The Cavalier Hotel
Virginia Beach, Virginia
By Shannon Reinbold-Gee
Overlooking beautiful North Beach in the bustling city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, this elegant hotel features far more than a stunning view and its dramatic chandelier-hung lobby with glossy checkerboard floors and sharply contrasting paneled walls. This, the original Cavalier Hotel, has ghosts. Elevators run when no one is riding in them, toilets flush of their own accord and guests report that their room towels change color from time to time. But these are only little oddities compared to the tragedies that began only two short years after the Cavalier opened on what was then a rather secluded strip of beach.
Many guests have remarked on architectural similarities between the old hotel and the Overlook hotel featured in the movie “The Shining.” Perhaps it is also the creepy feeling of something always lurking that causes visitors to draw such connections. Guests have reported they feel like they are being watched in both the Pocahontas room and the Hunt Room. Perhaps it is the waiter who supposedly walks through the walls of the Pocahontas room or the lady followed by a ghostly dog crossing the hotel lobby, or perhaps it is merely someone who still broods about the misfortunes of their lost life…
Opening in 1927 (after 13 months of steady labor), the Cavalier was once the haunt of the movers and shakers of society, hosting such guests as Adolph Coors (of the famous brewery), author F. Scott Fitzgerald, and actors and actresses including Judy Garland, Will Rogers, Bette Davis, Betty Grable, Mary Pickford, Ginger Rogers and Jean Harlow. For three decades the Cavalier hired a wide variety of big-name bands. Performers included such greats as Tomy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway, Glen Miller, Lawrence Welk and Bing Crosby. Now guests report that the piano in the ballroom sometimes plays by itself—maybe wishing for the raucous music of the Twenties.
Nicknamed the “Aristocrat of the Virginia Seashore” the Cavalier was the spot to see and be seen, so it’s no wonder some guests are reluctant to depart. Ten US Presidents have also stayed or spoken at the Cavalier, bringing with them the rumors, speculation and debate that guests, both living and dead, seem to feed on.
During the Roaring Twenties, the Cavalier skirted Prohibition by driving well-to-do guests on discreet trips to the local speakeasies. This evading of the law was not enough to keep brewery owner Adolph Coors from a mysterious fall that ended his death on June 5, 1929. Whether suicide because the brewery was forced to make cement and pottery rather than beer during Prohibition, or murder (as some feel Coors was pushed through a closed window on the hotel’s 6th floor), people have reported sensing someone still lingering and cold spots appearing randomly throughout the 6th floor. Many have even reported the sickening sound of flesh slapping concrete—could it be that Adolph Coors relives his tragic plunge on a regular basis?
Local lore claims that the hotel’s first owner shot himself on the premises, but it seems unsubstantiated as a hotel staff member said the initial owners of the hotel were a group of people investing in a business venture and they held it until the Dixon family purchased it. So, although the rumor can’t be attached to a specific person through my research, perhaps it was one of the original owners or one of the Dixon family members who committed suicide on the property. Or, perhaps (as is the case too often), this “fact” is merely a case of rumors evolving and growing.
The hotel’s front desk is occasionally plagued by guests calling to report a cat meowing and scratching at doors in the hotel’s grand hallways, though no living cat has been seen roaming the halls in decades. Rumor has it that a young girl’s pet cat escaped one night and drowned in the swimming pool—the little girl also drowning as she tried to save her precious pet. Though the girl’s ghost has not been sighted and people only occasionally report strange sounds from the pool, perhaps the cat still wanders the halls trying to find his worried young owner.
Visitors report mysterious orbs showing up in their photos and hearing footsteps where no one is seen walking. A popular tale revolves around sightings of an older African American gentleman dressed in the hotel’s old staff uniform. Guests report that he stands on the staircase of the sixth floor and warns people of ghosts ahead. Unfortunately, it seems he himself is a ghost, as there hasn’t been any staff to fit his description working at the hotel in more than a few years.
Today the Cavalier Hotel is truly two distinct hotels—the Cavalier on the Hill (the original and still haunted) and the Cavalier Oceanfront (beautiful and at peace except when tourist season begins).
176 comments on this haunted house. Share your story »
176 Comments |
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Donna says: |
July 8, 2006, 4:48 pm |
Just wanted to know if there is a certain room or floor in the Old Cavalier Hotel that is haunted or what. What is the story about an old man who hangs around there? I would L-O-V-E to go and have an experience.
