I Thought Someone Had Checked Into My Room

I stayed at the Grove Park Inn for a conference a few years ago. I had heard people mention the Pink Lady before I arrived, but I wasn’t there for ghost stories. I was there for work.

The first night was completely normal.

The second night, I came back to my room around 10:30 after dinner. I remember because I’d been answering emails for maybe half an hour when I heard what sounded exactly like someone opening the bathroom door.

It wasn’t loud. Just the soft click of the handle followed by the sound of the door moving.

I looked up expecting to see…I don’t know…housekeeping somehow? But the bathroom door was still closed.

I laughed it off and kept working.

About twenty minutes later I heard footsteps.

Not in the hallway.

Inside the room.

It sounded like someone walking from the entrance toward the windows. Slow. Maybe five or six steps.

I actually stood up and checked behind the curtains and in the bathroom because it was so convincing.

Nothing.

I finally went to bed, but I left the television on, which I never do.

The next morning I mentioned it to the woman checking me out. I wasn’t trying to make a big deal out of it. I just said something like, “I guess these old buildings settle at night.”

She smiled and asked, “What room were you in?”

When I told her, she nodded and said, “You’re not the first guest who’s mentioned hearing someone walking around after they’ve gone to bed.”

She didn’t say anything else.

Neither did I.

But I’ve stayed in plenty of historic hotels since then, and I’ve never heard footsteps inside a room that only had one guest.