Gadsden Hotel

We stayed at the Gadsden for the first time between Christmas and New Year's, 2005. We had heard of this grand, historical hotel from Tucson locals for many years, but since there's not a lot of reason to go down to Douglas, we had never managed to get down there. Well, when I first saw the building sitting there in the middle of this very sad and forgotten looking little town, it seemed to loom out of the middle of nowhere like a some desolate mesa in the middle of a wasteland. I almost said 'let's forget it and go back to the Copper Queen (in Bisbee, AZ)' but we decided to look inside just for kicks. Well, walking into that lobby was like walking into the past, and it was the beginning of one UNFORGETTABLE night, let me tell you! We stayed in a room on the second floor, it was small and unassuming, had all the original bath fixtures and cute little vintage hooks and even an antique corkscrew built into the wall. The tub was one of those built-in deep, cast i!

ron types and in surprisingly fine shape. There was this tiny, dark closet across from the bathroom, however, and after my husband went to sleep and I was sitting up doing my NY Times Crossword, I began to hear sounds coming from the vicinity of the closet. I brushed it off as possibly the heating system, or the pipes in the walls, whatever. But it seemed to keep up and progressively get louder then softer (sometimes even sounding like heavy labored breathing), over what seemed like just 20 or 30 minutes but after a while I realized it had been a few hours. The next thing I realized was that I had finished the puzzle, and I'vew never been able to finish the Sunday Times puzzle in less than 4 or 5 days -- and this was SUNDAY NIGHT. Who had really completed the puzzle?!?

I had tried to wake Bob several times, but he would roll over and spout something silly like "Tall man, black suit, no head?" (which was the 'tabloid' description of the 'hotel ghost'); then, after I had finally decided to give up and try to get some sleep (it was around 3 a.m.), I turned off the light . . . then suddenly felt this horribly cold chill, and found that I COULD NOT MOVE A MUSCLE. It was like I was being held down by a massive weight of some kind. I swear this is the absolute truth. I could not even find the strength to speak, much less scream. I was, in a word, PARALYZED. I know, without a doubt, there was someone, someTHING, in that little hotel room with us that night, maybe not malevolent, but certainly mischievous.

I told the concierge about it the next morning, and she had me write the account of it in a little journal she was keeping, and in that booklet I read several other stories by previous guests -- and there was more than one who had had a similar experience as me.

We went back to the Gadsden and stayed New Year's Day, 2006. We had planned to go for New Year's Eve but were unable to get away. Well, we had no 'spiritual experience' that night, and I admit I was disappointed (though I had the hardest time sleeping, just waiting for something to appear!). So . . .when we checked out I expressed my disappointment, and she said "Oh, you should have been here last night (New Year's Eve) -- He (the ghost) was all over the place -- we had a bunch of guests who said he visited them -- one guy even got a picture with his digital camera -- he said he was going to email it to us when he got home." Shucks! Oh well, there's always next year . . . and btw, the Gadsden has a great little bar, nice coffee shop and dining room with tasty, homestyle food. Excellent prices, too! And if you go during the holidays, they always have a massive Christmas tree (maybe 2 or 3 floors high) decorated in the 'old fashioned' style with lots of ornaments, tins!

el, colorful lights, and a REAL stuffed mountain lion wearing a Santa hat!