Kelsey says: |
July 10, 2006, 7:09 pm |
your all just gay
chelssssss says: |
July 10, 2006, 7:13 pm |
umm kaay ;; tats cool but how is that scary maybe its jus yur imagination ?? ;; ever thought of that ?? ;; NO YU DIDNT!!
pfft crazy ppl:S
Cat says: |
July 14, 2006, 5:57 pm |
I stayed at the amaller Cavalier across the street from the haunted one. We stayed there for a national dance competition that summer, and my mom called her father to tell him where we were (he spent a lot of time in VA Beach), and he knew right off the bat that the one across the street was haunted. He told us about the cat and the guy who committed suicide, but didn’t know much else.
My mother and I then asked one of the people who worked at our hotel what happens there. The cat is actually someone’s spirit in disguise, I believe the guy who committed suicide because the cat started to show up the day after the guy killed himself, and one of the people who worked their was the irst to notice and believe it.
We also talked to a woman who worked at the haunted Cavalier. She would set all of the tables in one of the dining rooms. She would leave the room, come back, and all of the dishes and glasses would be turned upsidedown. She didn’t find it as much scary as she did “annoying.”
That’s my two cents.
ashley says: |
July 26, 2006, 7:25 pm |
I have lived in virginia beach my whole life but never spent the night there. i was there for a few hours for my friends birthday and she said the door kept unlocking by itself during the party. After everyone left and they were falling asleep they heard whispering. We also talked to people that worked there and some people would tell us it was haunted but others said they didnt know. The lady at the front desk said a couple nights ago there was a lady who opened the window, said hello and shut it…about 1 in the morning. The scary thing is there isn’t anything to stand on outside the window. She also said the water turns on and off by itself and it happend in the bath room next to the front desk.
Gerard Alexandre says: |
August 3, 2006, 4:24 am |
Hey dudes…..just respect each other’s opinion and to those who are just giving bull to this site remember you are not cheating us but yourself!
Cav hotel is one hell of a place. I believe its haunted coz Ive checked it out and i cn feel that odd hair-raising vibrations around me. But what the heck! a haunt is a haunt. each one has his own experience and degree of haunting may vary but bottomline is that everyone has the right to be HAUNTED. Just enjoy the ride.
Dana says: |
August 11, 2006, 6:29 pm |
Hi- I have stayed at the Cavaier on the Beach across the street from the old Cavalier but have investigated it. It is not just cool place to look for ghosts, it really is very pretty. While walking around at night I did hear someone playing piano but no one was in the music room. It does seem to have a lot of history and good energy around it. It is worth checking it out.
scooby doo crew says: |
August 12, 2006, 12:11 pm |
SO, we began our adventure in the late hours of last night….we totally saw that cat walking around, and those walls looked like they had dry blood, we went inside and the pool would spalsh by itsself and no one was jumping in.. we heard that meat slapping noise it was weird… so we decide on the top, and climb up the but didnt make it up ha. anyways we found a mysterious jungle gym, and were freaked out totally and saw the coors brewery man.
scooby doo crew says: |
August 12, 2006, 12:11 pm |
SO, we began our adventure in the late hours of last night….we totally saw that cat walking around, and those walls looked like they had dry blood, we went inside and the pool would spalsh by itsself and no one was jumping in.. we heard that meat slapping noise it was weird… so we decide on the top, and climb up the but didnt make it up ha. anyways we found a mysterious jungle gym, and were freaked out totally and saw the coors brewery man. sff
b-dog says: |
August 22, 2006, 6:19 pm |
Look Big bill first maybe u can find a name that anyone would actually care about Second maybe u should go and ask ur momy to tell u 1 then u can try to make someone care about what u r saying ok? and i bet u have a big head!
b-dog says: |
August 22, 2006, 7:27 pm |
U **** MY *** BIG BILL U ****** ******** OK SO LET **** HELP U I HATE THE **** OUTA U!
GEORGE says: |
September 2, 2006, 5:41 pm |
hey guys im George and ive been investigating the cavilier for a while!! I have alot of evp recordings of people laughing and horses making nosies even the sound of the mallot hitting the ball playing crokeh i dont know how to spell that word lol but one night me and my friend jeremy were sitting by the revene and it was really foggy coming off the water and i heard a woman say ” hello” like she was lost and then i heard foot steps coming up the stairs to us from the cazebo. another acount was when this couple came up to me in december and were dressed up in wedding gown and suit and they were all happy and smiling and i said “HEY ” they were like tonights our wedding night, i said ” congradulations” i wasnt really interested in talking to these people i had my friends there, then next thing i know they walk right into the cavalier to my astonishment the doors were locked , later i realized i had seen ghost but they appeared to be real looking HEy if anybody wants to join up with me and start a ghost investigation team let me know message me on http://www.myspace.com/georgeafly
GEORGE says: |
September 2, 2006, 5:46 pm |
Hey guys theres also a house out in suffolk that i go to with alot of my friends so if you want to go let me know!!!! I have alot of pictures from Granby cemetary scary ones!!! I have E.V.P. from The francis plantation house off of va beach blvd. of a little girl saying ” there’s a tree by me” very creepy I really want to find people that are good ive been doing this for most of my life and i grew up here in chesapeake, now im chillin in va beach most of the time most of you guys might know me i use to play guitar with metal band ” laid to rest” and i played with the guitarist Scottie from norma jean remember message me on my myspace at http://www.myspace.com/georgeafly
Leslie says: |
September 17, 2006, 12:45 pm |
I Have lived in Virginia Beach my whole life, and I have stayed at the Cavalier for my sisters birthday. I would say I was about 10 years old, but I did not have any experiences while I was there. But there are books on it being haunted, and it looks very haunted, eventhough I have not had any experiences.
