Haunted hotel guide · La Jolla, California
The Haunted Grande Colonial, La Jolla: Abigail and the 2 a.m. Calls
La Jolla’s oldest hotel, a block from the cove, where the front desk takes calls from empty rooms and a woman in lace is said to look in on sleeping children.
The Grande Colonial sits on Prospect Street in the heart of La Jolla village, a short walk from La Jolla Cove, the sea lions and the Children’s Pool. It opened in 1913 and calls itself the oldest original hotel in La Jolla. It is one of the classic stays in our guide to haunted hotels in San Diego.
The ghost stories here are not tied to a single tragedy. Instead staff and guests describe a run of small, strange things: phone calls to the front desk at 2 a.m. from rooms with nobody in them, a well-dressed couple who vanish in the hallway, footsteps on the stairs and a woman some call Abigail. The hotel has been happy to share them, at one point handing ghost-hunting kits to curious guests at check-in.
Grande Colonial at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 910 Prospect Street, La Jolla, CA 92037
- Opened 1913; the main four-story hotel was built in the mid-1920s
- Most haunted spots Rooms that call the front desk, Room 510, the North Annex above the old bakery, the stairs near the Sun Room, the kitchen
- Best-known ghosts Abigail, a woman in light lace; a couple in evening clothes; heavy footsteps of running men
- Booking the haunted room No room is sold as haunted. You can ask for Room 510 or a North Annex room when you book; it is not guaranteed
- Good to know 93 rooms and suites; home of the Nine-Ten restaurant; a short walk to La Jolla Cove
The ghosts of Grande Colonial La Jolla
Calls from empty rooms
The story the hotel is best known for starts at the front desk. Night staff say the phone rings at around 2 a.m. and the display shows a guest room that nobody is staying in. La Jolla Mom, writing about the hotel’s own ghost stories, says one room in particular was popular in the late 1940s with Hollywood actors playing at the La Jolla Playhouse, who valued their privacy. Some people like to think a few of them are still calling down for room service.
Abigail
Guests and staff describe a glowing woman in a light lace dress who appears in guest rooms. She has been given the name Abigail, though nobody knows who she was. In one story she plays with a child’s toys; in another she was seen brushing a young boy’s hair while he lay in bed. She is always described as gentle.
The couple in evening clothes
Several people say they have seen a couple dressed for a formal night out walking in a hallway, only for them to disappear without passing through a door or window. One young guest, so the story goes, saw something odder still: a group of miniature Abraham Lincolns.
Footsteps on the stairs and in the North Annex
Legends of America says that during World War II a room near the Sun Room served as temporary barracks for single servicemen, and that heavy footsteps are still heard on the nearby staircase, like several men running up and down, followed by doors slamming. Guests in the North Annex, above the old bakery, describe loud voices and people running down the stairs late at night, and bakery doors that swing open and shut after closing.
Trouble in the kitchen
Kitchen staff have reported doors opening and closing by themselves, frying pans moving and stoves switching on and off. The story goes that the ghosts were stirred up when the restaurant was remodeled and has grown quieter since it became Nine-Ten.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- Room 510: In 2017 the front desk told a visiting writer that the ghost in Room 510 was good-tempered and harmless.
- The North Annex: Above the old bakery, where guests hear voices and running on the stairs.
- The stairs near the Sun Room: Where heavy footsteps of running men are reported, linked to wartime barracks.
- Nine-Ten restaurant and kitchen: Moving pans and stoves that switch themselves on, reported mostly before the remodel.
History of Grande Colonial La Jolla
The hotel began in 1913 as the Colonial Inn, sometimes listed as the Colonial Apartments and Hotel, with just eight apartments and rooms. In the mid-1920s the owner commissioned a much larger four-story Colonial Revival hotel on the site and moved the original building to the back of the lot. Sources disagree on the exact year, giving 1925 or 1926.
The new Colonial Hotel became a favorite of visiting performers. Gregory Peck, a La Jolla native whose father was the hotel’s pharmacist, co-founded the La Jolla Playhouse, and actors including Charlton Heston, Dorothy McGuire, Groucho Marx, Eve Arden and David Niven stayed at the Colonial while performing there. During World War II, according to Legends of America, part of the hotel housed servicemen.
New owners renovated the hotel in the 1970s and again in the 1990s and 2000s. A 2007 restoration of the neighboring Little Hotel by the Sea and Garden Terrace wings added 18 suites, and a renovation in 2012 prepared the hotel for its centennial the following year. Today the Grande Colonial has 93 rooms and suites and the Nine-Ten restaurant.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Ask for Room 510 or a room in the North Annex when you book, and confirm a few days before you arrive.
- Ask at the front desk whether they still have ghost stories or ghost-hunting kits to share. They have offered both in the past.
- Walk down to La Jolla Cove at night. It is less than five minutes from the door, and the sea lions are loud after dark.
- Book dinner at Nine-Ten, then decide whether the kitchen ghosts have really settled down.
- Add a night at the Hotel del Coronado or the Horton Grand for a San Diego ghost weekend.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Hotel del Coronado: Kate Morgan’s beach resort
- Horton Grand Hotel: Room 309 in the Gaslamp Quarter
- Whaley House: Old Town’s famous haunted house museum
- Haunted hotels in California
- Haunted hotels in San Diego
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 Grande Colonial in La Jolla haunted?
The Grande Colonial has a long-standing haunted reputation. Staff report 2 a.m. calls to the front desk from empty rooms, and guests describe a woman in lace called Abigail, a vanishing couple in evening clothes and footsteps on the stairs.
What is the haunted room at the Grande Colonial?
No single room is officially haunted, but the front desk has pointed guests to Room 510, and the North Annex above the old bakery has many reports.
Who is Abigail at the Grande Colonial?
Abigail is the name given to a glowing woman in a light lace dress seen in guest rooms. Nobody knows who she was, and she is described as gentle.
How old is the Grande Colonial hotel?
It opened in 1913 as the Colonial Inn, and the main four-story building dates from the mid-1920s, making it La Jolla’s oldest original hotel.
Did Gregory Peck stay at the Grande Colonial?
Gregory Peck grew up in La Jolla, and his father was the hotel’s pharmacist. Actors from the La Jolla Playhouse he co-founded, including Charlton Heston and Groucho Marx, stayed at the hotel.
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.
- Historic Hotels of America: Grande Colonial history
- Five Star Alliance: Haunted happenings at Grande Colonial
- La Jolla Mom: Haunted hotels in San Diego
- Houstonia: Searching for ghosts in San Diego
- Legends of America: Sleeping With Ghosts in California
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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.
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