Washington Ghost Stories: The Haunted Hotel Leo

All historic buildings have stories to tell. They have, after all, existed through eras and generations, bearing silent witness to all that occurs within. But what if some of those who have occupied historic spaces during earlier times left behind some history of their own? We're not talking about old letters, furniture and other artifacts of lives and times gone by. Instead we're referring to something slightly spookier. We're not sure we believe in ghosts exactly, but there have been some strange happenings at the Hotel Leo that have us asking the question: What if?

Haunted Bellingham: Things That Go Bump in the Night

For as long as it has existed, the Hotel Leo has been a gathering place at the center of Bellingham life. People from all places and walks of life have graced these hallowed halls, each with their own circumstances and stories. Perhaps some of them have left remnants of those stories behind in a way that is, well, slightly spectral in form. 

Before we get into the things that have gone bump in the night, we'd like to make plain that if the Hotel Leo is one of the haunted places in Washington state, the spirits doing the haunting mean no harm. Though we've had some encounters that are difficult to explain, none of them have been creepy or frightening. We'd go as far as to say that we wouldn't mind meeting our guests from the great beyond—should they exist—and hearing the stories they've stayed behind to tell. After all, part of our mission as stewards of this building is to honor its history—no matter what form that history might take. 

Our Haunted Hotel in Washington

There's no area of the Hotel Leo that has seen more celebrations of life's milestones than the ballroom. As such, it makes a certain amount of sense that it would also be the place where a ghostly presence might be seen—or heard. Now, we're not trying to make the case that the ballroom is a paranormal hotbed or one of the most haunted places in Washington state. However, late one night, as one of our most levelheaded, no-nonsense employees was taking care of a task on the floor below the ballroom, he heard what very clearly sounded like the laughter and footsteps of children running and playing above. Concerned that someone's offspring were playing unsupervised, he quickly ran upstairs to find...nothing. Convinced his ears must have deceived him, he went back downstairs only to hear the same noises 20 minutes later. This time, he was determined to catch the frolicking scamps. However, when he returned to the ballroom all was pitch black and deserted. 

In another instance, our head of maintenance—who knows the building better than anyone—was in the upper lobby early one morning and heard loud moaning coming from the direction of the Rose Room. Thinking someone was in distress, he immediately followed in the direction of the noise and heard more loud moans and then felt what he described as "cold chill and cold breeze on me." Though he searched the area thoroughly, no one was there.

The restrooms at the Hotel Leo should also be entered into the lore of haunted Bellingham. During the buildout of the hotel, a plumbing crew stayed late one night to install toilets after hours. As they stood at the head of the second-floor hallway, they saw someone leave a room at the end of the hall and cross the hallway into a restroom. When they entered the restroom to tell the trespasser to leave—you guessed it, the bathroom was empty. 

Meanwhile, a basement bathroom has also been the site of some irregular and unexplained phenomena. A woman who worked in a shop that formerly occupied one of the Hotel Leo's retail spaces described being in a small restroom down there washing her hands and saw the locked doorknob turn 180 degrees, which could only happen from the inside where she was located, as the knob wouldn't turn from the outside when the door was locked. During their tenure in the shop, they also learned to peacefully coexist with the force that flushed toilets and turned lights on, but when a brass bowl in the store began gonging late one morning, they took that as their cue to leave and grant the spirit some privacy.

Call the Experts: Washington Ghost Hunters Take the Case

Some haunted places in Washington probably just have to live with both their ghostly visitors and their questions concerning them, but here in Bellingham, we have ghost hunters to investigate such things. That's exactly what happened recently at the Hotel Leo, when a crew from a local ghost-buster group brought in their sophisticated equipment and expertise to examine the paranormal happenings of our potentially haunted hotel. They spent several hours assessing the premises, taking measurements and readings from their instruments and generally getting the lay of the land. 

But it wasn't until they were in an off-limits part of the hotel in a now-defunct restroom (yet another case of a bathroom being one of the hotel's more haunted places) that they came face to face with something otherworldly. As they recorded, they heard an obviously irritated voice say, "Watch it, you cow." It wasn't the nicest greeting to be sure, and although we said our ghosts aren't scary, we didn't mention that, like anyone else, they can get a bit grouchy from time to time. However, the ghost hunters were far more excited than offended. And yes, we have heard the recording and the bovine-related insult comes across clear as a bell.

All in all, we're still not sure the Hotel Leo qualifies as being a haunted hotel and we know that in terms of the most haunted places in Washington state, spiritual activity tends to be pretty mellow here. But when you stay with us and hear the laughter of children late at night, you might very well be in the presence of our friendly ghosts. If someone happens to call you a cow, we apologize. Our ghosts haven't been through their customer service training yet.