'I talk to ghosts & they're my pals - what it's like working in haunted hotel'
Laura Judge had no idea the famous Driskill Hotel was haunted when she applied for a job as a front desk agent there around two years ago. She "found out the hard way."
Now, the Houston native is friends with several spooky spectres that roam the halls of the historic hotel in Austin, Texas, in the American Southwest and has become somewhat of a local history aficionado — fiercely protective of the spirits she works with and of the building's reputation.
Constructed in 1886 on the dime of honorary Confederate Colonel Jesse Driskill, the Driskill Hotel consistently ranks as one of "the top haunted hotels in the United States," according to a handout employees give to guests staying at the inn. The handout also details the building's 137-year history and the numerous instances of paranormal activity recorded in that time.
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The Driskill Hotel has a rich history of tragedies and hauntings and is one of America's most haunted hotels (Nick Barnes)The grand hall that greets visitors who enter through one of two giant, ornate sets of doors on the sides of the hotel is adorned with large marble pillars. A double staircase wraps around the back of the space, complete with creepy, watchful paintings of important figures in the hotel's history. Their eyes seem to follow patrons as they walk around, giving the impression that the paintings might not just be simple portraits.
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Some of the rooms have ominous mirrors hanging on the walls, reflecting the dim lights that give off rather bone-chilling vibes and send shivers down spines. All the furniture is made to look antique — or it is antique, preserved from the era in which the hotel was constructed.
Judge started encountering ghosts the minute another employee gave her the grand tour of the facility. She peered into one of the eight ornate, gold-leaf mirrors in the Maximilian Room, a hall for "premium dining events" that's adorned with gold and white decor, according to the Driskill's website, and as she did, she saw an apparition.
"I was looking in the mirror, and I saw this white, smoggy, figured lady," she told The Mirror US. "She just walked across the mirror. I looked behind me, and there was nobody behind me. It freaked me out."
Driskill is one of the most frequent visitors to the hotel in his death, perhaps the result of losing his creation to a high-stakes poker game just three years before his death (Nick Barnes)She turned to the other employee and demanded: "Oh my gosh, did you see that?" He simply told her: "Yeah, this place is haunted. You didn't know that?"
More spiritual encounters with the hotel's ghosts followed in the coming months. A few began to wreak havoc as she worked — and they continue to do so two years later, she said. As some get more familiar with her, she said they even seem to target her and play pranks on her specifically as she's working alone or getting ready to leave.
In late June this year, she was at the front desk working alone when the drawers began to open of their own accord. On other occasions, random objects started to break around the building or small things would go missing.
"I didn't expect it," she said of the hauntings. "I was always very, very, very nervous to come to work." A particularly horrific encounter was had as she took a bathroom break one night — a man started clearing his throat.
Laura Judge has encountered many spirits in the two years she's worked at the Driskill Hotel (Laura Judge)"It scared me so bad that I wouldn't come out of the bathroom. I called security," she recalled. "They came in there, and I was like, 'I'm not coming out of the bathroom until y'all figure it out!' He was like, 'No one's in here.'"
The spectres have even spooked her at times when she wasn't alone. One day, she was typing away on her laptop with her boss in the room with her. The only sounds were the clickety-clack of their fingers. Then, a whisper right next to her ear made her jump.
"It freaked me out," she said. "I looked at my boss, and I was like, 'Did you say something?' And she was like, 'You heard that, too?'"
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In general, Judge said she's had some "crazy experiences" in the two years she's worked at the Driskill. She's even had guests check out after experiencing freakishly flickering lights and some other, similar spooky encounters to the ones Judge herself has had. They were too frightened to stay at the hotel.
(Nick Barnes)Jesse Driskill himself makes frequent appearances, perhaps because he never truly got to enjoy the lavish building he constructed for $400,000 in 1886 (a giant sum for that time period). He ended up going bankrupt and lost the building in a game of high-stakes poker shortly after it was finished, and three years after that, in 1890, he died, the history handout reads.
Driskill's presence is marked by the strong stench of cigar smoke, and Judge said she always knows when he's around because the scent will come wafting into the room. She said he's somewhat of a trickster.
"If you've worked here for a while and you're leaving, he will start giving everybody a hard time," she said. "Things will go missing, or things just start breaking in the hotel. It's absurd."
Even trickier than Driskill, however, is the spirit of a young girl, the daughter of a Texas state senator who visited the hotel in the late 1880s and fell to her death down one of the staircases as she chased a ball — or so the legends go.
Many of the halls are adorned with antique furniture and mirrors, and Judge said she's seen apparitions in the reflections before (Nick Barnes)“We can hear her laughing occasionally. Super creepy. But she’s probably the sweetest presence I’ve ever felt here," Judge said. The girl is usually the one who makes things disappear, she added.
Over time, Judge said she grew accustomed to the spirits and has even befriended them. She said none of them are malicious or evil and that she's "never felt in danger." Even so, she doesn't work nights anymore.
"I feel like I've developed a relationship with these ghosts. We're friends," she said. "I got to the point now where I just talk to them. I'm like, 'Hey, it's a busy day. Let's keep to ourselves.'"
The Driskill Hotel provides ghost and history tours every day at 4pm local time. "I think this place is a magnet," Judge said, saying that the hotel has become a tourist hotspot, especially for those wanting to learn more about the city of Austin. And the boom in business, which is sometimes promoted by the ghosts, means that all those who befell a tragic end at the inn didn't die in vain.
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