Real Haunts

New Orleans, Louisiana is a city that has to be directly experienced to be believed. As many visitors to the city will say, there is something almost magical there, especially in the French Quarter. A darkly romantic vibe that hums throughout the city, especially at night, the clash of cultures there are not opposed, but instead wholly welcomed. For one of the oldest hotels in the city, some of these spirits are still said to remain there.

Is the French Market Inn in New Orleans Haunted?

The now historic French Market Inn boasts an established date of 1833, though there is belief that the building stood long before this time as well. Located on Decatur Street in the absolute heart of the French Quarter, the inn is still comprised of the centuries-old bricks that it was originally built on. The polished marble floors and real-world charm of the staff give off that classic New Orleans feel-good vibe, but just around the corner, one may never know if the spirit of a lost soul or two is lurking.

The building was originally constructed to be the home for Baron Joseph Xavier de Pontalba. Through some various ownerships the building, complete with fountain courtyard, was converted into an inn. Due to the growing population of the city, of all things a bakery was constructed just next to the inn. The constant shuffling orders of bread were hauled up the three-story building by dumbwaiter chains. Guests at the French Market have been awakened in the middle of the night to the sound of chains, centuries-old sounds from the bakery that once existed. But this is not the only paranormal aspect of the French Quarter.

Baron Joseph Xavier de Pontalba

Decatur Street is situated right on a port of the Mississippi River. Centuries worth of sailors, merchants, businessmen, cutthroats, thieves, witches, prostitutes, and roustabouts made this area their very first stop whenever coming off a riverboat. Unsavory activities in and around the inn have given way to a very paranormal narrative. Cold spots pop up randomly throughout the inn despite the humid New Orleans weather dictating otherwise. Black shadows have been notorious, known to float right through the walls. Never stopping or touching guests, but simply passing through.

The most outrageous claims from some visitors are awakening to find their pillowcases dripping with fresh bloody handprints. The only origin or passable explanation for the handprints is that a prostitute was murdered long ago by a client and the manifestation of the handprints is a cry for help from the netherworld.

For all the experienced paranormal activity, the French Market Inn remains one of the most well run and consistently sold out places to stay in the French Quarter. The historic inn is further proof that the darkly magical vibe of the city has truly never left and is definitely worth a stay.

The Hotel Boulderado was completed in 1908. Since that time, there have been a number of suicides in the hotel’s history. The first was in 1924 when a man administered chloroform to himself and overdosed. His wife was in the bathroom, and when she came out and saw her husband, she tried to kill herself with the leftover chloroform. There wasn’t enough left to kill her and she was taken to the hospital to recover.

The rooms with the most activity are 302 and 304. One of the rooms was the site of the chloroform suicide. Guests have reported white apparitions in the rooms. They have also heard voices with no apparent cause. A housekeeper in the 1980s reported that she’d seen the television come on in one of the rooms on its own. This was a time before remote controls for televisions. She’s seen a grandfather clock’s hands, which has never shown the correct time, spin around twice to show the correct time.

Even with the strange occurrences, the housekeeper stayed on at the Hotel Boulderado and advanced to become its sales and marketing manager. She’s seen many other strange things too. Once on a beautiful night, the heavy dining room window was shoved open by unseen hands.

Paranormal investigators have been to the hotel to verify the ghost sightings. While they didn’t see anything during their stay, they heard a disembodied voice whisper the word “careful” on their equipment as the investigators were walking down a staircase.