Hope says: |
September 29, 2006, 10:02 pm |
I also live here in Va. Beach. Me and a friend went and met up about 10:30 one night to go check out the Cavalier. We snuck inside the elevator and took it up to the 6th floor. We checked it out, East Wind, and did not see anything, and as we headed toward the elevator, we noticed a man we saw at the front entrace to the place, security. We said hello, jumped to the 4th, 3rd and 2nd where we got out of the elevator, and decided to hurry up and take the service stairs down further as much as they would allow us to go. We got past the kichen, down into the boiler room. That place was creepy. We entered into a dark hallway, but did not come totally prepaired, so decided not to venture there any further. We decided, while down there to look around the other direction. Got past the linen cage, and notice a large room with old furniture and beds. Past that, we saw another old room, dark, and a hallway past that. We got creeped out and decided to get outside to see if we could see anything. Well, no go. But, I did just balls out walk up to the man who was security and started to ask questions, and told him what we were doing. I told him how far we had made it. At that point, we did find out that there are alot of tunnels aunder the hotel, and we were well on our way when we saw the hallway past the old furniture. We have promised to go back in the winter to really dig deeper in this place. It was fun and exciting. We cant wait to go again!
Jessica says: |
October 2, 2006, 12:18 pm |
Wow, a lot of these stories sound very fun and exciting! Usually, when I go to Va. Beach, I stay with my aunt off of Shore Dr. but I’ve only stayed in one hotel other than my aunt’s house. Next time, I’ll try and go to the Cavalier because I’ve never had a real experience…just some things happened to me in my dad’s townhouse. For example, every once in awhile I will hear footseps going up and down the stairs. Also, this one time, the front door was closed and me and my dad were watching a movie and the way the t.v is turned when can see the reflection from the front room and the hall. Well, when the screen was black for a couple seconds I saw something run across the screen real quick. It was the reflection from the front room. I paused for a few seconds and looked at my dad beside me and asked “Did you see that?” and he says “yes i did”. i was a little freaked out by this moment lol. I have a bunch of stories to tell though…its really exciting but kind of freaky to experience something like that. But I love the phenomena of ghosts, spirits, and whatnot.
CJ says: |
October 30, 2006, 8:59 pm |
I have lived here for around 15 years now. I have been to the cavelier a few times for Christmas functions. They use to hold the Holly Ball there. The place is great historically, and yes does remind you of “The Shining”. Once during a Christmas party during their renovations, the small ladies room was rather full, so they allowed us to use one of the just renovated rooms on an upper floor (forgot which one) When we (my husband and I) got off the elevator you could just feel something. Could hear/feel old music playing. We looked around for speakers, but couldn’t find anything that was working. We had a few drinks (liquor for him and ice tea for me) so we were not swaded. When we got into the room the bathroom door (which is like a pocket door) was wide open, it closed fine while I was in there and opened fine coming out, but wouldn’t close again until my husband was inside! That swaded us!! no elevator needed I think we flew back to the ballroom!
Sherry says: |
November 1, 2006, 10:38 am |
I have stayed at the Cavalier Hotel but I didn’t have any experiences like the tales say. I do, however, believe it is haunted. I got a “feeling” even tho I didn’t have any experiences. Also, Adolf Coors did committ suicide at this hotel, but it was not in the 1940’s, it was June 5, 1929 and he did jump out (or fell out) of a window.
Mandy says: |
November 8, 2006, 3:49 pm |
I have lived 10 minutes from the Cavlier Hotel my whole 22 years of life. I have never had any weird or creepy experiences myself, however, I have a friend whose grandmother manages the building. She has lots to tell, and I will tell her about the website so she can relate all her experiences!
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george says:
June 30, 2006, 5:16 pm
are certain rooms that are haunted or is it just the whole 6th floor?