Elkins Inn and Suites

If you read yesterday’s blog about my adventures in Sutton, WV, you may remember that I recently made a trip to Elkins with my husband. Being the spooky nerd that I am, any time I travel, I have to look up what haunted locations may be close to me, whether I have time to actually stop there or not. 

The whole area around Elkins is full of Civil War history, and there are a few really cool haunted places of note, such as Graceland and Halliehurst on the campus of Davis and Elkins College and Rich Mountain Battlefield, but I happened across a new-to-me location that we drove right past: The Elkins Inn and Suites.

Since it is a college town in close proximity to several big tourist destinations and state parks (as well as the state prison at Huttonsville), there are a LOT of hotels/motels around Elkins. There’s one in particular, though that you pass right on the main drag through town that at first glance doesn’t really look like a hotel. There’s a reason for that—it used to be a hospital! 

I haven’t been able to find out a whole lot about the history, but the earliest references I can find to the old Memorial General Hospital are from the 1950′s, which looks about right from the photos of the building. As with any hospital, you’re going to have a location with a lot of baggage, both good and bad. I’m sure the hospital saw happy times with babies being brought into the world, deathly ill people being brought back from the brink of death, and dedicated staff who gave their all to their work. But then you also have the negative events and emotions. Sick and injured people were brought here and many never made it home alive. Death, pain, and confusion were normal, everyday things. Loved ones left behind experienced anger, grief, despair, and sadness. All these factors are believed to be ideal for creating a haunting, and the old Memorial General Hospital is no exception.

I’m not sure when the hospital closed down, but it eventually did and was converted into use as a hotel. Originally branded under the Days Inn name, the earliest TripAdvisor reviews I could find date back to 2004. At some point, they dropped the Days Inn, and renamed the hotel as the Elkins Inn and Suites. According to their website information, the hotel boasts 46 pet-friendly guest rooms, free wifi, and an on-site restaurant (which early reviewers noted was downstairs in the basement morgue). There’s also conference room space available, and apparently businesses can also rent out office space. Rooms come with TV, fridge, microwave…and maybe a ghost.

Okay, so to start off, a LOT of the reviews I read for this location weren’t favorable and a lot of that had to do directly or indirectly with the hotel’s former life as a hospital. The guest room bathrooms were hospital room bathrooms, with very basic shower and toilet only. Thermostat controls weren’t always available in rooms. The old elevator to the third floor where either all or the majority of guest rooms are located was out of order for awhile, and when it does work, seems to be rather noisy. Some reviewers also pointed out that there were windows in their rooms looking out into the hallway (like, in a hospital, lol). But, the biggest hospital-themed complaint seemed to be simply that it was pretty weird and creepy!

In July of 2014, that simple creepiness factor would evolve into claims of actual paranormal activity reported by one couple staying at the hotel. According to a review on TripAdvisor, user yakfit had this to say about their stay:

“We stayed one night last week. I did not read any reviews as we were last minute needing a room. I told my husband “this is a hospital!’ As the elevator door was closing to go to floor 3, a man walked by and said “this is not a hospital!”I looked at my husband and just thought, that was strange that he would say that to me. After midnight, My husband woke me up as I was screaming because there was a woman in a hospital gown tying to push herself into bed with us.I went back to sleep and then he woke me up again as I was screaming because there was a babydoll head next to my husband’s head n the bed!” I took a photo of the bathroom and the entrance door to our room and there are 2 orbs in the door photo.The lobby clerk told us that it was a former hospital. I think it is haunted.”