The Geiser Grand Hotel is one of the most impressive buildings in Baker City. It was built in 1889, when Baker City was a mining town. Two local men, Jake and Harry Warshauer, built the hotel on the site of the county's first schoolhouse; the cost ran high into the tens of thousands of dollars, a great deal for the time. It was indeed elegant, with almost one hundred rooms, electric lighting, and the third elevator west of the Mississippi. A few years later, the hotel was bought by John Geiser, along with his son, Albert; they changed the name from the Warshauer Hotel to the Geiser Grand Hotel.
The hotel's glory days didn't last long; the Depression hit hard, as did World War II. Finally, in 1968, the hotel closed and spent more than twenty years empty, its condition worsening with each passing year.
In 1993, Dwight and Barbara Sidway - no strangers to renovating hotels - purchased the building. They spent five years and a great deal of work and money on the restoration, and finally, the hotel was open for business once again.
Guests on the second and third floors have been known to complain about the party on the third floor. Upon investigation, nothing is to be found; the party ceases abruptly. The ghostly guests, though, have sometimes been seen on the balcony, apparently checking out the diners in the restaurant below.
Kitchen and bar staff have reported watching items move before their eyes, and beer taps activating with no visible cause.
Not long after the hotel's grand reopening, a maid checking the rooms found the bed in the Cupola Suite thoroughly unmade; pillows thrown everywhere, bedding pulled out, curtains twisted. The lock on the room also malfunctions frequently, and more than one guest has experienced the sensation of a perfume-wearing female ghost sitting next to them on the bed.
The Lady in Blue has been seen ascending the hotel's main staircase. When she reaches the top of the stairs, she disappears into the wall.
Takayoshi Nakayama, a director for the Japanese supernatural TV show Unbelievable, filmed a show at the Geiser Grand Hotel. He and his crew captured, on tape, a glass moving with no one nearby. More startling, when Nakayama returned to Japan, his three-year-old son began to laugh and talk to someone his parents couldn't see. The episode featuring the Grand Hotel was one of the most-viewed in the show's history, and Nakayama returned in September of 2010 for another episode.
Ghost hunters will be pleased to learn that the hotel offers occasional ghost hunts, as well as ghost tours encompassing the hotel and other haunted buildings of Baker City.
The hotel's glory days didn't last long; the Depression hit hard, as did World War II. Finally, in 1968, the hotel closed and spent more than twenty years empty, its condition worsening with each passing year.
In 1993, Dwight and Barbara Sidway - no strangers to renovating hotels - purchased the building. They spent five years and a great deal of work and money on the restoration, and finally, the hotel was open for business once again.
Guests on the second and third floors have been known to complain about the party on the third floor. Upon investigation, nothing is to be found; the party ceases abruptly. The ghostly guests, though, have sometimes been seen on the balcony, apparently checking out the diners in the restaurant below.
Kitchen and bar staff have reported watching items move before their eyes, and beer taps activating with no visible cause.
Not long after the hotel's grand reopening, a maid checking the rooms found the bed in the Cupola Suite thoroughly unmade; pillows thrown everywhere, bedding pulled out, curtains twisted. The lock on the room also malfunctions frequently, and more than one guest has experienced the sensation of a perfume-wearing female ghost sitting next to them on the bed.
The Lady in Blue has been seen ascending the hotel's main staircase. When she reaches the top of the stairs, she disappears into the wall.
Takayoshi Nakayama, a director for the Japanese supernatural TV show Unbelievable, filmed a show at the Geiser Grand Hotel. He and his crew captured, on tape, a glass moving with no one nearby. More startling, when Nakayama returned to Japan, his three-year-old son began to laugh and talk to someone his parents couldn't see. The episode featuring the Grand Hotel was one of the most-viewed in the show's history, and Nakayama returned in September of 2010 for another episode.
Ghost hunters will be pleased to learn that the hotel offers occasional ghost hunts, as well as ghost tours encompassing the hotel and other haunted buildings of Baker City.
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