Real Haunted House
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).
174 comments on this haunted house. Share your story »
174 Comments |
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lacey says: |
November 9, 2007, 9:45 am |
Tara,
Gay *** is a gay **** sucker! and needs to grow up and mature to human dicks no monkeys! **** u Gay ***! Dont u agree Tara he is a stupid *****!
lacey says: |
November 9, 2007, 9:46 am |
Tara,
Gay *** is a gay **** sucker! and needs to grow up and mature to human dicks no monkeys! F*** u Gay ***! Dont u agree Tara he is a stupid *****!
lacey says: |
November 9, 2007, 9:48 am |
Tara,
Gay *** is a gay **** sucker! and needs to grow up and mature to human dicks no monkeys! F*** u Gay ***! Dont u agree Tara he is a stupid *****! and yah ur ur mom was good last night gay *** she said i pleased her more than u did because ur **** wasnt big enough to please her! so go git some viagra!
lacey says: |
November 9, 2007, 9:49 am |
Tara,
Gay *** is a gay d*** sucker! and needs to grow up and mature to human d**** no monkeys! F*** u Gay ***! Dont u agree Tara he is a stupid *****! and yah ur ur mom was good last night gay *** she said i pleased her more than u did because ur **** wasnt big enough to please her! so go git some viagra!
gay fag says: |
November 14, 2007, 9:30 am |
lacey ur stupid
Tara H. says: |
November 14, 2007, 4:25 pm |
kljsffalkj
bathory says: |
December 19, 2007, 3:31 am |
My mother, friend, and myself snuck into the old Cav hotel to check it out a bit. There was definitely some very strong energies there; especially in the piano room, pool room, and the upper floors. Another good place is the inside entrance to the bar. I got a couple of small orbs in pics, and on the sixth floor I got one photo that was inexplicably dark. All the other pictures were normal in terms of flash. I plan to have my wedding on the grounds next fall, and will probably stay in the old hotel if we can.
getitright says: |
January 8, 2008, 8:59 pm |
Hotel was actually bullt in 1927. Closed in 80’s and most stuff auctioned off. I ‘m sure that made some ghosts real mad.
Samantha says: |
February 7, 2008, 10:25 pm |
Oooo I Love the Cavalier!!! I’m getting married there next February!!! Oh its so Beautiful and I do think it has a lot of history in it, if not some spooks! Last night my family and I went there to go talk to the wedding coordinator and he took us over there. Awww gorgeous. Since its off-season its completely dead but its better that way. In a weird way I want something spooky to happen while my wedding is taking place. It would be so memorable. My fiance and I are getting married at Old Donation Episcopal church, Va beach, which is the one of the oldest churches in the area. It dates back to 1692; a very old building. So keeping the older feeling i wanted a historic building to have the reception…its perfect. Its like you walk into the 1920’s. When you walk in to the building
the cold air hits you and this distinct smell lingers in the air. Totally awesome. Can’t wait!
jessica says: |
February 11, 2008, 9:00 pm |
thats realy scary and once I went to virgnia beach
Brett says: |
February 15, 2008, 3:38 pm |
I want to stay in this hotel, but are their certain rooms that are haunted? If so, what number are they?
jessica says: |
February 15, 2008, 11:37 pm |
hey do you all really think this is true
Brett says: |
February 16, 2008, 11:37 am |
I dont know about the cavalier because ive never been there. But there is a lot of places in Virginia that are haunted.
EJ says: |
March 6, 2008, 11:23 pm |
ok heres the deal yes i have heard many stories of the cav and i like the fact ppl are talking but sty on topic i dont care that you wanna argue about sports i wanted to read about paranormal activity and if and one in the va bch area wanna get together lemme know crazytasty200@yahoo.com
john says: |
March 10, 2008, 4:47 pm |
i have lived in Virginia Beach for 20 years and i am very familiar with the hotel and i have heard that it was haunted. i have never stayed in the hotel, but me and a couple of my friends have seen the lights flickering from a long ways. and even up close. if you ever visit VA beach go to 70th street about 12 or so and u can see the lights flicker on and of. and i know that no one is doing it on purpose cause u would have to shut power to the whole building to do that.
T says: |
March 15, 2008, 10:46 am |
When I visited the hotel, the 7th floor was closed because it was haunted. Years ago a women killed herself along with other people. Also during WWI they drained the pool to help dieing solders. It is very creapy to go into the basement at night it is abandoned, dark, and full of old furniture.
lacy sticky hands says: |
March 28, 2008, 3:20 pm |
I’ve also lived in Virginia Beach and I’ve stayed in the Cav a couple of times. I was outside the room for a moment and when I came back in the items I placed on the bed were on the shelf on the other side of the room. Friends have also told me weird thing about the Cav.
Melissa van Niekerk says: |
March 30, 2008, 5:39 am |
Hi, I’m from Soouth Africa and wehave loads of ghosts here. If anybody is interested in a fewstories you can email me at tondringdrummer@gmail.com
Jessica says: |
May 1, 2008, 10:43 pm |
I applied at the newer Cavalier Hotel as a cleaning maid and I got hired. But the good news is, instead of working at the newer one, they sent me to the old one to stay and work at. Tomorrow will be my third day and I’ve got to remember to bring my camera and video camera. The old building is beautiful and there are a lot of closed off doors that make me curious. I haven’t gotten to explore the whole building yet but it’s a goal that I will make. I haven’t experienced anything scary yet, but hopefully soon. I believe in ghosts and would love to have an encounter with one. Will update when I have more to report!
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Tara H. says:
November 8, 2007, 4:26 pm
**** u!!