Overview
If the lore of the Old West appeals to you, then you’ll want to stop by this one-time combination hotel, saloon and bordello dating to the 1880s. Guests and employees have reported seeing the ghostly presence of the daughter of a prostitute who met her maker on the hotel’s upper floor.
The ghostly dark-haired woman, described as wearing a white dress, is known for her interactions with guests, sometimes offering shoulder taps. Ghosts of outlaws and gold miners who once frequented the hotel may be partly responsible for strange lights seen from unoccupied upper floor rooms and faint echoes of ghostly laughter.
My husband and I stopped here after going camping to grab some dinner for our anniversary. Walking into the saloon, I stopped immediately over the threshold, brow furrowed. It was not a bad feeling, but I was hit with overwhelming energy like things were bustling around me – but there was one person at the bar and the bar tender. Something doesn’t usually stop me in the tracks like that. The person sitting at the bar looked at me and his eyes lit up, he goes “you feel it too!”… pretty cool place all around and great history.
I loved the Occidental! We stayed one night and was one of the only couples there. We definitely felt a presence.. Not alarming or scary just historical and wonderful. Beautiful rooms great food and would love to go back. I think I will. Gail Farley Mt. Juliet, Tn.