The Haunted Elms Hotel, Excelsior Springs: The Lap Pool Gambler, the 1920s Maid and Truman's Election Night

The Elms Hotel and Spa stands in a wooded park at the edge of downtown Excelsior Springs, about 30 miles northeast of Kansas City. It is the third hotel of that name on the site. The first two were destroyed by fire, and the stone building you see today opened on September 7, 1912, built to be fireproof. It is now a Destination by Hyatt hotel with about 153 rooms, a large spa and a grotto pool, and one of the best-known haunted hotels in Missouri.

Unlike most historic hotels, The Elms is happy to talk about its ghosts. Its own website describes a Prohibition-era gambler who lingers by the lower-level lap pool and a spirit in a 1920s uniform who seems to keep an eye on housekeeping. Guests add a third, less friendly presence: a woman said to search the halls for a lost child. The hotel runs a paranormal tour most evenings, and the building was featured on SyFy’s Ghost Hunters in July 2013.

The ghosts of The Elms Hotel and Spa

The gambler by the lap pool

The Elms’ best-known ghost belongs to the lower level, where the hotel’s lap pool now sits. During Prohibition the basement is said to have hosted illegal gambling and drinking, and the hotel’s own history repeats the long-told claim that Al Capone, “Pretty Boy” Floyd and Bugsy Moran threw parties here. Police raided the hotel more than once in that era.

The ghost is described as a man from those speakeasy nights. Legends of America and KSHB say he was killed by the mob during one of the illegal drinking parties, though no record of such a death has been tied to the hotel, so treat that part as legend. The hotel’s own ghost page simply says the lap pool area entertains the spirit of a gambler involved with illegal activities.

The maid in the 1920s uniform

The friendliest of the hotel’s spirits is a woman in an old-fashioned maid’s uniform. The hotel says housekeeping staff have their own “spiritual adviser” from the 1920s, and Legends of America describes her as benevolent, someone who seems to watch today’s housekeepers to make sure the job is done properly.

Legends of America puts her on the third floor, which KSHB calls one of the most haunted areas of the hotel. She appears in a hallway or at the end of a corridor, then is gone.

The woman searching for her child

The Elms’ third ghost is the one guests are least keen to meet. A distressed woman is said to roam the halls looking for her child. Legends of America says she has been known to pull people’s hair and throw things across the room, and KSHB says the hotel’s female spirits play tricks such as pulling hair and moving or even throwing items around.

No name or date is attached to her story, and the hotel does not identify her. She is best read as one of the long-running legends of the building rather than a known figure from its history.

The 1:30 am clang and the woman in the ballroom

Some guests report loud clanging noises around 1:30 in the morning. KC Yesterday notes that this has been linked to the time one of the early fires is said to have started. The hotel’s own history says no one was killed or injured in the 1898 fire.

One of the hotel’s tour guides, Jay Fanning, told Missouri Life that he once saw a figure a few feet ahead of him in the dark ballroom, which he later described as a woman with long blonde hair.

The most haunted rooms and places to look

• The lap pool: The lower-level pool where the gambler is said to linger. Hotel guests can use it, and it is the centerpiece of the ghost tour.
• The third floor: Where the maid and the woman searching for her child are most often reported. You can ask for a third-floor room when you book; it is a request, not a guarantee.
• Room 200: The room where Harry S. Truman secretly checked in on election night, November 2, 1948. The hotel’s timeline notes that his suite is now numbered Room 300. Not a ghost story, but the hotel’s most famous room.
• The Grand Ballroom and lobby: The public heart of the 1912 building, with its stone fireplaces and long corridors, and the best place to soak up the old spa resort mood after dark.

History of The Elms Hotel and Spa

Excelsior Springs grew up around its mineral springs. According to the hotel, the town’s story begins in 1880, when Opal Mellion, the sick daughter of farmer Travis Mellion, recovered after drinking and bathing in the spring water, and within a few years the area was marketing itself as America’s Haven of Health. The Excelsior Springs Company opened the first Elms Hotel in 1888.

Fire destroyed that hotel on May 9, 1898, without killing or injuring anyone. A second Elms opened on July 31, 1909, and burned on October 30, 1910. The owners rebuilt in native limestone, steel and reinforced concrete, and the present hotel, designed by Jackson and McIlvain in Tudor and Gothic Revival styles, opened on September 7, 1912.

The 1920s and 1930s gave the hotel its gangster reputation. It went bankrupt in 1931, and under new owners it reopened as a resort and spa. The hotel’s own timeline says Capone, Floyd and Moran are reported to have hosted gambling and gin parties in the building, and that Jack Dempsey and the New York Giants trained here. Wikipedia notes accounts linking the hotel to figures connected with Kansas City boss Tom Pendergast.

On November 2, 1948, President Harry S. Truman slipped away from the press and checked in secretly, staying in Room 200 while the country voted. He woke to learn he had won. In 1956 the Sheraton Corporation took it on as the Sheraton-Elms, and in the 1950s the hotel turned to conventions and weddings. It closed in 1970 for eight years, reopened under new owners after a spa renovation, and went through Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991. The city of Excelsior Springs bought out the remaining interest in October 1995, a $16 million renovation reopened the hotel with 153 rooms in July 1998, and a $20 million renovation in 2011 and 2012 added the current spa and grotto.

The Elms was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 29, 1985, and is a contributing property in The Elms Historic District. Horizon Midway Group bought it in April 2018, and it now operates as a Destination by Hyatt hotel.

Tips for a haunted stay

• Sign up for the ghost tour at the front desk when you check in. It starts at 9 pm, runs about 45 minutes to an hour and costs $30 a person. You can also call 816-630-5500 to book the tour on its own.
• For a ghost-themed stay, book the paranormal package on the hotel’s Hyatt booking page using offer code GHOST.
• Ask for a third-floor room if you want to be near the most-told stories, and visit the lap pool after dark.
• Book spa treatments and grotto time in advance; they are not included with a room and are for guests 18 and over.
• Dogs are welcome in designated rooms for an extra fee, so mention your pet when you book.
• Pair your stay with a night in Kansas City at Hotel Phillips, about 35 minutes away.

More haunted hotels nearby

• Hotel Phillips, Kansas City: a 1931 Art Deco tower with the Room 1513 story, about 30 miles away
• Hotel Savoy and the Muehlebach, Kansas City: two more haunted downtown hotels on our Missouri list
• Haunted places in Kansas City: mansions and museums to visit on the way
• The Eldridge Hotel, Lawrence, Kansas: famous for Room 506, about 70 miles west
• Haunted hotels in Missouri

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.

• The Elms: History
• The Elms: Ghosts and paranormal
• Wikipedia: Elms Hotel (Excelsior Springs)
• Legends of America: The Haunted Elms Hotel
• KSHB: One Tank Trips, unearthly guests at the Elms Hotel
• KC Yesterday: The story of the haunted Elms Hotel
• Missouri Life: Self care and a scare

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