Haunting Experience at Copper Queen Hotel
Posted in Arizona, Family Fun, Haunted hotel, Historic, Hotels, Southwest, Travel | By Shelley Gillespie | Tags: Arizona, Bisbee, Copper Queen Hotel, Haunted hotel, Historic, Hotels, Southwest, Travel
Ever stayed at a haunted house? We hadn’t, so we decided to book a stay at the Copper Queen Hotel in the Julia Lowell room, reputed to be haunted.
The Copper Queen is a vintage hotel, dating from 1902, and was built to offer accommodations to mine management back in the Bisbee mining heydays. Bisbee is terraced into the hills, and so is the Copper Queen. After stepping up the stairs into the hotel, you immediately feel that you’ve entered the past. The old lobby desk, with large old-fashioned keys leads to their old, plush sofa- decorated parlor off the lobby. An impressive staircase, curving at the top, leads to a second floor with a comfortable sitting area and an old dining table with flowers everywhere.
Parlor and staircase
We took the elevator, a venerable old, wooden machine, to the third floor where our room was located. Room 315. We headed down the hall to the left, passed the Grace Dodge Room (named after the family member of the mining family) and continued down to the last room on the left. The old-fashioned door opened to our key and we entered, not sure what we would find. On the inside, there were three locks.
We were a little nervous and my husband wasn’t really excited about staying in a haunted room. With the DVD the front desk had given us of the TV show that supposedly recorded the haunting, we brought in our luggage and looked around.
The Julia Lowell Room
The vivid sateen bedspread in a magenta shade had elaborate gathers and covered the comfortable queen-sized bed. Over the bed was a framed “License for Prostitution,” signed by Marshal Virgil Earp and a somewhat risqué photo of the lady in question. (We’ve cropped the photo – after all, we’re appealing to a family audience.)
License for prostitution - signed by Marshal Virgil Earp
The bedside lamp had one of the gaudiest fringe lamps we’ve ever seen and the entire look of the room did say “bordello.” You see, the room was supposedly occupied by the ghost of Julia Lowell, a lady of the night, who had taken her life in the room. According to the DVD, she liked to whisper in the ear of occupants and move the bedding.
More of the Julia Lowell Room
We watched the DVD of the ghost hunters. Their experience was unconvincing.
Finally, time for bed after dinner and sightseeing, we turned off the light and waited. I was prepared to have a visit from Julia, but we were both nervous about our potential night visitor.
Tossing and turning, I finally slept. I awoke several times, but never heard Julia whispering in my ear. My blankets were not disturbed. If the room was haunted, Julia chose not to visit us.
As far as accommodations, the hotel is an old-fashioned experience that meets the needs of most travelers. There is even an outdoor solar-heated pool. We didn’t try the pool, since the air was rather chilly, even if the pool was heated.
I must admit to being let down by not seeing Julia. Perhaps my willingness to have her visit scared her away. There were supposedly other haunted rooms at the hotel, but we didn’t investigate them since they were occupied.
So, although we didn’t have the haunting experience we expected, we will remember our stay at the Copper Queen Hotel. The experience was welcoming, even if Julia chose not to greet us. The staff was cheery and professional.
Technology alert: Although they have wireless capability, we were told that the connection was not guaranteed. And, it didn’t work. But, you know, maybe sometimes it is better to enjoy where you are and forget about connecting elsewhere.
Travel with us on Monday when we visit the Copper Queen Mine. Down below we go!
Tags: Arizona, Bisbee, Copper Queen Hotel, Haunted hotel, Historic, Hotels, Southwest, Travel