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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Brian says: |
October 25, 2009, 4:25 am |
My friend and I both worked the front desk at the Cav on the Hill for over 3 years. Although the place is certainly creepy, both of us spent many nights (we worked the 11pm to 7am shift) in the spring, summer and fall (closed in winter)exploring every inch of the place, and we noticed nothing of any significance including guests calling about a cat or even reporting anything strange. Towels changing color ?…LOL..We used to use different color towels on different days…LMAO and all elevators move when someone on a floor pushes a button..LOL. Also when you are in a hotel like this one you can hear toilets flushing from all over. Never had anyone report SEEING a toilet flush of it’s own accord. So be careful what you read and how it’s printed
Donna says: |
October 26, 2009, 11:08 am |
Malcolm where have you done your ghost sightings? I take it you live in Canada.
Donna says: |
October 26, 2009, 11:11 am |
Jason do you have any pictures of anything unusal, orbs, etc.? When will the hotel re-open?
L. Fury says: |
October 26, 2009, 5:26 pm |
Donna,
I have a picture of an “orb” positioned over the heads of a couple in a wedding party taken back in 2006. I will post them on my MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/llfury if anyone cares to take a look it’ll be under “Weird Stuff” album.
Kevin says: |
October 31, 2009, 4:22 pm |
Me and my Fiance stayed here and found nothing unusual. it was a very nice hotel with great service in a good location. i recommend it to anyone that is visiting VA Beach. i refering to the original one of course which is just behind the new one located on the beach.
Chelsea says: |
November 15, 2009, 9:57 am |
My dad use to work in the Cavalier during the off season as a night guard and he told me the stories of these ghosts. My dad’s a big guy and doesn’t get scared that easy, but he admits to being ready to quit for how scared he’d get. He says there are ghosts and you will be scared or on edge at least once
Patty says: |
January 19, 2010, 5:51 pm |
I vacationed at the Cavalier every year for 15 years. It 100 % is haunted. I have some pretty brutal stories.
Also, there is a story of a married couple that committed suicide from the bell tower on the night of their honey moon.
At night, there is a silhouette of what resembles a couple standing on the bell tower.
We played Ouija board and saw some pretty fucked up ****.
If you scream in the Cavalier , suspiciously no staff can hear you.
I have plenty of stories, if this board is still alive.
L. Fury says: |
January 23, 2010, 3:38 pm |
As far as I know this thread is alive and well…some agree it’s haunted others don’t. Guess it’s a matter of what you are sensitive to. I have an orb picture and I “felt” things. I would like to look into it further. Tell us some stories if they are actuall accounts that are not just to poke fun at a very real paranormal possibility. I am all ears!
Patty (patrick) says: |
January 23, 2010, 6:22 pm |
Well,
I first learned a handful of stories when I was roughly 16 years old while vacationing. Myself and a bunch of friends after drinking a bit, decided to investegate on an annual basis, as we met up each year at the same time during the summer when we went on vacation with our parents who were in a Pharmacy Convention.
A story that was told to me by a guy I met named brad, that I had never heard previously, was there was a couple who got married and spent their honey moon at the Caviler, They supposedly had gone up to the bell tower on the roof and had commited suicide together by jumping off the building.
If you stand at the pool at the new cavalier during the summer, there is a strange silhouette that resembles a couple with arms open ready to jump.
Coincidence or not, It’s a good shiver to look at.
Another story that had been told to me was about a greeter that was dying and before he died he told the staff that he would come back during his shift as a black cat to watch over his beloved hotel. After he died, a black cat appeared every day for the entire season, only for his hours shifts, then disappear.
I haven’t vacationed there in 3 years or so, but last time I was there the 6th floor was ALWAYS closed off. Giving a very strange aura in the presence.
A hotel employee who shared the same love of the history of the place let us investegate the 6th floor.
A very strange experience that I would love to go further into.
I have more stories if interested.
Jessica says: |
January 24, 2010, 3:33 pm |
okay the cavalier hotel is not haunted. i have seen other haunted places in virginia but not at the cavalier hotel.
Carykity says: |
January 24, 2010, 7:29 pm |
As an ex-desk clerk I can say the hotel is NOT haunted. Only thing you might hear is locals who know ways (believe me they are there) to get in the hotel. Kids! Not ghosts!
Patty (patrick) says: |
January 25, 2010, 10:34 am |
Oh please forgive us, as Jessica declares this place is not Haunted because she hasn’t witnessed anything. Everyone knows that she is the Haunted House Moderator.
As for CaryKity, Ex desk clerk means nothing. Go talk to Wilson. Im sure you know who Wilson is, given the fact that you were a clerk.
Jessica says: |
January 25, 2010, 6:55 pm |
Patty, why are you getting mad that they don’t believe in ghosts? I believe in ghosts as well, and have ALSO worked at The Cavalier (only to have one instance happen to me) but I surely didn’t see anything. So until some of this supposed Cavalier stuff happens to me, I’m startin to think differently.
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jasonEMT says:
October 14, 2009, 12:52 am
The Cavalier hotel is now closed for the season.. sigh* I did get to play the piano on the last day before it closed, though.. during a jewish wedding that was going on down the hall..that was nice. Now, the hotel gets to sleep. Sleep well. I will see you next year! I’ll be back with some new songs, too! Several older folks have taken pictures of me at the piano by now. I wonder if anymore orbs have appeared…hmmm – probably in the wedding photos, I’m sure. Take care and stay safe!