An oil of Bernardo de Galvez anchors the haunted corridor at Hotel Galvez.
My favorite nearby get-away is Galveston, Texas (TroysArt – Gung Ho on Galveston); and without question my favorite hotel on the island is Hotel Galvez (Troysart – The art of escape, the Hotel Galvez). This week I visited with Lake Charles gal-pal Courtenay Deats Guillory. And for as many times as I have visited the Galvez, this was the first time I ever heard of paranormal occurrences. That is how Court and I ended up chasing ghosts at Hotel Galvez.
According to concierge Melissa Hall the most notorious spirit haunting the halls is a bride-to-be named Audra who stayed in room 501 in the 1950s. When her beau’s ship was due into port she would ascend one of the eight story turrets at the center of the façade and watch for it. Shortly after a serious storm Audra heard that her fiancé’s ship had gone down. In despair she hanged herself in the west turret. A few days later her mariner appeared at the hotel very much alive.
A ghostly face in room 501, courtesy of Hotel Galvez.
Room 501, an ocean view king room, is the most requested at the Galvez—it is considered the most haunted. Pamela from Restaurant Operations tells us that she has known couples to flee the hotel in the middle of the night because of weird occurrences in the room.
A 10-year old child staying with his father in room 501 a few years back captured a photograph of the ghost. In the photo provided by the hotel we can make out a fully formed face peering down through the partition between the shower and sink. “He is quite the little ghost hunter,” says Melissa.
And a medium from Baytown took a photo showing a fully formed male and female ghost lying in bed.
The west loggia, where an oil painting of Bernardo de Galvez anchors the wing, is rife with paranormal activity. Occasionally women are scared out of their wits in the Ladies’ Room; and multiple sightings and weird photographs occur in the Music Hall.
Melissa not only gave Courtenay and me a private tour of the wing but also let us borrow a Ghost Meter to alert us of paranormal manifestations.
Courtenay Deats Guillory found a ghost at Hotel Galvez.
Late in the evening with Ghost Meter and scotch rocks in hand, Courtenay and I snuck up to the 5th floor to wave the meter around. We got nothing near room 501 but rounding the corner the meter went off and the ice machine emptied a load of cubes onto the floor four feet away! Perhaps Audra was offering to freshen our drinks?
The trick, we’re told, to finding a spirit or an orb in a photo is to take a variety of shots and blow them up on a full-size computer screen–sometimes they are not visible on a small device like a phone. We did have one photograph with a weird foggy presence. Could it have been a ghost?
Hotel Galvez concierge Melissa Hall explaining paranormal activity in the Music Hall.
“Our monthly ghost tours are the 2nd Thursday of each month,” explained Melissa, “with overnight rates starting at $229.” That rate also includes valet parking, the ghost tour, and a three-course meal. Participants can also opt for the tour only for $45.
But don’t be afraid! All who offered stories agree on one point: none of the spirits roaming the corridors of the hotel are malicious.
The staff of the Galvez is one of the friendliest and most accommodating I have ever encountered. So even though the weather is chilly and windy, there is still plenty to do at the hotel and on the island.