Do spirits check in and never check out at the LaSalle Hotel in Bryan?
Alyssa and Adrienne, our digital producing "A-Team", set out to tell us the story of supernatural beings at the LaSalle Hotel in downtown Bryan.
What better way to spend Halloween night than listening and watching a good ol' spooky story. It's been rumored for years the LaSalle Hotel has more than just the homemade spirits in its Speakeasy restaurant. Are there supernatural forces that linger in the lobby, looking to check into your room as an uninvited guest?
The project Now You Know Things
KAGS News' digital team, Adrienne DeMoss and Alyssa Flores set out on a mission to discover something about Bryan you may not know. The haunting of the LaSalle Hotel had been a topic of conversation one night in the newsroom and it was decided it would be the perfect way to kick off a new KAGS segment called, "Now, You Know Things!"
"Now, You Know Things!" is a way to inform people about things in the Brazos Valley they might not know about. With Texas A&M and Blinn College, there are many people who move in and out of the community. The A-Team wants people to know about those hidden gems a person might not know about who has lived here a short time, or even a long time.
History of the LaSalle Hotel KAGS digital producers on the mission
When it came to the LaSalle Hotel, Adrienne was 100 percent committed. "I've been on several ghost tours," Adrienne said. "It's part of a family thing." Alyssa, on the other hand, was not big on the idea. She took a moment to tell us all about it in an exclusive outtake you'll only see here:
Despite being nervous, Alyssa and Adrienne set off to talk with the manager of the LaSalle Hotel, Amber Medrano. She helped the A-Team learn more about the hotel and its rich history.
"It was the upscale hotel of the downtown area. It was really the last stop for the train," Medrano said. "There were a couple of other places people could stay, but they really liked this place."
The LaSalle Hotel, once considered the tallest building in Bryan, had more than 100 rooms at one point. But, it hasn't stayed a hotel in its many years of existence, Medrano said. It had once been a theatre and opera house back in 1875. The hotel came into existence the first time in 1929. It was rumored when Elvis performed at the Saddle Club rodeo in Bryan in 1955, he stayed and dined at the LaSalle Hotel. At one point, the hotel was shut down and became an assisted living facility in 1959. The hotel was renovated and brought back to its glory in 2015, but had already been added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
Is it haunted? There are stories, but are they true?
It's easy for anyone to say they've had run-ins with a guest from the past, especially with the building's rich history. Some of the hotel's staff reported hearing voices in parts of the hotel, despite no one being in the room, Medrano said. At times, staff said they can hear music but can't find where its coming from. "You hear voices in the laundry room," Medrano admitted. "It sounds like women having conversations, but, it's really muffled so you can't really make out what they're saying. It's not really that you're crazy, because other people hear them at the same time you're hearing them."
Alyssa and Adrienne aren't the first two who have come to the hotel in search of the supernatural. Other ghost hunters have come to the hotel in search of evidence. "We have a room down in the basement and its kind of lower than what the bar is down there. It has an older 1920's boiler," Medrano explained. "A ghost hunter picked up what sounded like workers down there, like hammering and talking to each other. There's nobody else around. It's just his camera in there."
Medrano and other staff members told Alyssa and Adrienne about another encounter a ghost hunter had with a supernatural force. The story made Alyssa uneasy and she talked to Adrienne about it in this exclusive clip you'll only see on KAGS Digital. Check it out:
Orbs are typically described as spheres of light of different colors and many who hunt the supernatural believe these are evidence of a spirit nearby. However, skeptics have debunked many orb-like occurrences. Many orbs that show up in videos or photographs can be explained as dust, pollen or water vapor, photography experts said. That means the occurrence is that of natural causes and not supernatural.
Medrano isn't shaken by what skeptics say. "It is haunted," she said. "Some of the people come in because of the stories. They'll come in and ask me at the desk, 'I want the room that's haunted'. I'm like, 'the whole hotel is haunted."
It's also not just orbs or sounds people have witnessed, Medrano said. "Some people have seen actual figures. Sometimes you'll catch what looks like a man in period clothing walking from the back office and around and then he'll just disappear," Medrano said. "Sometimes he'll just walk towards the desk and he's just gone."
Kyle, night auditor of the LaSalle, has had his own experiences. "I think it was just last week I saw, like a man, over by the bar area at around 4 a.m." Adrienne asked him how it made him feel. "I was terrified," he admitted.
Kyle showed Alyssa and Adrienne parts of the hotel from top to bottom, all of which staff and guests have reported experiencing something not of this world, they said. The hotel is also home to 5 Knocks Speakeasy, and that's where Alyssa said she experienced something herself. Check it out in this clip, only found on KAGS Digital:
One way to find out Staying at night at the LaSalle Hotel
That led to the conclusion that our A-Team had to spend a night at the hotel and see if they would experience anything further for themselves. Alyssa and Adrienne packed up their gear and booked a room. Alyssa said she was still undecided on if she would end up staying the whole night.
In an effort to put her at ease, members of the KAGS family showed up to help her. Anchor and reporter Gabriela Garcia, reporters Tristan Lewis and Sunny Tsai, and even sports reporter and ASO anchor, Mike Lucas came out for the big event.
"I really wanted to stay," Alyssa said later. "But I was just too on edge." The crew stayed for awhile, but slowly trickled out and Adrienne hunkered down alone inside one of the Brazos Valley's historical gems.
Upon waking, Adrienne said she didn't experience anything out of the ordinary, but was eager to get back to the station and start going over the footage that had been recording the night.
There are many people who say the LaSalle Hotel's halls are walked by spirits. Guests who have checked in and just never checked out. Perhaps it's because of the burlesque shows at 5 Knocks Speakeasy that keeps them entertained, or the laughter that comes from the dining room as people gather and share stories of their day.
Is the LaSalle Hotel haunted? Visit Bryan and book a room. It's just something you've got to experience for yourself!