Sedalia Unsolved: Is The Hotel Bothwell Haunted?
Halloween is here, and that means things just get spookier every day.
With the cold, windy weather, that's not helping. But I like a good scare, and a good mystery, as much as anybody. I'm probably a little more interested in it than most people, if I'm honest. I guess I have a morbid streak. I watch a lot of documentaries about unexplained things.
So from time to time over the years, I've done a little research here and there about different strange events or local historical stories. Nothing serious, but it's interesting stuff. I usually get the bug around this time of year. Year after year, the same thing keeps popping up... or maybe making itself known to me.
I've heard of different places in town that are reportedly haunted, but the Hotel Bothwell seems to be the one that's working it's way into my imagination. It was built back in 1927, and it's been through a lot over the years. Actors, politicians, important people have stayed there, and at one point it was a senior living facility. Having that much history and somewhere around a hundred rooms..... a lot of activity must have left its mark.
The main story I see over and over again is that the third floor is occupied by several different ghosts. Some people say they see and hear children, feel the weight of someone sitting on their bed, cell phones being unplugged and moved and replugged in, running in the hallways, voices from the air vents, the elevators moving on their own, doors opening and closing on their own, and a former employee reported having scratches on the back of their neck.
In a review on Trip Advisor, Carrie from St Louis left this review:
Loved the old style of the building and the staff was great. Bed was super comfortable, but I had an extra guest with me for part of the night. Something kept sitting on the edge of the bed and waking me up. I don't mind a ghost or two, but I'd prefer one that could make up its mind to either get in the bed or not because I had to get up early.
Meanwhile, a website appropriately called Haunted Places has an entire entry on the Hotel Bothwell, with former guests, employees, and more commenting on the strange sounds and sights of the hotel. In that forum, someone who worked there in 2015 had some very strange occurrences:
I currently work here at the hotel and have been experiencing something every single night that I have worked here. As of lately, it has gotten worse and more intense like it (or they) are wanting me to know something. I have felt things brush past me, heard foot steps, seen shadows, seen the little girl in the white night gown on the 3rd floor and in the basement. I also have heard a woman talking twice now, tonight it was so loud and clear my coworker and I thought it was a guest on the 2nd floor, so we went up there and NOTHING......
I've stayed at the Hotel Bothwell before, and it's a beautiful place with a rich history. I haven't seen anything strange, myself, but maybe you have. Can we solve this mystery? Is the Hotel Bothwell haunted? What is it about the third floor that keeps people guessing?
Scarily yours,
Behka