The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa
Ghost Stories
A few years ago, The Brown Palace Hotel in Denver embarked on an extensive refurbishment of its top two floors. From 1937 to 1986, permanent guests lived in the twenty apartments on these floors. Coincidentally, during the renovation, Julia Kanellos, the hotel's historian, conducted a series of historical tours highlighting the stories of some of those permanent residents. One tale was about Mrs. Louise Crawford Hill who ruled Denver society and lived in room 904 for fifteen years (1940-1955). Soon after the stories about her life and heartbreak over a lost love were recounted on the tours, the hotel's main switchboard began receiving calls from room 904. When the hotel operator answered, there was nothing but static on the line. This was a great mystery because the room was stripped of furniture, lights, wallpaper, carpet and telephones due to the renovation. Kanellos eliminated Mrs. Hill's saga from the tour and the telephone calls from room 904 ceased.
Prior to the main dining room being renamed Ellyngton's the restaurant space at the hotel was known as the San Marco Room, home to big bands and later, the San Marco Strings. One evening, a houseman went to investigate sounds coming from the dining room. Upon entering, he discovered a quartet of formally dressed musicians practicing their music. The houseman was not amused as it was long past closing time. "You're not supposed to be in here," he said. They replied, "Oh, don't worry about us. We live here."
A night-duty engineer encountered a spirit in an old-fashioned train conductor's uniform. The apparition slowly disappeared through the wall of the hotel's former railroad ticket office. Today, a United Airlines ticket office occupies this space.
