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).
176 comments on this haunted house. Share your story »
176 Comments |
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Tate says: |
July 28, 2009, 8:25 pm |
Accually i live like 5 minutes away from it. It is such a beautiful place although with how long its been there I can believe it would have some interesting stories but I think the Cavalier is more of Virginia Beach’s past time since its been there since the early 1900’s. Its a shame things arn’t as beautiful as they used to be like the cavalier. Im glad its still standing.
Claire Anderson VA beach! D: says: |
August 5, 2009, 12:42 am |
Well i was on floor 6 like Coors was. And i hear living screaming and moaning and a bit of flesh hitting the ground. The elevator opened muliple times but didn’t look the same. It was a silver, then a rust, then silver again. The towels do indeed show changes in color and seem to come and go. i was sick one of the days i was there,and i heard someone say ‘feeling any better?’ right after the maids had cleaned, and after i heard the voice neighbors came running in. They said i have medical problems with voices, but they would be just as scared.
This is no lie people. If your not in the mood for being scared, don’t step one foot in the parking lot.
You’ll regret it.
sio kishika says: |
August 5, 2009, 1:36 am |
mie cha lou cka ftee dours dem
jason va beach emt says: |
August 6, 2009, 12:51 pm |
I frequently visit the Cavalier Hotel at night and play the piano in the ballroom. I play ragtime music, classical and blues hoping to stir up any spirits that might be lingering around. I feel as if I’m being watched when I play there, but I’ve had no personal experience. I also visited the bell tower in the hotel. The staircase is very dark and creepy and its cold up there. I haven’t seen the bell-hop yet, but my eyes and ears are open.
dave says: |
August 6, 2009, 1:05 pm |
anyone wanna go there with me? i wanna try to conjur up spirits on that piano too! email me- santacrooz464@hotmail.com
jason va beach emt says: |
August 6, 2009, 1:16 pm |
The first day I visited the Cavalier Hotel and played the piano, an old gentlemen in his 80’s shuffled up to me and told me his friend Smokey used to play piano there in the 1940’s. He took a picture of me while I was playing, smiled then shuffled away. I wonder if any orbs will appear in his photo. BTW, the keys of D major, D sharp and F do not work. I keep telling the front desk clerks they need to be fixed, but I don’t think they care. Hahahah
jason va beach emt says: |
August 6, 2009, 1:33 pm |
Dave, I live off of Norfolk Ave in the Beach Club. I’ll go and investigate with you anytime. I’ve always been fascinated with paranormal activity. There is also an old house on Cedarville rd( near pungo?) that is haunted. It was built over a civil war burial site and the graves were disturbed in the process. I’ve only been up to and around the house and taken pictures. The house is utterly terrifying to look at…
L. Fury says: |
August 6, 2009, 9:05 pm |
I’m the one that posted having the photo with the orb above the piano (taken in 2006)just after my daughter’s wedding. Her bride’s maid and best man are in the picture with an orb clearly poised above their heads. At the time we were unaware of any association of spirits and the piano. My daughter spent her wedding night there. I have always “felt” something (s) at the site. Love haunted sitings and am more than interested in the one mentioned near pungo. Email: Lumis_2hawks@yahoo.com
Lydia says: |
August 24, 2009, 8:34 am |
This is really weird considering i live about 7 min away from the cavilier. I keep asking my mom t let me and my friends to spend the night there but shes scared well call her scared at 2 in the morning.
7city says: |
August 27, 2009, 5:27 pm |
Oh yeah Ive been there. Just walking up to the place give you goosebumps. I spent 3 good long minutes in the lobby and bounced! There’s somthing freaky going on there. What about the Witch of Pungo or old Elbow Rd.
Dede says: |
September 5, 2009, 12:03 pm |
I’m Dede! Posted I worked there in 1976. Would love to visit w/someone who thinks it’s haunted (not saying it’s not, just never saw or heard anything).Live near it! caryclyde2@aol.com please put in subject Old Cavalier! Anyone had dealing with A.R.E. right down road? Edgar Caycee society?
Jessica Boyle says: |
September 8, 2009, 7:17 pm |
I worked at The Cavalier last year. I actually applied there because of the supposed hauntedness. I’m a big fan of ghosts and their stories, but this place is a disappointment. The only thing that happened…when you go downstairs to the mens restroom, you have to walk around a corner before you get to the stalls. Well, the stalls are motion censored (and very hard at that to flush) I didn’t even step foot AROUND the corner and one of them went off. There was no one in there. That scared me, but it in all reality it was lame. I plan on going back to get to the top (was too scared I’d get fired for goofing and not doing my job). Have seen the tunnel under the awning (cleaned around there and discovered it) Would love to go in there with someone who isn’t scared!!
Scott says: |
September 9, 2009, 1:31 pm |
No Lie! My wife and I live in VB and have walked around the old Cavalier many times and have some strange pictures we have take with out digital camera and phones. First off this place is totally haunted…. I was pushed onto the balcony overlooking the indoor pool (it was the balcony that collapsed and killed several people many many years ago) and nobody was behind me. We have pictures of Orbs all around the hotel, on the 6th floor, off season when noboby was in there we went walking around and a room door was opened, we went in and started to snap pictures. We caught a picture or a young boy in the bathroom when all of the lights were off. We walked to the window across the room and the bathroom sink faucet turned on by itself. In the sitting room over looking the beach side of the hotel I have seen a man sitting in the wicker chairs just siting there and looking out to the ocean. Off of the lobby where they have old pictures and historical document my wife and I both felt a cat brush up against our legs only later to find out that a little girl drowned in the pool with her cat decades ago. I can go on and on about what we have seen and felt but I think you guys get the point…. it is haunted without a doubt!
Betsy says: |
September 28, 2009, 4:52 pm |
My husband and I stayed here for 2 nights on our honeymoon. We stayed in room 667 on the 6th floor. We hadn’t heard much about it being haunted or we would have paid more attention! Sadly, we didn’t hear or see anything suspicious during those two days. I almost feel left out. The price to stay there is relatively cheap so maybe we’ll go back someday.
John says: |
September 28, 2009, 8:11 pm |
Has anybody ever been to the Ferry Plantation house in the Pembroke area, There is something there late at night. Very scary like someone is following you as you walk the street around the neighborhood.
Donna says: |
October 11, 2009, 10:11 pm |
Anyone interested in going to any of the cemetery’s as a group to photograph orbs, etc.. I live in Chesterfield, VA. We could get together on this and pick a date. This is the month to be frightened.
Donna says: |
October 13, 2009, 1:06 am |
E-mail me at HomeDesignesinc@aol.com
malcolm says: |
October 13, 2009, 6:25 pm |
have there been any ghost sitings because im a ghost hunter
malcolm says: |
October 13, 2009, 6:33 pm |
well the truth is im a ghost hunter in training because i first saw a ghost one knight and it got me intrested.
P.S. is there any real haunted houses in abbotsford canada B.C.
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Fury says:
July 2, 2009, 3:15 pm
I don’t think TAPS has. I haven’t heard of any official “ghost investigations” on site. But maybe we could locate a website and ask TAPS to look into it…might be worth a try at least. I have a picture of a “globe”I that appeared above the piano in some wedding day photos a couple years back.We did not see it when the picture was snapped.