Haunted houses aren't just for Hallow's Eve. If you're a paranormal expert, a ghost hunter, or just a curious guest hoping to catch a glimpse of the unexplained, you have got to experience these haunted hotels in Denver! But beware...reports of phantom footsteps, ghost pianos, and unexplained apparitions abound!
1. The Oxford Hotel
Denver's oldest boutique hotel now has top notch amenities and a luxury spa, but it also has a few skeletons in its closets. In 1898 in Room 320, Florence Montague shot and killed her lover before turning the gun on herself, and ever since, male guests have reported sheets being ripped off their beds or limbs being tugged by unseen forces in the night. Bartenders also tell tales of an old postal worker who orders a beer, mumbles, "the children, I have to get the gifts to the children," and leaves. Research reveals that in the 1930s, the remains of a postal worker delivering Christmas gifts to kids in Central City were found along the road - gifts and all. Now that's creepy.
2. The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa
The Brown Palace opened its doors in 1892 and has remained a fixture in Downtown Denver since then, but many unsettling stories have surfaced throughout the years about self-operating lights, falling liquor bottles, and ghost musicians. There have also been rumors of a man wearing an old-fashioned railroad cap who mysteriously disappears into the hotel walls when approached by the living.
3. The Lumber Baron Mystery Mansion
This Queen Anne Victorian style mansion was the site of the 1970 unsolved murder of two young women, and stories of paranormal activity have circulated since their untimely deaths, including windows opening and closing, furniture moving across rooms, and unexplained cold spots around the property. But perhaps most disturbing are the strange voices, phantom footsteps, and visions of a woman in a flapper style dress clutching a glass of champagne, floating through the room trailed by a cold rush of air. And if that's not spooky enough, the pyramid-shaped roof of the third floor is said to be a portal to another dimension. Check out their Haunted House Hunt Mystery Dinner and find out!
4. The Patterson Historic Inn (Formerly Croke Patterson Mansion )
Today the Patterson Historic Inn has been transformed into an elegant bed and breakfast, but during the renovation process strange occurrences began to happen. In the 1970s, construction workers reported that after a solid days work, they would return to the job site in the morning to find it in complete disarray. Assuming that it was a group of vandals, they left two guard dogs to secure the property at night, but when they returned, they found the dogs had jumped to their deaths from a third-story window. Rumor has it that there is a little girl buried deep beneath the basement floor whose spirit haunts the old mansion. Stay if you dare! (And check out the documentary "The Castle Project" by filmmaker Brian Higgins to learn more about this spooky structure in Capitol Hill.)
5. The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park
The Stanley Hotel made infamous by Stephen King's novel "The Shining," is not quite in Denver, but since it's recognized as one of America's top haunted hotels, I would be remiss not to mention it. Guests staying in Room 217, where a female employee was blasted through the floor in an explosion, report unusual activity, as do many other rooms in the hotel. Tales of moving items, lights with a mind of their own, phantom sounds of children playing in hallways, and the ghostly tickling of the ivories in empty ballrooms can be quite disconcerting. Can you handle it?!
Ready to pack your bags and set out on a ghostly adventure!? Are there any haunted hotels in Denver that we missed? Let us know in the comments below.
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