The Paso Robles Inn is full of rich history, interesting guests, and fun folklore. It was built in the late 1800’s with the appearance of a castle to attract the rich and famous. Well known guests such as former President Theodore Roosevelt, and famous actors like John Wayne, and Clark Gable have enjoyed the hot springs and luxury accommodations at the Paso Robles Inn. Rumors also say that the Inn was a favorite haunt of notorious outlaw, Jesse James.
There is mystery and legend that exists at the Paso Robles Inn that it may have some guests from the great beyond. One room, 1007, makes mysterious calls to the front desk quite frequently, where nothing is said, and no one is in the room. There is no way to explain why these calls keep occurring. The phone company and hotel maintenance have investigated how this is happening, yet there is no explanation. One-time emergency services received a call from room 1007 and when they arrived at the hotel, they entered the room with an electronic key card, and no one was there. Another time a maintenance person went to the room to investigate, and the phone lit up and called the front desk while he was there. He grabbed the phone to try to call on the secondary line and then the other line rolled over called the front desk as well and all that was heard was a spine tingling squelch!
An Inn manager decided to investigate the history of the Inn. He found an article about the fire that occurred on December 19, 1940, with night clerk J.H. Emsley was on duty. Emsley found that the Inn was burning after a guest flicked a cigarette butt into the laundry chute. Emsley immediately ran down to the first floor to pull the alarm to alert the guests to evacuate. He got there just in time to sound the alarm and then died of a heart attack. He did not live to see that all 200 guests safely made it out of the hotel alive. Legend has it that Emsley is making the calls from the great beyond to try to save the guests.
When the Inn was burning, the fire department decided to safe the luxurious Grand Ballroom since the hotel was doomed to burn. That grand ballroom still stands, seeped in history and beauty. The rest of the Inn was rebuilt shortly after the fire of 1940. Next time you are in Paso Robles, check out this gorgeous property. You won’t be sorry.
Frightful Fridays brought to you by Shannon Bowdey of SLO Happy Homes, Keller Williams.
We love sharing the rich history, tales and folklore of our gorgeous county.
SLO Happy Homes
Keller Williams Realty Central Coast
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(805) 225-3009
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