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SPOOKY EXPERIENCES AT NO EXTRA CHARGE

By Madelyn Miller

Looking to have a ghostly good time? Try checking into one of these historic hotels where you may meet some "guests" that will make your stay even more memorable. Members of Historic Hotels of America, a collection of more than 125 historically significant hotels, have hosted the great,  the obscure and everyone in between. Offering a blend of architecture, history and service, it is no wonder that some guests just don't want to leave the historic hotel.

TALES OF UNREQUITED LOVE

If you check into room 3502 at the grand Hotel del Coronado in Coronado, Calif., you might share a room with Kate Morgan. In 1892, the young Mrs. Morgan checked into the hotel to meet her estranged husband for the Thanksgiving holidays. To her dismay, he never showed.  Several days later, Kate's body was found on the hotel steps leading to the ocean. Since her tragic death, witnesses have been puzzled by odd noises, spirited breezes, strange faces and the ghostly figure of a young lady dressed in a black lace dress.

Parapsychologist Christopher Chacon describes room 3502 as a "classic haunting." Using infrared cameras to track magnetic fields, humidity, temperature fluctuations and electronic emissions, he found 37 abnormalities in one day. Could it be that she is still waiting for her husband?

"Time is infinite. I wait for you by our fountain . . . to share our timeless love, our destiny is time."  Thomas Rowe received this note upon the death of his beloved Lucinda. The two met in the 1890s when Rowe was studying in Europe. Lucinda's parents forbade the relationship and the forlorn Rowe returned to America. For years his letters to her were returned unopened.

In 1925, Rowe built the Don CeSar Beach Resort and Spa in St. Pete Beach, Florida. The lobby of the hotel included a replica of the courtyard and fountain where Rowe and Lucinda used to meet. Although the fountain no longer exists, employees at the Don CeSar tell tales of seeing a couple who suddenly appear walking hand-in-hand in the hotel and then disappearing.

One night after an argument with her husband, Sallie White, a chambermaid at The Menger Hotel in San Antonio, stayed at the hotel presumably with another man. The next day her husband threatened to kill her. On March 28, 1876, Sallie was attacked by her husband and died two days later. The hotel paid for the funeral cost of $32, as recorded in the hotel ledger. Legend has it that Sallie White still roams the halls of the Victorian wing of the hotel. A few years ago, a guest wanted extra towels. He opened the door of his room and called out to a maid who ignored him. The guest called the front desk to inquire why the maid was so rude. He described the maid and her uniform -- one that was worn in the late 1800s, about the time of Sallie's employment at the hotel.

The "Lady in Green" is said to walk the Hall of Mirrors and Mezzanine level of the Omni Netherland Plaza in Cincinnati. Several construction workers reported seeing the "Lady" during the hotel's 1983 renovation. According to legend, her husband, a hotel laborer, was killed in the construction of the hotel in 1930. His body was never found and his wife, the "Lady in Green," spends her restless nights searching for him.

On May 7, 1928, 22-year-old Leone Jensen ended her life by jumping off the roof of the seven-story San Carlos Hotel in Phoenix. Dressed in an evening gown as if she planned a night of dancing, Jensen died heartbroken from the lost love of a bellboy at a nearby hotel. Since her death, there have been reports of strange breezes, haunting noises and the white cloud of a woman's figure.

PRESIDENTIAL INFLUENCES

Escaping the heat of Washington, D.C., Mary Todd Lincoln and her children spent two summers at The Equinox in Manchester Village, Vt.  The family planned to return the summer of 1865, but plans changed following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The family's ties to the area continued and strengthened with son Robert Todd Lincoln's  purchase of neighboring estate Hildene.  Employees at the hotel report seeing images on the third floor of a woman and a child that are consistent with descriptions of Mary Todd Lincoln and one of her sons. Perhaps through their visits they are trying to recapture the are free days of those summers.

The Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. hosted its first Inaugural Ball, honoring Calvin Coolidge, on March 4, 1925, just two weeks after the hotel opened.  Mourning his sixteen-year-old son's tragic death from blood poisoning, the president did not attend the ball.

