One of Dallas' oldest hotels celebrates 100 years by sharing haunted tales: "It's hard not to believe guests"
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — Opening back in 1923, Le Meridien Dallas, The Stoneleigh is celebrating 100 years of history this year—making it the second oldest hotel in Dallas.
With this in mind, it would make sense that a soul or two would stick around, right?
That's what Julie Garrett believes, at least. "It's hard not to believe guests when they come to you with their stories."
The most prominent one being from 1930, when a frequent guest of the hotel, Colonel Harry Stewart, bought the property and turned the 11th floor into his penthouse suite.
"He still thinks its his," Garrett said.
It is believed he may have had a mistress, a woman named Margaret who utilized prohibition-era secret tunnels and doorways of the hotel to get to him. They are now boarded up.
Staff can't say for sure who exactly she was, but a medium who stayed at the hotel says she believes Margaret died there.
"She told us [Margaret] either fell to her death or was pushed," Garrett said.
Guests claim to interact most with those two characters on the 11th floor.
"[One guest] said the ceiling fan went on and off all night, and the hangers in the closet were clanging," Garrett said. "Water bottles were thrown from the nightstand...not rolled. Thrown."
And while CBS News Texas crews filmed the story, no haunted interactions occurred.
That was until the footage was reviewed and a woman could be heard screaming in the back of the team's interviews.
It is hard to say what exactly was caught on tape, but the hotel's general manager Stacy Martin is skeptical.
"I think it's worthwhile to make people aware of those stories and have fun with them, but I don't necessarily believe them," she said.
But there's no harm in coming to see for yourself.
"I think if you want to come see for yourself, I make no guarantees that you will get what you're looking for, but I do think that you will enjoy the history and charm and the hospitality that we provide here," Martin said.
The hotel will continue to celebrate their 100th anniversary until the end of the year, and will host its 100th "NYE at the Stoneleigh" with a four-course dinner party.
Information to attend can be found here.
