with another “paying” guest per say.

 

The Story:  One early afternoon, my wife and I were in the lobby when a man from the carpet company came bolting down the stairs and out the front door without saying a word.  He got in his truck and left without returning for several days.  After contacting the carpet company to find out what was going on we were informed that he had been frightened by a ghost and would return next week with a crew so he would not be alone. 

The Haunting:  Upon returning (with a half dozen men), he informed us that every time he would set a tool down it would be across the room or in the hall when he turned back to retrieve it.  After this happened several times, he got scared of the “phantasmo” as he called it and left.  Don’t worry, most of our rooms have wood floors.

 

The Story:  December 2006, the hotel was going to be on the historic home tour and was to be decorated for Christmas.  As my wife and mother-n-law began to unpack boxes of decorations, they saw a white flash fly across the room toward the check-n-counter.  Both women looked to discover that the miniature wagon train that sits on the mantel above the fireplace and flown across the room.  Apparently, either something was not a fan of Christmas decorations or couldn’t wait to get them up and was clearing a spot.  To this day, the wagon train sits peacefully on the mantel.  And There's More:  The next week during the actual home tour, a college professor from the DFW area who had spent hours admiring the hotel earlier in the day insisted that we had spirits in the hotel.  She very emphatically reassured me that they were here but not to worry because they were very friendly and gave guests a “warm feeling” as they entered the building.  She also told me that they were very pleased with the work we had done to the hotel?

 

The Story:  The hotel had a bar for many years prior to our ownership and may have a few patrons who don’t seem to want to leave. As the story goes, there have been more than one shooting in the hotel over the years with several taking place in the front lobby in the vicinity of the bar. 

The Haunting: Occasionally, a cold chill can be felt in this area and guests have reported the hair standing up on the back of their neck.

 

The Story:  The downtown historic district and perhaps this hotel is also home to a few other guests.

The Haunting:  Reports are that over the years a number of people have drowned in the Paluxy River which runs behind the hotel.  Some are thought to still wander the area on occasion.

The Haunting:  On occasion, the sound of running (usually several people) can be heard in the hallway late at night, even when the hotel is empty.  After investigating the first couple of times to find nothing, we don’t even respond now unless we have guests to make sure it’s not the paying guests doing the running.

The Haunting:  Room 29 also has semi-regular reports of items moving such as hair brushes, tooth paste, etc.  It is usually women’s cosmetics that seem to be relocated so maybe we have a chauvinist. However, this room is a third floor suite that has not been used as much as the second floor rooms.  Maybe there’s a reason this room was not used by the prior owner’s????

 

The Story:  …..tell us yours!

 Other: 

Paranormal investigators briefly visited the hotel this summer and are scheduled to come back in the winter for a full investigation when the hotel can be empty.  They seemed to be particularly interested in the basement which I haven’t even mentioned since it is not accessible to the public.  We’ll keep you posted on any new stories as they occur.