Ghost Hunt at The Driskill Hotel. Part 1.

They told me our room was a “haunted room.” Supposedly the Driskill Hotel has a lot of ghosts walking its hallways. We went to Austin, Texas to try to see one. Actually, we went to see the bat colony take flight from under the Congress Avenue Bridge, but staying at the Driskill was an added bonus.

Yesterday, I showed you pictures of the Driskill Hotel in black and white. Here it is in “color,” but I like it better in monochrome. They kept the hotel very dark. I wonder why? To create an image of elegance? To make it seem more ghostly? To hide the telltale signs of aging (that’s a trick we women know!).

I was excited because we were able to rent “Room 429,” which supposedly has quite a bit of ghostly activity. According to the hotel literature (yes, the front desk will give you a printed handout about the ghosts), a despondent jilted bride hanged herself in that very room “about thirty years ago.” It is said that she is often seen walking the hallways in her wedding dress.



Could that be a ghostly shadow in the picture as my husband tries to open the door? Nahh, it’s my hand in front of the flash. I got a lot of pictures like that at the Driskill, darnit.

I wandered around our haunted room, which was small but opulent, trying to get a “feeling” — you know, the chill up the spine or something. I’ve been to haunted places before and gotten an eerie feeling. In our room, I felt nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Bupkiss. The only “odd” thing about the room was a depression in the floor at the foot of the bed. It was about the size of a melon —or a woman’s head — and about an inch deep. You could feel it clearly under the carpet.

Since the room didn’t seem to be filled with a ghostly spirit, we walked the halls hoping for paranormal activity. I snapped pictures indiscriminately, hoping to catch an “orb” in a photo. Mostly, I caught pictures of my hand in front of the flash.

As we walked, we stopped to “sniff” now and then. We were hoping to catch a whiff of cigar smoke. They say that Colonel Driskill, who built the hotel, can’t read the “No Smoking” signs. His presence can often be detected by that cigar smoke. He is also known for turning lights on and off in the bathrooms of the guests.

On the balcony off of the Mezzanine, we saw a cigar butt in an ashtray. Could that have belonged to the Colonel, or did somebody just think that would be funny?

All we saw of Colonel Driskill was his painted portrait in a large gilt frame at the head of the lobby stairs.

Johnette Napolitano, the lead singer of the band Concrete Blonde, wrote a song about a ghostly experience that she had at the Driskill. In “Ghost of a Texas Ladies Man,” the hotel assumes the lyrics refer to Colonel Driskill. What do you think?

I’ll tell you more about our “adventures” at the Driskill in Part Two. Come back and visit. But tell me, have you had a ghostly experience at the Driskill Hotel in Austin?

Other posts you might enjoy:

1. The Haunted Driskill Hotel in Black and White
2. Ghost Hunt at The Driskill Hotel. Part 2.
3. Haunted House in Black and White
4. Another Verse To The Ghost Story At The Woodbine
5. Ghost Busting At The Menger

Tagged as: Austin Texas, Ghostly--Mostly, Hill Country, hotel, Music, photographs, Texas Travel, YouTube