Missouri Life October 2023

remaining here might have participated in setting one of those early devastating fires. Near the basement lap pool, guests have encountered the spirit of an individual involved in an illegal speakeasy that operated at the hotel during Prohibition. There’s an apparition of a housekeeper wearing a 1920s-style uniform that appears to guests on the third floor. When people report a tug on their hair or see things thrown across the room, the staff attributes the mischief to a distressed female spirit who is looking for her child. There are unexplained noises too. But guests agree these spirits are harmless. ElmsHotelAndSpa.com

Excelsior Springs

St. Louis

The Elms Hotel & Spa at Excelsior Springs reports having several ghosts who roam the grand hotel. Great wealth couldn’t prevent tragedy for the family of beer barons whose spirits may still inhabit the Lemp Mansion. Their former home now hosts a restaurant, inn, and popular ghost-themed tours and events.

Following massive fires in 1898 and 1910, The Elms Hotel & Spa reopened in 1912. No deaths occurred because of the fires, but the stories that pour in from guests indi cate the hotel is haunted all the same. The Elms has long attracted rich and famous travelers, including boxer Jack Dempsey, President Harry S. Truman, and the notorious gangster Al Capone, who conducted all-night drinking and gambling parties at The Elms. Elaborate stone and woodwork, fancy floor tiles, and elegant light fixtures adorn the hotel’s public spaces and restaurant. The classy combination of historic details and modern amenities is present in all 153 deluxe guest rooms and suites. Relaxation is a house specialty and is practically guar anteed with luxuries like private jetted tubs, the proper ty’s spacious indoor or outdoor pools, and the treatments available at the 25,000-square-foot spa. But guests should come prepared for ghostly encoun ters, too. With more than 120 years of history, it’s no surprise The Elms has been the focus of plenty of para normal investigations, including a 2013 episode of the television show Ghost Hunters . In fact, guests can book a paranormal tour package, which includes an overnight stay plus two tickets to a nightly paranormal tour. There has been speculation that one ghostly presence

Travelers who book a stay in one of four beautiful suites at the 1860s Lemp Mansion will sleep where beer bar ons previously slept. After migrating from Eschwege, Germany, to St. Louis in 1838, John Adam Lemp opened a grocery store that also sold lager beer. Two years later, he closed the store and built the city’s first brewery. He died a millionaire in 1862. John’s son, William J. Lemp, purchased and lived in this three-story mansion while taking the helm of the family’s growing brewing empire. But family tragedy struck in 1901 when William’s favorite son and brew ery heir, Frederick, died mysteriously. Three years later, William died in a mansion bedroom from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Tragedy continued. Once among the city’s wealthi est heirs, William’s daughter Elsa committed suicide in 1920. William J. Lemp Jr. shot himself after overseeing the brewery’s sale. His son, William Lemp III, died of a heart attack in 1943 at 42 years old. Finally, William Jr.’s brother, Charles, continued to live in the mansion until

THE ELMS HOTEL & SPA, THE LEMP MANSION

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