Haunted hotel guide · Rochester, Minnesota
The Haunted Kahler Grand Hotel, Rochester: The Vanished Heiress in the Elevator
A 1921 hotel that was once part hospital, across the street from Mayo Clinic, where staff say they have shared an elevator with a candy heiress who vanished in 1977.
The Kahler Grand Hotel stands at 20 Second Avenue SW in downtown Rochester, directly across from the Mayo Clinic and linked to it by underground walkways. When it opened in 1921 it was a hotel and a hospital in one, with three operating rooms and several laboratories inside, built because the world-famous clinic stood in a small Minnesota city with few places for patients to stay. The medical services ended in 1953, but the Kahler is still the classic place to stay for a Mayo visit, with about 600 rooms after a $30 million renovation, and its guest book runs from Muhammad Ali to King Hussein of Jordan.
Its ghost story is tied to one of the Midwest’s most famous unsolved cases. In 1977 Helen Voorhees Brach, heiress to the Brach candy fortune, stayed at the Kahler for a Mayo checkup, stopped at the hotel gift shop and was never seen again. Staff interviewed by paranormal researchers Chad Lewis and Larry Fisk described riding the elevator with a solid-looking woman they recognized as Brach, who then vanished. Guests add stories of former patients, strange smells and sudden cold spots. It is one of the best-known haunted hotels in Minnesota.
The Kahler Grand at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 20 Second Avenue SW, Rochester, MN 55902
- Opened 1921 as a combined hotel and hospital; medical services ended in 1953
- Most haunted spots The guest elevators, the hallways and the lobby area around the old gift shop
- Best-known ghosts Helen Voorhees Brach, the candy heiress who vanished in 1977, and former patients of the hotel hospital
- Booking the haunted room There is no haunted room. The stories center on the elevators, so any room will do; ask for an upper floor to make the most of the ride.
- Good to know A large, busy hotel that serves Mayo Clinic patients and families, owned by Kahler Hospitality Group, with the 44-room Towers on the 11th floor. Underground walkways connect it to the clinic, which is a blessing in a Rochester winter. The hotel does not promote its ghost stories.
The ghosts of the Kahler Grand
Helen Brach, the heiress who never checked out
Helen Voorhees Brach married into the Brach candy family and was heiress to its fortune. In February 1977 she came to Rochester for a checkup at the Mayo Clinic and stayed at the Kahler. After her appointment she stopped at a gift shop, where an assistant remembered her saying she was in a hurry because her houseman was waiting, and that is the last reliable sighting of her. No body was ever found, and she was declared legally dead in 1984. Horseman Richard Bailey was later charged with conspiring to murder her; he was not convicted of that, but he was convicted of defrauding her and sentenced to 30 years.
Her disappearance is a real and well-documented case. The ghost story grew out of it: after she vanished, people began to report seeing her around the hotel, especially near the elevators.
The woman in the elevator
Paranormal researchers Chad Lewis and Larry Fisk interviewed Kahler staff for their book, the Minnesota Road Guide to Haunted Locations. As KROC summarized it in 2016, staff members and guests described taking a ride up in an elevator with a solid-looking woman they recognized as Helen Brach, and then watching her disappear before their eyes. KROC says the sightings went on up to 2004, when Lewis and Fisk did their interviews.
No newer staff interviews have been made public, so nobody can say whether she is still seen. If you ride the elevators late at night, you are following the story rather than a recent report.
Former patients
For more than thirty years the Kahler had operating rooms and laboratories under the same roof as its guest rooms, and many of today’s guest rooms were originally hospital rooms. Some people believe former patients have stayed on. Guests describe strange smells with no obvious source, sudden drops in temperature and odd sounds in the hallways.
These reports are general rather than tied to particular rooms, and the hotel itself does not discuss them.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- The guest elevators: The heart of the Helen Brach story. Ride them late in the evening when the hotel is quiet.
- The lobby and old gift shop area: Where Brach was last seen in 1977, after her Mayo appointment.
- The hallways: Where guests report cold spots, smells and sounds linked to the hotel’s hospital years.
- The underground walkways: The route to Mayo Clinic that patients have used for generations. Busy by day, very quiet at night.
History of Kahler Grand Hotel
Rochester grew around the Mayo brothers’ clinic, and by the early twentieth century patients were arriving from all over the world in a small city with few hotels. The Kahler family had been in the hotel business since 1896, when they bought the Cook House, and in 1921 they opened the Kahler Hotel-Hospital to fill the gap: a luxury hotel with a hospital inside it, including three operating rooms and several laboratories. It stood directly across the street from Mayo, and an underground subway linked the two.
