The Bourbon Orleans Hotel
The Bourbon Orleans Hotel
“The Bourbon hotel is enchanting with it's crystal chandeliers, French pillars and exquisite Furniture. At night, it turns into a world full of paranormal activity that can make any sceptic reconsider .”
“The Bourbon hotel is enchanting with it's crystal chandeliers, French pillars and exquisite Furniture. At night, it turns into a world full of paranormal activity that can make any sceptic reconsider .”
Liss Piche'
Liss Piche'
Makayla & I decided to travel 5hrs on plane to The Crescent City known as; New Orleans. What are 2 Seattleites doing in this Southern Gem?
Well, it wasn't for the round the clock partying that's available, nor the festive and soulful sound of live Jazz on the streets, but more for a ghoulish reason.
You see, New Orleans Louisiana is not only rich in History, Jazz and Southern Creole, Cajun food, it is also rich in paranormal activity. New Orleans is said to be one of (If not the most) haunted city in the US. From devastating Hurricanes to Yellow fever and other unfortunate reasons, it is said that for every living new Orleanian today, there are 10 that have passed away. That's roughly 400,000 people living in New Orleans today. Well no wonder it's a paranormal hot spot. Yes, some spirits move on and follow the light, but there are those who linger due to the way they tragically died or perhaps they have attachments to their home, loved ones or objects. They say some spirits don't even know they are dead. This is why we chose to come to visit . While I was aware of many other hotels that were said to be haunted, the Bourbon Hotel was known to be one Americas top 10 most Haunted hotels.
Here's a little back story about the Bourbon hotel:
It was initially called the Théâtre d’ Orléans and was opened in 1815. It hosted countless European operas and entertained the Creole society. Unfortunately, the Theatre was ravaged by a fire in 1816. In 1817, John Davis purchased the land and re-built the Orleans Theatre and added a Ballroom. It hosted the most select affairs in New Orleans. European Opera performances, masquerade balls, carnival balls as well as Quadroon Balls, at which Creole women of color, quadroons, were selected to be the mistresses of wealthy Creole gentleman, in a system called plaçage.
In 1881, the building was purchased by the Sisters of the Holy Family and was turned into a convent. The Orleans Theater was no longer, but instead, an orphanage and school was built. Sadly, the orphanage was witness to hundreds of children who became sick with yellow fever and died in their little beds. That's why numerous guests have reported ghostly pranks, such as hearing the water turn off and on in the middle of the night. Others have heard little steps running up and down the halls or stairs. We personally witnessed our own New Orleans haunting last weekend when we stayed the night.
Our Stay at "The Bourbon Hotel"
The Bourbon hotel was a 25 minute drive from the Louis Armstrong Airport. Despite the fact that it was October, the sun and humidity made it feel like summer, it was about 85 degrees. We drove by what seemed "too many" above ground cemeteries and into the colorful French quarter. Houses were close together with Iron Spaniard style balcony's and horse & carriages were out and about in the busy downtown area. There's just something different about this town. I saw it in the faces of the locals riding their bikes... without a care in the world. You could hear the lively jazz music wherever you go, it makes you feel happy instantly. Our uber pulled up to the entrance of the Bourban hotel, a gentlemen greeted us and took our bags to the front desk. We checked in with Monique ( a very kind & welcoming receptionist) and proceeded to our room 358 on the 3rd floor.
The Hotel was elegant, sophisticated and you can feel the residual energy from previous decades in it.
The first night Makayla and I were so exhausted from our flight, that we went straight to bed. We had walked around Jackson square, gone shopping, had lunch at the famous "Gumbo Shop" and ended the evening with a fantastic ghost tour with our guide Bri (like the cheese she would say). If you are ever in New Orleans, I must say that the crab cakes at the Gumbo Shop were the best thing we ate in NOLA ( New Orleans Louisiana). They were covered with a creamy shrimp butter sauce along with some shrimp. It is accompanied by the most fantastic warm French bread I've had so far. Light and crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. I'm getting hungry just talking about it!
Anyways, enough about the food . After a long day, we decided to hit the hay around 11:00pm and of course, my trusty sidekick Makayla fell asleep before me. As I was dosing off I started to hear tapping around the room and in the bathroom. I was suddenly wide awake listening closely, wondering if the noises where coming from the upstairs room. After 10 seconds of silence I heard it.... the bathroom fan turned on! It is a motion sensor fan, so when you walk into the bathroom, it goes off. And it is a loud fan from the 90's (it seems). I felt the blood from my face disappear.... I was terrified. It kept going on and off and I even heard the switch. At one point I snapped out of my shocked state of mind and grabbed my phone and recorded a video.
After the fact and when all was done, I thought of things to do in the future when a situation like this was presented again. I could have Left the camera recording in the bathroom, I could have woken Makayla up and had her help me investigate further. I could have left the voice recorder on all night, but in the moment of fear, I panicked. Like I always say.... Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda, nothing you can do about it now. Most of you know what an Empath is, it's someone who is sensitive and can feel energy. Well, I'm most receptive when I am in the Alfa state.... the state between awake and asleep. In this state your mind is conscious , but your body is asleep. After my paranormal episode, I fell into this state. I heard a child yell, as if he was telling me to watch out. I kept opening my eyes and at one point I saw an orange ball of energy in the ceiling, floating in the wedge by the wall. I probably woke up about 6-7 times that night and was exhausted. The next morning I informed Monique about the fan going off, she sent someone to check on it for electrical issues. Later, she confirmed there wasn't a logical explanation of last nights fan serenade. She offered us a room on the 6th floor (Known to be the most haunted). We accepted the offer excitingly. We went about our day with a cemetery tour, and finished the evening with a wonderful Louisiana dinner on a steam boat in the Mississippi river. The evening was a perfect way to celebrate my birthday (thank you Makayla)!
To our surprise, there were no noises or paranormal happenings, I wonder if it's because I pulled out the holy water this time :)
The following morning we went back to the Gumbo shop for those delicious crab cakes and went back home. I will definitely be more prepared for my next paranormal encounter, Louisiana, I'll be back!
Below is a video of Charles, who works there. He has a lot of stories to share. Thanks for reading our story, we hope you enjoyed learning about the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, and the things that go bump in the night.
A Worker at the Bourbon Orleans Hotels shares Ghost Stories with us!
A Worker at the Bourbon Orleans Hotels shares Ghost Stories with us!