231 6th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37219
A symbol of riches amongst the honkey-tonk city of Nashville, the Hermitage Hotel has witnessed the area’s most significant changes. Unaltered since inception, this early 20th-century hotel carries the mark of a bygone era, as well as the energy left behind by its many past visitors.
Short answer, yes! But surprisingly, for a hotel this old, ghost sightings are scarce.
Guests staying at this lavish hotel will confirm, there are in fact weird occurrences, but these seem to mostly be due to residual energy lingering in the establishment from all the people who have stayed throughout the decades, rather than actual ghosts.
Online sources state that room 912 has the most paranormal activity. In this room, guests have claimed to have been woken up by the sound of a baby crying in the early hours of the morning.
According to local lore, a baby was accidentally dropped from this room's window, but after scouring the newspapers of the time, no mention of an accident of this kind is made.
To be fair, hotel room deaths don't always make it to the media, especially when there's no foul play involved.
The last thing hotel owners want is guests finding out they're sleeping in the same spot a corpse occupied just days before or looking out the same window a mother dropped her baby out of. It's bad for business. So we're not entirely dismissing this account, only stating that we can’t verify that they actually happened.
We should also take into consideration the age of the hotel itself. We would be crazy to think that no one has ever croaked there (or had an accident) in the 100 years the hotel has been in business.
Another common sighting is that of a woman in white. Believed to be one of the many Edwardian ladies to call the Hermitage their temporary home in the 1910s, this madam is usually to blame for any strange phenomena at the hotel.
When doors open on their own, elevators malfunction, or drinks fall unexplainably off the bar, it is generally believed that it’s the mischievous lady making her presence known.
Guests have reported seeing the large ornate mirror in the lobby crack unexpectedly in front of their eyes. As soon as the staff goes to take a look...you guessed it, the crack is no longer there.
Aside from its few yet spine-chilling hauntings, the Hermitage Hotel has found another way to lure us in; looks. With its draping custom chandeliers and impressive marble finishes, the hotel displays a form of luxury rarely seen in modern times.
Designed by celebrated Paris-trained architect James Carpenter, The Hermitage Hotel has been a symbol of opulence in Downtown Nashville since 1910.
With the help of the Board of Trade, local folks raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help erect the structure that soon earned the name of Nashville's first Million-Dollar hotel. Inside, guests could bask in the elegance of the latest and greatest amenities of the time, which included running ice water and in-room telephones.
The floors and lobby columns were fashioned out of Tennessee and Carrara marble, respectively. Imposing towering arches and stained-glass skylights helped cement the Hermitage Hotel as the city's most expensive accommodations.
It's no surprise that the hotel that made history continues to preserve it, hosting events that celebrate some of the most significant events in Nashville.
From Thursday to Sunday at 2:00 p.m. the hotel hosts a suffrage tea party, commemorating the Women's Suffrage Movement and the events that transpired in the city during the summer of 1920.
Union Station is a 5-star hotel, open for reservations. When visiting the hotel without a reservation, please be mindful of guests and note that the lobby is not a public space.
To book a (potentially) haunted room or to reserve a spot at the Suffrage High Tea, please visit their website.
(link to) https://www.thehermitagehotel.com/