Who wouldn’t want to experience a haunting on All Hallow’s Eve? In Denver, Colorado, you can look for the spooky at The Brown Palace Hotel. We Traveling Socks took a tour of the hotel with our trusty guide Matt, who also has served as bellhop and doorman for the last twelve years. He is a wealth of knowledge, and knows far more than we can report here. So, if you’re interested in all of the details of the hotel (hauntings and otherwise), there is a book available in the hotel gift shop for you to peruse at your leisure. Or you can take the tour with Matt, as we did. So, let us share with you a few stories of the shenanigans that have taken place at the fascinating hotel with a very colorful history.

The Brown Palace Hotel

The original owner of the hotel, Henry Brown, died in 1906. Some hotel employees can still hear his footsteps roaming the hardwood floor of his office, though the floors have been carpeted for years. Scary!

Up on the 8th and 9th floors, the hotel rooms had been converted to apartments during the depression when ballrooms and hotel rooms were not in high demand (and the Art Deco decor still remains on those floors to this day). The owners were able to rent those floors to wealthy tenants and thus were able to keep the place afloat during tough economic times. One tenant, Louise Hill, who was the queen of Denver society during the turn of the last century, occupied one of the Skyline Apartments, and was toast of the town. As she aged, however, she became increasingly reclusive, and she died alone in her apartment in 1959. Some say she still remains there and makes herself known from time to time. We’ll stay on the 7th floor, thank you.

Art Deco on the 9th Floor

In the sitting room outside the Ship Tavern, two men quarreled over – you guessed it – a woman. One shot the other right there in the hotel, and the young lover is believed to shuffle about, perhaps to find the woman he lost (or maybe his own life).

Interested in the “regular” rooms at the hotel? Take a peek at the Ship Tavern, where Mrs. Brown was able to “dump” all of her husband’s ship collection, a collection which she had been secretly wishing to remove from her home for years.

The Ship Tavern

Or try the Palace Arms, which is like stepping back in time the Empire of France. It houses all sorts of Napoleonic artifacts, including one of his pistols. Just off the Arms sits the Independence room, where hand-painted wallpaper from France depicts what the French would have imagined to be American colonial life.

The Palace Arms and Independence Room

Care for a spot of tea? The Atrium is a delightful setting under the stained glass ceiling where live music is played during tea time. During the Christmas season, the American flag is replaced by a chandelier that stretches for several stories. We’d love to see that!

The Atrium

The Brown Palace Hotel has so many interesting features about it – from murals, artesian water fountains, stained glass windows, to an exclusive Masonic meeting room and a walls of glass, and more!

The Masonic Meeting Room

As we said, this multi-faceted historic building has too many facets to report here. But do stop in and say hello to Matt. He would love to take you on a tour to help you uncover many of the hotel’s secrets during your stay.

Happy All Hallow’s Eve to everyone!