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The 1891 Castle Inn of New Orleans

1539 4th Street, New Orleans, LA (888) 826-0540

When we first took over the 1891 Castle Inn in 1998, we had no idea we would be sharing our mansion with spirits -- at least the non flammable kind. When one of our staff repeatedly reported seeing a male apparition standing by the window in Room 11, we did not quite believe it. Then, when guests reported strange occurrences taking place fairly regularly, we began to think that there might be something to it.

Intrigued and bewildered, we went to the previous owners and asked if they had ever encountered anything out of the ordinary. They claimed they had not.

Our guests and employees reported strange and unexplained encounters: Objects moving by themselves, electric lights and appliances turning on and off on their own, unexplained sounds, lots of footsteps, water faucets turning on and off in empty bathrooms, and brief glimpses of a "transluscent man" standing in corners and on the front porch late at night. Cool. This is the kind of stuff that makes you question precepts of reality and mortality. We are now pretty much believers although Andy is still waiting for the penny to creep up the door by itself. Whoopee!

What we have learned about our spirits is the result of several ghost researchers' "readings" and testimonials of our guests, visitors and staff. Here is what we think we have: two ghosts -- perhaps more. Dates and names seem to be hard to nail down, but based on the "facts," both of our ghosts left this material world at least 100 years ago -- and probably even longer.

Our first ghost was a paid servant, a horse carriage driver, who acted as a gentleman's gentleman. He was a very light skinned black man who spoke several languages, loved the ladies, loved music, drank far too much, smoked and was quite the prankster. Sadly he accidentally killed himself in a smoky fire set either through smoking in bed or by knocking over a heating pot. He was so drunk he did not wake and suffocated to death. His spirit remains in our mansion because it chooses to. After all, he always believed that his rightful place was in the main mansion and not in the servant's quarters. He is the one responsible for the coughing and whistling heard in the hallways, objects moving or being hidden (ask about the receipts in the microwave) and is the "transluscent man" often seen in mirrors or briefly seen out of the corner of guest's eyes. He loves to play with radios, televisions, ceiling fans, and lights. If you can't find an object in your room, look in a drawer or in a place where you would not leave it. (Like the guests who, upon checking out, could not find the receipts of the past four days of shopping and travel which the husband had collected in his wallet. His wife found them all in the microwave after they searched the room from top to bottom.)

Our second ghost is a little girl who drowned in a small pond on the former grounds of the local plantation before it was subdivided to make room for a rapidly growing New Orleans. She was wearing a white dress and was barefoot at the time. She wanders the neighborhood in search of her mother and is a frequent visitor to the Castle Inn. She is the one responsible for water turning on and off, women being touched on the leg (as if brushed by a cat), beds bouncing up and down (as if your kid were trying to wake you up for pancakes on Sunday morning) and little bare feet running up and down hallways.

All of our guests indicated that they were not frightened by their encounters, just perplexed and bemused.

Karen Bacharach

Owner

Hotel website | Hotel Reviews

Check in and tell us at if you have a story. Let us know if we can post it on the site.

If you do go, tell them you found them on AllStays!

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