Omni Grove Park Inn

Built in 1913 at the behest of E.W. Grove, this iconic Asheville resort features stunning Arts and Crafts architecture with massive granite walls and fireplaces. The historic Main Inn has hosted presidents, celebrities, and one very famous ghost.

The Grove Park Inn opened on July 12, 1913, built into the western slope of Sunset Mountain overlooking Asheville. Constructed from massive granite boulders hauled from the mountainside, the Arts and Crafts-style resort was the vision of Edwin Wiley Grove, a pharmaceutical magnate who wanted to create a hotel unlike any in the world. Over the decades, the inn has hosted presidents, literary figures, and celebrities. But its most famous resident arrived uninvited and has never left.

The Pink Lady is Asheville's most celebrated ghost. According to the story passed down through the inn's history, in the late fall of 1920, a young woman checked into Room 545 on the fifth floor. She was said to have loved pink -- her dress, her accessories, and even her luggage were all the same color. At some point following dinner, the woman fell from the interior balcony outside her room, plummeting five stories to the Palm Court atrium below, dying instantly. Whether she jumped, slipped, or was pushed has never been determined. Some accounts suggest she was conducting a secret affair with a married man at the hotel and leapt after he ended the relationship. Others describe it as a tragic accident. Her identity was never publicly confirmed.

In 1996, the Grove Park Inn conducted an in-depth investigation into the Pink Lady phenomenon, and the resulting evidence centered on Room 545 and the surrounding areas. The spirit manifests in two forms: as a wisp of pink mist drifting through hallways, or as a full apparition in a pink ball gown. Guests in Room 545 have reported being tickled on their feet while sleeping, feeling invisible arms wrap around them in an embrace, and experiencing sudden drops in temperature. She has been known to turn lights on and off, rearrange objects in guest rooms, and open and close doors throughout the fifth floor.

The Pink Lady shows a particular affinity for children. Staff have documented instances where the spirit appeared at the bedsides of ill children, speaking softly to them and gently stroking their hands. In one notable account, a physician staying at the inn left a thank-you note at the front desk crediting the lady in the pink ball gown for entertaining his children during their stay -- staff had to explain that no such woman was employed by the hotel. Children left alone in adjoining rooms have asked their parents where the nice lady in pink went.

Hotel employees have come to treat her as an established part of the inn's tradition, describing her as good-natured and kind. The staff's acceptance extends to less public areas of the building as well -- workers in the utility tunnels beneath the inn have reportedly fled after encountering phenomena they refuse to discuss in detail. The Pink Lady has been seen, felt, and experienced by guests and employees for more than half a century, making her one of the most consistently reported ghosts at any American hotel. The Omni Grove Park Inn, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, embraces its spectral resident. Room 545 is available for booking, and guests who stay there know exactly what they might be getting into.