Excalibur Hotel Haunted
Excalibur is among the biggest hotel/casinos on the planet, and it has everything a Vegas casino should have but in a King Arthur theme. It's said that floor number 10 of this casino is very haunted. The guests who stay on that floor have allegedly reported hearing whispers and experiencing sudden cold spots. The final destination on this list of the most haunted places in Las Vegas contains what is. If you want a close encounter with a restless spirit during your stay in Las Vegas, consider checking into a room on the 10th floor of Excalibur Hotel & Casino, the medieval-themed hotel and casino that opened on the site of the abandoned Xanadu Hotel project in 1990 and one of the most haunted hotels in Las Vegas.
History of Excalibur (The Hotel/Casino not the Sword)
There isn’t much history in regards to the haunting that supposedly takes place at the Excalibur Hotel. The hotel opened June 19th, 1990. What has been said about the hotel is that the tenth floor is haunted. According to multiple websites that list haunted locations the haunting is described as this, “Walking down the hallway on the 10th floor you feel as though someone is directly behind you, hovering over your back, and then you hear a whisper, directly in your ear as if their lips were only an inch away.”
Our Preliminary Visit
The problem with this acclaimed haunting is that there are two towers. Tower I and Tower II. We checked out the tenth floor of Tower II first. We only took photographs to see what we could find. My mom walked down the hallways to see what she might hear. There was definitely an uncomfortable energy about the hall that was contrary to the fourth floor where we were staying. In my first picture I captured an orb. I continued taking pictures down the hall. I caught the brightest orb down this hall.
We ventured to Tower I. The energy on the tenth floor in this tower didn’t feel as ominous. The pictures taken in this tower didn’t catch orbs right away. I waited for my mom to come around the corner and snapped a picture of her along with an orb floating beside her. I also captured an image of an orb floating behind my brother as he walked around the corner.
Evidence
Tower I with no orbs (Except the one that I just noticed on the rug…) A “control” image.
Orb beside my mother in Tower I.
Conclusion
Excalibur Hotel Haunted
There is definitely some evidence that could lead to a follow up investigation to conduct an EVP session on the tenth floor of both towers.
Is The Excalibur Hotel Open
Last week brought news that The Castle, in the building still best known as the Excalibur club at 632 N Dearborn, is closing down on Jan. 3. In the realm of “haunted Chicago” tales, the Excalibur building is a strange case. Employees at the club certainly seem to think the place is haunted (in contrast to the countless places that are said to be haunted without anyone ever seeming to have a first-hand account), but the backstories, the reasons why it would be haunted, never quite seem to check out.
A gothic stone mansion in the shadow of the Hard Rock Cafe and the Rock and Roll McDonald’s, The Castle/Excalibur building sure looks like it ought to be haunted from the outside. Built in the 1890s, using several pieces of material salvaged from pre-fire buildings, it was originally opened as the site of the Chicago Historical Society, which opened its doors in 1896. Over the year’s it’s also been the site of decidedly un-spooky businesses such as a school of design, the WPA, and the Loyal Order of the Moose.
Here are some of the myths surrounding the buildings supposed curse:
1. The building acted as a morgue after the SS Eastland capsized in the Chicago River: Though the 844 bodies from the disaster were taken to several places, the building in question was definitely not one of them. Most likely, the story spread due to confusion: photos of the bodies being identified at the second regiment armory building are sometimes labelled “courtesy of Chicago Historical Society.” Somewhere along the line, someone probably thought that referred to the location, not the organization that supplied the photo. The second regimental armory is actually now part of Harpo Studios (which employees also tell ghost stories about).
2. The bones of Jean LaLime were once housed in The Castle: This story is partially true — bones thought to be that of LaLime, an early settler killed by John Kinzie in what appears to have been a drunken brawl — were accidentally unearthed during construction near the Rush Street bridge and presented as a gift to the historical society (who I’m sure were just thrilled). But there’s one problem: the bones weren’t unearthed until a good 20 years after the Great Chicago Fire, and certainly weren’t destroyed in it - in fact, the historical society still has them. The bones were actually on display in the current building once upon a time; an 1896 article in the Tribune about the opening of the new building describes them as being on view in the south room on the second floor, near a chair George Washington gave his children and a collection of bombs and knives the police rounded up after the Haymarket affair. So that's one possible explanation, though by that logic Old LaLime would probably be just as likely to be haunting the off-site storage facility where his bones are currently stored.
Excalibur Hotel Map
3. A lot of people have died tragically in the building over the years: Beyond the tales of bodies in the building, there are stories about people hanging themselves from the ceiling, children dying elevator shafts and other tales that come up a lot in ghost stories all over, but that in this case (and most others) don’t seem to have any basis in fact. Even deaths on the grounds during the great fire have never quite been confirmed.
Excalibur Hotel Review
With so many backstories failing to pass the fact-checking stage of research, it’s always been hard for me not to think that the ghost stories were just part of the marketing plan of the night club, even when I cast my general skepticism aside. Still, I’ve seldom spoken to an employee who wasn’t convinced that the place was haunted. Could there be some unknown story about the place, just waiting to be discovered?