The Elms Hotel and Spa

A grand resort hotel first opened in 1888, rebuilt twice after fires in 1898 and 1910. Set in the mineral springs town of Excelsior Springs, the hotel was featured on SyFy's Ghost Hunters in 2013. Now a Hyatt property, it has served as a retreat for over 130 years.

The Elms Hotel and Spa in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, has been a destination for those seeking the healing powers of the town's mineral waters since 1888, when the Excelsior Springs Company built the first hotel on a fifty-acre site of rolling hills and lush trees. But the property has been marked by fire and violence since its earliest days, and the spirits of those who suffered here have made it one of the most actively haunted hotels in the Midwest.

The original Elms Hotel burned to the ground on May 8, 1898, just ten years after it opened. A new, grander hotel was built on the site, only to be consumed by fire again on October 29, 1910. The current limestone structure, designed to be fireproof, rose from the ashes and quickly became one of the premier resort destinations in the region, attracting guests ranging from President Harry Truman to notorious gangsters who used the hotel's remote location and luxurious amenities as a refuge from the law.

During Prohibition, the hotel's basement became a hub of illegal activity. Hidden rooms were used to store bootleg liquor, and gambling operations ran beneath the elegant spa facilities. It was during this era that the hotel's most violent haunting is said to have originated. A man connected to the mob was allegedly murdered in the basement pool area -- killed for reasons lost to history -- and his spirit is reported to haunt the spa's underground rooms to this day. Guests and staff have encountered his presence near the pool, where the temperature drops inexplicably and an overwhelming feeling of anger pervades the space.

The most frequently seen ghost is a spectral woman in a 1920s-era maid's uniform who appears most often on the hotel's third floor. Known simply as "the Maid," she moves through the hallways as if still attending to her duties, straightening rooms and checking on guests who are no longer there. Staff members have reported encountering her in the early morning hours, mistaking her for a living coworker before she vanishes around a corner.

Perhaps the most disturbing spirit is a distressed woman who roams the halls searching desperately for her child. Unlike the quiet Maid, this entity is aggressive and volatile -- she has been reported pulling at guests' hair, throwing objects across rooms, and creating such an atmosphere of anguish that some visitors have requested room changes in the middle of the night. Her identity and the fate of her child remain unknown.

The hotel was featured on SyFy's Ghost Hunters in July 2013, and the hotel has embraced its supernatural reputation, offering nightly paranormal tours and a special Paranormal Tour Package that includes ghost hunting equipment and guided investigations of the most active areas. The Elms stands as a place where the search for physical healing and encounters with the supernatural have been intertwined for well over a century.