Pink Lady Ghost of the Grove Park Inn

Being Halloween week, I thought I would share one of the local ghost stories.  The ghost resides at the legendary Grove Park Inn - a very haunting looking building itself, dating from the early 1900's.  The rock building glows at night in stark contrast against the sky. Let's go inside shall we?

 

The main entrance is decorated festively for the season with  huge pumpkins, gourds and corn stalks. Straight ahead is the Great Hall at 120 feet long and 80 feet wide. Anchoring the hall at either end are two massive fireplaces—each large enough to burn 12-foot long logs and each containing an elevator.  These hand-operated wonders run alongside the chimney shafts within the rock work of the great fireplaces and transport guests and luggage to the upper floors.  To our left is the Front Desk where guests register. As you can see, at night the flicker of lights add to the eerie look of the place. People say they have seen the Pink Lady in various places in the hotel. Seems fitting to see a ghost in a place like this.

The Great Hall is always warmly accented with flowers - this week the bouquet is quite fitting for Halloween, don't you think?

Now that we are inside, let me tell you about the Pink Lady, a young lady in a diaphanous pink gown. The story goes that she was having a rendezvous at the hotel during the 1920's with a gentleman, most likely married.  It seems her heart was broken at a debutante ball and she either fell or jumped to her death from the fifth floor of the Palm Court Atrium.  Some say that she was pregnant and her lover found out, pushing her to her death rather than face a scandal.

To get to the Palm Court we go up in the old elevator built inside the rock fireplace to the fifth floor overlooking the atrium.  The room most associated with the Pink Lady is room 545 - probably the room she and her lover stayed in.

Elevator to the Palm Court Atrium.

Room 545.

Palm Court Atrium today. It was one of the first atrium lobbies built in the country in its day.

 In 1996, the Grove Park Inn conducted in-depth research on the Pink Lady phenomenon and the resulting evidence focused on room 545, two stories above the Palm Court atrium floor

A painter from the late 1950s or early 60s and the hotel's current engineering facilities manager have reported strikingly similar tales about room 545. Both got cold chills on their way into the room so severe they never again attempted to enter. Interestingly, neither employee knew of the other's experience, or about room 545's connection to the Pink Lady. Another employee who has seen the Pink Lady several times over the past five years describes the apparition as "a real dense smoke - a pinkish pastel that just flows. It's a real gentle spirit, whatever it is."  Guests who have seen her say she is a beautiful girl with long dark hair.  She is mischievous and turns off lights, opens closet doors, and even pulls the covers off sleeping guests.

Well - I didn't see or feel anything unusual but others say the air feels heavy and their hair stands on end when in the Atrium alone late at night.  I say let's go back down to the lobby, have a drink and watch the sun set!

Hope you enjoy my ghostly post - Happy Halloween!  Since I am having a Give-Away, I am joining with Skywatch Friday, Scenic Sunday, Flowers on Saturday, Today's Flowers, Friday My Town Shoot-out and Photo Hunt this week.   I am having a Give-away (go to page to see more)to celebrate 150 followers - let me know if you want in! Leave your comment here - not on the Give-away page. The gift bag includes a mystery book by local writer, hand made local jam, soap, hand made holiday ornament and more.