Canadian World Traveller Spring 2024 Issue

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there for decades. One wall consisted of
exposed brick and mortar. The mattress, pillows
and plush towels were comparable to
those found in any fine hotel. Other amenities
included a refrigerator, coffeemaker and television.
The bathroom sparkled, though the
tub and sink were down a few steps from the
toilet-in-the-closet near my bed.
My spacious balcony afforded views of the
garden, vast woodlands and St. Elizabeth of
Hungary Catholic Church. The fourth-floor
pizzeria and cocktail bar also have outdoor
perches that showcase the Ozarks’ splendor.
Breakfast is served in the Crystal Dining
Room, the former ballroom, a cavernous
space with walnut walls and crystal chandeliers.
For dinner it becomes La Cena, an
Italian restaurant.
In the lobby, you may find Jasper, a black cat
with white chest and paws, perhaps by the
vintage organ. He is one in a long line of resident
cats.
1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa!
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Like the artsy mountain village of
Eureka Springs itself, the 1886
Crescent Hotel & Spa has a personality
that borders on the quirky side.
This historic hilltop “castle in the air,” once
billed as the “premier resort hotel of the
Ozarks,” originally catered to the “carriage
set.” Its affluent guests enjoyed afternoon
teas, dances in the ballroom, and sports like
tennis, shuffleboard and bowling.
Many of today’s guests come to soak in the
genteel, yesteryear vibe. Others come for
supernatural encounters, as the Crescent has
been called “America’s Most Haunted Hotel.”
Indeed, since its inception in 1886, the majestic
limestone building has played host to inexplicable
phenomena. Countless guests have
reported apparitions and unexplained noises,
by Randy Mink
like the nurse with her gurney wandering the
halls and the boy bouncing his ball in the
dead of night.
Talk about a hotel with character. What fun it
is roaming the warped floors of the dim, highceilinged
corridors. Guests encounter cockeyed
door frames, scratched woodwork, peeling
paint, chipped plaster and old-fashioned
radiators. Each room has its own configuration.
While I didn’t witness anything creepy, I did
wonder why, on stays a year apart, I got
assigned both times to Room 219. (And I was
a bit nervous being next to 218, or Michael’s
Room, the most paranormally active—and
most requested—room.) My furniture included
a rocking chair, a beautiful armoire and a
blemished dresser that looked like it had been
For recreation, guests enjoy the outdoor pool,
yard games, hatchet throwing and BB gun
shooting.
On nightly ghost tours, you learn about businessman
Norman Baker, who bought the
building in 1937 and turned it into a cancer
hospital, a clinic touted as a place “Where
Sick Folks Get Well.” But the shady “doctor,”
who claimed to have the cure for cancer, was
convicted of fraud and the hospital closed in
1940.
The eerie tour’s last stop is the “morgue,” an
area that long ago served as the hotel’s
kitchen and later the hospital’s autopsy room.
On display are the autopsy table and walk-in
cooler where Baker kept cadavers and body
parts. Shelves contain jars of human tissue,
medical specimens (perhaps tumors) discovered
in 2019 during an archaeological dig on
the hotel grounds. They apparently had been
surgically removed from patients.
The ghost tour is a must for any Eureka
Springs visitor wishing to learn the secrets
behind the Crescent Hotel’s grand facade.
www.crescent-hotel.com
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