On the shores of Galveston lies one of the most notorious haunted hotels in all of Texas, Hotel Galvez. Built in 1911, the hotel was built on the site where the Beach Hotel, Electric Pavilion, and Pagoda Bathhouse once stood and it quickly became known as the “Playground of the Southwest” for upper class tourists. The hotel still stands today and is a hot spot for adventurous tourists.
The hotel is known for an assortment of ghosts, including the following:
- The ghost of Audra (aka “The Lovelorn Lady”) is seen primarily in room 501, but there are reports of her throughout the entire fifth floor. Audra was engaged to a mariner who frequently sailed out of the port of Galveston, and she would stay in room 501 while he was away. Word came that his ship sank on his most recent voyage. Audra was heartbroken and fell into a depression, which ultimately lead her to suicide.
- Ghosts of victims from the 1900 hurricane that swept across the island, killing over 6,000 people and destroying almost everything in site. The most common are the ghost of Sister Katherine and the 90 children that perished when the hurricane destroyed St. Mary’s Orphanage. The orphanage previously stood where the Hotel Galvez is located today. The Children were said to have been tied via cloth to the sisters to try to keep them alive, yet this ultimately failed. If seen, the ghosts are tied to one another and follow each other around the halls.
- The music hall has had glasses fly off of tables, and people have witnessed groups of women in Victorian style dresses wandering the room. It is unknown who the ghosts are or their motives.
- It is said that Bernardo de Galvez (for whom the hotel is named after) haunts the Hotel Galvez himself in the form of a portrait painting. Some say that they can feel the eyes on the painting watching them as they walk by and a strange sense of being chilled overtakes you as you approach the painting.
- A woman crying in stall #3 in the woman’s bathroom next to the Spa. Thought to be Audra, a ghost mourning the loss of her fiance moments before she killed herself.
Nowadays, the hotel markets itself on modern elegance whilst still keeping its haunting past for tourists looking to step out of their comfort zone.
To see the hotel’s official website, click here and to learn more about the hotel’s spooky past, click here.