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Built in 1915, the Val Verde is not as large
as other hostelries in New Mexico, but from a stand point of beauty
and convenience, she stands without a peer. It contains sixty guest
rooms, a commodious dining room, a kitchen, a spacious lobby and
writing rooms.
Designed by noted architect Henry Trost.
Located between the Santa Fe Railroad Depot and the Plaza, the hotel
was popular with traveling salesmen and visitors to town. Since
the 1980s, it has been extensively restored and now houses shops,
a restaurant, and rented rooms. The restaurant features a unique
panorama of views along the Santa Fe Railroad's route from El Paso
to Albuquerque.
In present times the rooms are rented out as apartments, with two
of the old rooms composing one apartment. The kitchen and dining
room were converted to a restaurant while the old lobby is now a
bar.
During its history, a total of 10 people
have died in various locations in the hotel. Five of these were
suicides. The last suicide occurred just after our second investigation
of the Val Verde. We were allowed access to the room where the suicide
occurred to check for any possible activity. One orb and several
suspect EM fields were discovered. Several of these suspect fields
were near the area where the body was found. The body decomposed
for several days before it was found.
With the exception of a few "grander"
suites, the rooms share two common bathrooms located on the second
floor. Each room is equipped with its own shower. Inside the building,
one stair case leads to the upper floor.
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This door is locked so access to the second floor
is by two fire escapes located at the rear of the building. These are the
stairs that the tenants use for access to their apartments.
Five men burned to death in the boiler room, located
under the present day bar, while performing maintenance on it. The scars
from the fire are still visible in the Boiler room today.
Bartenders hear a thumping sound under the floor
of the bar. Many believe it is the deceased workers who died in the fire
banging on the ceiling with shovels or other tools. Some other eyewitness
accounts include;
Cindé Trott, a 10-year Val Verde waitress,
said one day another waitress who no longer works there heard a sinister
voice say, “How are you my darling?”
“She started crying,” Trott said.
Another time, Trott said, she was in the waitress
station and a pitcher sitting securely on top of the ice freezer flew
off the top and broke a glass above the sink several feet away.
Trott isn’t the only employee who’s had a haunting
experience working a the Val Verde.
“A few times I’ve been down in the basement I’ve
had the impression somebody’s behind me,” said waiter Chris Parra.
Val Verde employee Fran Calderon said a woman in
a blue dress and a man wearing a white shirt will make an appearance in
the bar.
Calderon said a Val Verde manager once saw a “weird
light” in one of the rooms at the steakhouse and felt a bizarre static
electricity.
“It made the hair on the back of their neck stand
up and it made their skin kind of red,” she said. “It’s a weird feeling
you get. It’s not scary, but you can actually feel their (the ghosts’)
presence. It doesn’t make you uncomfortable.”
We started our investigation at 9:30pm by searching
the area around the hotel's main entry and bar. After locating nothing
suspicious or interesting in these areas, we moved upstairs and searched
the main hallway, attic and several of the rooms adjoining the floor.
Observation
Point on Stairs
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A great deal of activity takes
place in the stairs leading to the second floor. Randomly flashing
lights and small orbs (called globules) can been seen whisking about
with Infrared cameras.
The activity only seems to take place when
a live band is playing, and even then only if it is "earth based"
music with violins, harmonicas ect.
The apparition of a unidentified woman has
also been seen on the stairs and landing. |
Odd
images captured in the photos taken during the IR video. |
A mist like phenomena has also been captured on
film in the stairwell. EMF readings of 7 milligauss were present when
the photographs were taken.
The room where the latest
suicide occurred. The white powder on
the floor in the other room is deodorant,
placed over the area
where the body decomposed before it was discovered. |
During
its history, a total of 10 people have died in various locations
in the hotel. Five of these were suicides. The last suicide occurred
just after our second investigation of the Val Verde. We were allowed
access to the room where the suicide occurred to check for any possible
activity.
Several suspect EM fields were discovered. Several of
these suspect fields were near the area where the body was found.
The body decomposed for several days before it was discovered so
we were able to ascertain the exact loocation of the body because
deodorant had been sprinkled over the area where it decomposed.
The
activity surrounding the room and the stairwell lasted for about
three weeks then vanished. Further attempts to locate any possible
phenomena were unfruitful on the building's second floor.
The
activity on the ground floor appears to be consistant but minor
and less frequently expericened.
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Photographs
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