In 1937, Inauguration Day was changed to January 20.  The hotel has since experienced unusual occurrences on January 20. In the Grand Ballroom, the lights seem to dim and flicker around 10:00 p.m. It was at this hour that the fanfare announced the guests of honor at President Coolidge's Inaugural Ball. The electrical circuits have been checked by experts who can find nothing wrong.  Hotel staff have reported finding a plate of exquisite hors d'oeuvres along with a glass of fine wine left in the Grand Ballroom balcony. Strangely, neither item was served at any function on that day. One elevator refuses to move from the eighth floor to the lobby level until 10:15 p.m. This is the approximate time the President would have arrived from his holding room to the ball.

Knowing that he missed his Inaugural Ball at the Renaissance Mayflower, perhaps "Silent Cal" Coolidge is making up for that historical evening and attending, in spirit, each January 20.

EXECUTIVES RETURN

Guests at Georgia's Jekyll Island Club Hotel have been surprised to find their coffee sipped and morning paper read. It certainly isn't due to a lack of service or hospitality.

Each morning at this exclusive hunt club, Samuel Spencer, president of the Southern Railroad Company, insisted the Wall Street Journal be delivered to his room.  For years, it was his ritual to drink a cup of coffee while scanning the paper.  In 1906, he was killed instantly in a train accident.  For years, club members and hotel guests who occupied Spencer's room, have found copies of their newspaper disturbed, moved or folded in their absence.  Coffee cups have been mysteriously poured or "sipped on" when guests returned from the shower or a brief outing.

Charles Pfister, founder of The Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, still visits to ensure that his guests are well taken care of at his century-old "Grand Hotel of the West." A "visitor" has been spotted surveying the lobby from the grand staircase, strolling the minstrel's gallery above the ballroom, and passing through the ninth floor storage area. He is always described in roughly the same terms: "older," "portly," "smiling," and "well-dressed."

Upon seeing a portrait of Pfister, witnesses swore that it was the man they had seen. If this visitor is Charles Pfister, then he is a most welcome guest indeed.

Hotel Jerome, Aspen, Colorado
In recent years, a woman reported seeing a lost, shivering and soaking-wet boy in room 310.  When a member of the hotel's staff arrived to help the boy, he had vanished, leaving only wet footprints.  At the time, no children were registered at the hotel.  Legend has it that a child drowned in the hotel's original swimming pool.  Room 310 is located in an addition built over the site of the original pool.

Le Pavillon, New Orleans
Widely known for boisterous Bourbon Street and the merriment of Mardi Gras, New Orleans is also home to a special mix of spirituality and superstition.  Le Pavillon, a New Orleans landmark that dates to 1907, hired a paranormal research team to study the otherworldly visitors at the hotel.  The group of psychics, parapsychologists and paranormal investigators identified the overwhelming aura of a frightened and confused teenaged girl.  They believe that she lived during the 1840s and is possibly named Eva, Ava or Ada.  It appears that she was preparing to embark on a ship when she was struck by a carriage and died from the resulting internal injuries.  Their report also indicates the presence of a young aristocratic couple from the 1920s and a dark-suited man from the same era who is reputed to play pranks on the hotel cleaning crew.

Wayside Inn, Middletown, Virginia
Guests and employees at the Wayside Inn in Middletown, Virginia, report seeing images of Civil War veterans in the lobby.  During the Civil War, the area was occupied by soldiers from both the North and the South and the inn served as a hospital.  Reports range from seeing outlined figures of soldiers in blue and gray uniforms to hearing footsteps and someone talking.  These friendly sightings add to the inn's historic charm.

Radisson Suite Hotel, Ogden, Utah
The elevator stops at floors where no buttons have been pushed.  The front desk receives call from room 1106 -- when no one is staying in that room. The telephone line goes dead. The spirit causing these pranks is believed to belong to a woman who stayed at the hotel in the 1940s. She was awaiting word of a son injured in World War II. The son died and the woman returned home. Apparently her spirit is back for an extended stay

Historic Hotels such as these offer an intriguing twist to the typical hotel visit.

Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  HHA has identified 128 hotels that have faithfully maintained their historic integrity, architecture and ambience.  To be selected for this prestigious program, a hotel must be at least 50 years old, listed in or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places or recognized as having historic significance.

A directory of member hotels can be purchased for $3 by sending a heck to Historic Hotels of America, National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1785 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C.  20036.

Rooms at any of the member hotels can be reserved by calling 800-678-8946.  When reservations are made through this number, a portion of the cost is returned to the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Historic Hotels of America web address  http://historichotels.nationaltrust.org

Reservations telephone number is 800-678-8946.

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