Hospital functions ended in 1953, though for years afterward a nursing service still offered in-room care to guests. Life at the hotel revolved around the clinic, and diners in the Pinnacle, the restaurant at the top of the hotel, talked about upcoming surgeries and diagnoses.
Because Mayo treated the famous, the Kahler housed them. Guests included Muhammad Ali, Billy Graham, Jimmy Stewart, King Hussein of Jordan and Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan. Dwight D. Eisenhower gave a campaign speech standing on a table in the Elizabethan Room, Jack Benny held informal press conferences in the lobby, baseball manager Leo Durocher kept a special mattress at the hotel, and Johnson commandeered an elevator for his entourage. Some celebrities checked in under false names to avoid the press.
Sunstone Hotel Investors bought the Kahler Corporation in a 17-hotel deal in 1997. In 2013 a group of five Midwest investors, Kahler Hospitality Group led by Javon Bea, bought the Kahler Grand, three other downtown hotels and a commercial laundry from Sunstone for $230 million. A $30 million renovation of floors 2 to 11 followed, enlarging many rooms that had once been hospital rooms and cutting the count from 660 to about 605, and in late 2023 the hotel’s landmark rooftop sign was rebuilt with LED letters; one of the original letters is now in the hotel’s history center.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Ride the elevators late in the evening, when the hotel is at its quietest.
- Use the underground walkways to reach Mayo Clinic and downtown in winter.
- Remember that many guests are here for medical care. Keep any ghost hunting discreet and respectful.
- Look for the Elizabethan Room, where Eisenhower stood on a table to give a campaign speech.
- For a full investigation, see the nearest Haunted Rooms event below or all Minnesota ghost hunts.
Want to investigate, not just sleep?
Sleeping in a haunted hotel is one thing. Investigating one after dark is another. On a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt our team takes you through the building with professional ghost hunting equipment, runs EVP sessions and lets you explore on your own during free roam.
- Ringling House Ghost Hunt and Sleepover, Baraboo, WI: Our nearest overnight ghost hunt, about three and a half hours east in Wisconsin.
More haunted hotels nearby
- St. James Hotel, Red Wing: about an hour north, with Clara’s Room 310
- The Palmer House Hotel, Sauk Centre: one of Minnesota’s most famous haunted hotels
- Chase on the Lake, Walker: a Leech Lake resort with a haunted bowling alley
- Haunted hotels in Minnesota
Stayed in one of these hotels? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from guests and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your stay. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Kahler Grand Hotel in Rochester haunted?
It has a ghost reputation tied to Helen Voorhees Brach, the candy heiress who vanished after staying there in 1977. Staff interviewed in 2004 described seeing her in an elevator before she disappeared, and guests report cold spots, smells and sounds linked to the hotel’s hospital years.
What happened to Helen Brach at the Kahler Hotel?
She came to Rochester in February 1977 for a Mayo Clinic checkup, stayed at the Kahler, stopped at a gift shop and was never seen again. No body was found, and she was declared legally dead in 1984. Richard Bailey was later convicted of defrauding her, though not of her murder.
Was the Kahler Hotel a hospital?
Yes. It opened in 1921 as a hotel and hospital combined, with three operating rooms and several laboratories. Its hospital functions ended in 1953.
Is the Kahler Grand connected to Mayo Clinic?
Yes. It stands across the street from Mayo Clinic and is linked to it by underground walkways.
Who has stayed at the Kahler Grand Hotel?
Guests have included Muhammad Ali, Billy Graham, Jimmy Stewart, King Hussein of Jordan and Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan. Eisenhower gave a campaign speech there.
How many rooms does the Kahler Grand have?
About 600. A $30 million renovation announced in 2018 enlarged many rooms and reduced the count from 660 to about 605, including the 44 rooms of The Towers on the 11th floor.
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.
- KROC: Is the Kahler Grand Hotel in Rochester haunted? (2016)
- Albert Lea Tribune: Kahler Grand Hotel sale revives Rochester legends (2013)
- Wikipedia: Helen Brach
- Post Bulletin: Historic Rochester hotel to get $30 million renovation
- MPR News: Iconic Rochester sign gets a glow-up (2023)
Get new haunted hotel guides by email
New guides, haunted hotel picks and ghost hunt dates near you. No spam, unsubscribe any time.
About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
Booking links on this page are affiliate links. If you book through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.