PVCC Puma Press: November 2006

Exhausted after a long day’s drive, you arrive at your hotel at 2 a.m. Upon check-in, you lug your overpacked suitcase to the second floor. A long, empty hallway stretches from right to left. Suddenly, you shiver as the air becomes thick and heavy. The feeling of someone watching overwhelms you. You begin to feel panic! Just as suddenly, the feeling dissipates and the hall returns to normal.

A sudden chill is just one example of what you may feel when a ghost passes by, according to Debe Branning, director of Motor Vehicle Division Ghostchasers. Founded in 1995 and based out of Mesa, MVD Ghostchasers draws most of its members from employees or former employees of the State of Arizona Motor Vehicle Division. Branning notes that ghostly encounters are commonplace to travelers visiting Arizona’s haunted hotels.

She explains that the most haunted hotel in Arizona is the Gadsden Hotel in Douglas, because people have seen and heard ghosts many times during their visits there. The hotel does not conduct ghost tours; however, the hotel staff, including Manager Robin Brekhus, is extremely helpful in indulging interested ghost hunters.

Brekhus explains that most guests are curious about the hauntings more than they are intimidated. Brekhus received a spooky tale via e-mail from a past guest of the Gadsden Hotel. The Bakers explain in the e-mail that they were exploring the hotel searching for ghosts and during their search they did not feel or experience anything

However, when they returned home, they found a very peculiar image in the background of one of their photos taken down an empty hall. All members of the family confirmed there was nothing in the hall at the time of the picture; however, a black shadowy figure of what they think was a child showed up in one of the pictures when they reviewed them at home. “What a fun time!” expressed the Bakers. The most famous ghost story of the Gadsden hotel is the story of Pancho Villa, who was a famous Mexican bandit and revolutionary. Branning writes in her book, “Sleeping with Ghosts!” that Villa's head was allegedly stolen by a fraternity that set out to display a famous person’s head in their frat house, sometime in the 1920s. A former owner of the Gadsden Hotel was an acquaintance of the man who stole Villa’s head and denied knowing anything about the crime. The story goes that Villa's decapitated spirit haunts the hotel of this dishonored owner looking for his lost head.

According to Brekhus many ghost stories and experiences can be found in the hotel’s lobby. The hotel keeps a book for guests to record their ghostly encounters during their stay.

The Jerome Grand Hotel is also full of mysterious stories. The hotel used to be a hospital and is currently haunted with past patients who refuse to check out.

Branning writes, “Many unsettling echoes resound throughout the Jerome Grand. There are footsteps heard through the hotel. Squeaky wheels of old hospital carts creak down the halls. Doors open and shut, lights go on and off, and the shadowy figures of doctors brush past you as they hurry down the hall to the third floor operating room.”

As you are making your way to the small mining town of Jerome, you can see the beautiful historic hotel at the top of the mountain. During the Halloween season the hotel is decorated with spooky effects for all visitors who plan to stay overnight or who visit the hotel solely to have lunch or dinner at the Asylum restaurant, located on the first floor.

LaWanda Altherr, a previous manager of the hotel, explains that the hauntings are not advertised to guests. The hotel is only decorated for the Halloween holiday and then returns to its normal status during the off seasons. If guests are pre-informed of the hauntings, the hotel staff is not hesitant to answer any questions they may have. In fact, located on the check-in counter is a book that lists various e-mails from previous guests explaining their ghostly tales.

Altherr referred to Branning’s book displayed in the main lobby to explain her ghost stories. Branning writes that when Altherr began living in the hotel, she would have several visits from a ghostly cat in her room. She would even feel the presence jump up on her bed. Also, Branning explains that at times Altherr would feel a presence sneak up and stand behind her. Sometimes it would even touch her.

During this reporter’s visit, digital photos taken on the fourth floor showed white orbs in several instances. In one section of the hall, after a picture was taken, a thin line of smoke ascended from the camera to the ceiling. The smoke simulated the thin line of smoke that usually comes from a burning cigarette. The incident recurred inexplicably about five times. Once out of the area, the camera no longer smoked.

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	Ghosts are everywhere! They are just in another astroplane...
	—Debbie Branning MVD Ghostchasers
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A little closer to home is the Hotel San Carlos, located in downtown Phoenix. Routine tours are conducted by Rachel Miller’s team with Ghost of Phoenix Tours. Miller says the hotel is rated as one of the top 10 most haunted hotels in the United States today. Last year, the hotel believed it suffered in business due to the publicity of the hauntings. This year the tours are limited to the Halloween season.

Miller explains that before the tour begins, she and her husband walk the grounds to make sure everything is OK for the guests. During one of these routine checks, Miller, her husband and the front desk manager visited the second floor apartment in the hotel. While they were in the back of the apartment, they heard the creepiest growl coming from the closet. They quickly exited the room.

According to Miller the scariest experience took place during another time in which she and her husband were walking the hotel grounds prior to a tour. Miller encountered a tall man in a button-up work shirt and grey pants in the hotel’s basement. Startled that an unexpected person was in the basement prior to the start of a tour, Miller alerted the front desk.

The front desk employees explained to Miller that no one should be down there and requested a description of the person. After Miller described the individual, the employees were completely shocked. The employees explained to Miller that the person she was describing was a man who had worked for the hotel for 15 years; however, he had died three days earlier due to a heart attack in the basement.

A famous ghost of the hotel is Miss Leone Jensen. Explained during a tour conducted by Miller, guests have commented on seeing Jensen’s silhouette going down the hall and up the stairs to the roof, where she plummeted to her death. Before she appears, a sweet scent of strawberries usually fills the air.

A final thought from Branning, “Ghosts are everywhere! They are just in another astroplane and sometimes the two planes cross to where we intertwine. Some people are just more open than others and can interact with spirits!”