For nearly a century, an opulent red-brick apparition has towered over the Virginia Beach Oceanfront: The Historic Cavalier Hotel and Beach Club. Since its opening in 1927, the stately property — perched on a gently sloping hill, just off the Virginia Beach Boardwalk — has extended its unparalleled hospitality to 10 American presidents and a virtual constellation of stars, including Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor, Muhammed Ali, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra.
The hotel’s most enduring occupants, though, are celebrated less for their stardom than their sheer staying power. That’s because the Cavalier is one of the most haunted places in all of Virginia Beach, with a long roster of ghoulish guests who’ve checked out — but never left. Learn more about this accommodating icon’s most notable ghosts below.
The Mysterious Magnate
Just two years after opening, the hotel had already secured its reputation as the “Grand Dame of the Shore.” So when burgeoning beer magnate Adolph Coors checked into Room 606 with his wife and daughter in June of 1929, the family looked forward to enjoying the rejuvenating powers of the ocean air. Coors was recuperating from a particularly nasty bout of influenza, and had traveled east under the orders of the family doctor — but it wouldn’t be the flu that took his life.
According to hotel staff, Coors stood up suddenly from his breakfast and headed upstairs without a word. A few moments later, Louisa and Bertha heard a sickly smack, followed by a blood-curdling scream — the sounds of a body striking the pavement, and its discovery by an unwitting employee. Though there was speculation that he was pushed, and some have suggested that the year is proof of a deliberate jump, Coors’ fall has never been explained.
Nonetheless, since that fateful day, guests on the Cavalier’s cursed sixth floor have witnessed a variety of phenomena, including persistent cold spots, creepy whispers, windows opening of their own accord, the apparition of a falling body and even a horrific disembodied smacking sound. Some have even reported seeing Coors himself haunting the halls in the wee hours — and his image was once reportedly captured in a guest’s wedding photographs.
The Long-Distance Callers
Evidently, ol’ Adolph isn’t the only sixth-floor phantom. When parts of the hotel were shuttered during its multi-million-dollar renovations in 2016–2017, the hotel’s front desk routinely received phantom phone calls originating from the sixth floor — an area closed off and uninhabited.
What’s more, two married paranormal investigators staying in Room 606 reportedly made contact with a spirit named Mike; while using a spirit box to record Mike’s claims of “multiple” ghosts on the floor, the couple watched with growing goosebumps as the room’s chandelier began to swing and shake. Indeed, one of the most commonly reported apparitions over the years is the old African American bellhop who warns guests to steer clear of the ghostly sixth floor altogether.
The Third-Floor Phantoms
Hotel staffers and guests have also reported creepy encounters on the Cavalier’s third floor. One of the most common is the “Lady in White”: a ghostly figure garbed in a white gown, seen floating in third-floor hallways and once, more alarmingly, at the foot of a guest’s bed. Whether she’s the spirit of Ida Harrington, wife of the hotel’s founder, or an unnamed Jazz Age socialite, she’s also been seen haunting the hotel’s basement social club — now aptly nicknamed the “Ghost Bar.”
When the country went to war in 1941, the Cavalier Hotel was commandeered by the U.S. Navy and transformed into a radar training facility. Military trainees lived on-site during this period, in unoccupied guest rooms and even, occasionally, in the stables. While there have been reports of apparitions in military dress throughout the property, they’re most often seen on the third floor.
The Paranormal Pets
Virginia Beach historian Chris Bonney, who has been following the hotel’s haunted history for years, is particularly charmed by stories of two “passed-on” pets. First, in the area of the hotel that’s now the popular Becca Restaurant & Garden, there are often reports of a fashionable phantom in Roaring 20s attire — either waiting patiently for a table, or crossing the room with her little dog.
Second, as local lore would have it, a little girl was traveling with her family — including her beloved cat — when the unfortunate feline escaped from their room. After a chaotic stairway chase, the panicked pet ran outside and into the swimming pool, with its frantic owner in pursuit. Both tragically drowned; over the years, staffers have reported pawprints on the back staircase, an eerie disembodied mewling and even sightings of a forlorn little girl, forever searching for her lost kitten.
It also seems that “Ghostcat,” as the spectral kitty is affectionately known, shares his species’ fondness for paper … and mischief. Employees working at the hotel’s check-in desks claim that stacks of paperwork often feel inexplicably warm and heavy, as if a cat were lying on them — and that these particular piles, if disturbed, are likely to deliver painful paper cuts.
Spectral Scents and Sounds
Other Cavalier Hotel hauntings are more subtle — not necessarily tied to known ghosts, but no less spooky for their lack of specificity. Though it’s officially been a non-smoking property since its reopening in 2018, there have somehow been regular reports of cigar smoke on the sixth floor.
Both guests and employees have heard Kubrick-esque “tinny jazz music” in many parts of the hotel; none have successfully identified its source. And let’s not forget the hotel’s night-black grand piano. Though it’s currently tucked away in the cozy Raleigh Room to enliven cocktail hour, distant piano music can sometimes be heard tinkling away in the hotel’s empty ballrooms. Perhaps Glenn Miller, Lawrence Welk and other departed band leaders have decided to stay a bit longer.
About Our Writer
As a Californian living in Colorado, Staci Amend takes a “why not both” approach to the whole mountains vs. oceans debate. She covers travel, nature, beauty and fashion for a variety of publications and brands — and is happiest when surrounded by hand-painted tile, struggling to pronounce her next meal. A Huntington Beach native and enthusiastic longboarder, she tries to time her Virginia Beach visits with the East Coast Surfing Championships.
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Written by Staci Amend
As a Californian living in Colorado, writer Staci Amend takes a “why not both” approach to the whole mountains vs. oceans debate. She covers travel, nature, beauty and fashion for a variety of publications and brands — and is happiest when surrounded by hand-painted tile, struggling to pronounce her next meal. A Huntington Beach native and longboarder, she tries to time her Virginia Beach visits with the East Coast Surfing Championships.
