The Ghosts of St. Anthony
Last weekend, I had the pleasure of staying at one of the finest hotels in San Antonio: The St. Anthony Hotel. Built in 1909, it has the elegance of an age long past, and it was the perfect location for Aetherfest, Texas’s first Steampunk convention.
When I walked into the lobby, I audibly gasped at its beauty. Deep burgundy carpets and upholstery decorated the lavish parlor. Chaise lounges, plush chairs, and glass chandeliers gave the entire room a level of sophistication one does not normally see in modern society. Once it was filled with cosplayers dressed to the nines in their Steampunk gear, it was a perfect snapshot of the past.
Most conventions have a floor dedicated to congoers, so that their party nature does not disturb the other guests. The St. Anthony gave Aetherfest the tenth floor, just adjacent to the rooftop terrace on which we spent the evenings dining, dancing, and socializing the night away.
Little did we know that the tenth floor is the most haunted floor of the most haunted hotel in all of San Antonio! We stayed in room 1044, and it was simply divine. With a four poster bed and cherry wood desks, this was no ordinary hotel. Perhaps it’s the power of suggestion, but once Capt. Whittaker of the Airship Isabella told me about the haunting (particularly in room 1080), my eyes darted to and fro as I tried to fall asleep that first night, listening to every creak. My husband fell asleep first, and his breathing settled into those deep sleep breaths. Just as I would start to drift off, I’d hear a door shut somewhere, and my eyes would pop back open, looking around the room for the ghost. The creepiest thing was when my husband’s breathing was echoed by another’s. Each of his exhalations were immediately followed by another, faintly. Visions of a malevolent ghost mocking our breaths of life filled my demented mind. It was so unnerving, I had to get out of bed and examine the source. It turned out to be just the gentleman in the next room, sleeping soundly. The walls, by the way, are paper thin.
Most certainly, both the Peraux Room and the Travis Room, where the vendors were located, had an inexplicable chill. Seriously, just walking from the hallway into the Travis Room one felt a twenty degree drop in temperature. At least. This severe cold, which according to the hotel staff remains present even when the AC is turned off, is one of the symptoms of that haunting.
Also, the elevators seemed to have minds of their own. The middle elevator got stuck twice the first day we were there. Pablo, the con chairman, and Jonas Meriwether, lead scout of the Airship Isabella got stuck in there for over thirty minutes! They hotel turned that elevator off after that, but the two remaining elevators acted strangely as well. They would stop on either the seventh or ninth floor without explanation. The doors would open and no one would be there. It happened to us more than once. Seems we experienced a ride with the hotel’s phantom bellman!
Creepy.
Read all about the legends and lore of the St. Anthony Hotel Hauntings at This Eclectic Life.
We didn’t see any ghosts in the end, but perhaps the mere suggestion of ghosts was what had me on edge. Or was it the ghostly energy of the entire place? Whatever the cause, we definitely experienced something paranormal, and it was so cool!
-_Q
Have you ever had a ghostly experience? Tell us about it.
I might have to visit this place someday.
You should. It’s lovely.
Big chicken, but love ghost related stuff. I wouldn’t sleep a bit that night.
I had a hard time falling asleep, too. Every sound worried me.
Was the bell captain in 1983 at St Anthony. It had just reopened after being remodeled. Only thing I witnessed was a loud bang on wall of a guest room bathroom that I was the only person inside. Can’t remember room # or floor. There was a room service waiter that had been working there for 25 years at that time. He talked about haunted areas of the property. Also, he had stories of John Wayne who stayed there on several occasions. And a poignant story about Elvis Presley who performed in San Antonio during the last year or so before he died.
Wow. Some strange happenings there, no doubt. I’d love to hear those stories!
[...] weekend for Aetherfest, Texas’s oldest Steampunk convention at the historic (& haunted) St. Anthony Hotel. Other guests include the fabulous Unwoman, DJ Doctor Q, Marquis of Vaudeville, Master Bones [...]
it isnt haunted i stayed on da 8th floor for like 3 nights its just really old thats all pretty expensive hotel dont know how we managed to stay here seems pretty expensive hotel we are poor from detroit but ya
Stayed there this past weekend in room 429. I had the best sleep ever the two nights we were there. The only noise I heard was what my husband determined was the elevator. He and my son absolutely hated it because of it size and it missed the mark television and the awkwardness of the commode. I loved it! However I wish I would have read this prior to our stay.
It’s a beautiful hotel!
Just had my daughter’s wedding here. We used the Pereaux Room for the ceremony, Peacock Alley for cocktail hour and the Anacacho Ballroom for dinner and dancing for our 170 guests. It was lovely. However, after the wedding we loaded the car with flower centerpieces, decor and the bride’s bouquet only to have the bouquet go missing when we unloaded everything at home. Four people remember it leaving the hotel to be loaded in the car in the valet area near the Ballroom. My husband remembers carrying it out and our friend remembers placing it in the front seat. The curb and ballroom were checked before my husband drove away. There was nothing left. We have looked everywhere for the bouquet. It just disappeared. There were no passerbys since it was almost 1am. The odd thing is that there was an old broach (40 years), hanky (50 years) and silk flowers from my bridal bouquet (32 years) incorporated into my daughter’s bouquet. I was told that a jilted bride walks the balcony of the Anacacho Ballroom during weddings. Seriously, I can have no other explanation.
Perhaps that lovely bouquet has given the poor soul some comfort.
xo
Here’s a continuation to the bride’s bouquet story. I asked the photographer if he had a picture of the bouquet since it went missing. He said he did and then began to tell me a story. He didn’t want to tell anyone because he didn’t think anyone would believe him. When my daughter who was holding the bouquet walked down the spiral staircase in the lobby of the St. Anthony for the groom’s first look, he saw another bride come from the other side and walk next to my daughter. At that point his video camera had a memory card error. Luckily the other videographer was rolling. He changed the memory card and battery and continued to film. When the first look was over he put the original battery and memory card back into the video camera and it was fine. He said in 10 years with this very expensive equipment it had never happened. Guess which room they and the equipment were staying in? Yes, room 1080. Also, the groom’s watch stopped sometime after midnight. It was a new watch with a new battery. Seriously, can this all be possible?
Ooooohhhhhh!!!!!! Creepy!!!!!
My family and I went to San Antonio for a day from Austin to visit the river walk. We parked our car on Jefferson next to st Anthony hotel. We came back around 9 pm to head back to Austin. As I settled into the back seat of the car something called my attention to look out towards the hotel and my eyes fell directly on a window on the first floor where the glass was painted white and scratched in capital letters where the words HELP ME. I wish I could post the picture I took with my phone. It was way too creepy. After we told some employees they should call the police I started googling the hotel and come upon articles telling it is actually a haunted hotel.
Creeeeepy!!!!!!!