Ghost Hunting At The Leland Hotel

DetroitDad · November-01-10, 02:14 AM

My wife nad I live in a low income apartment building, and last weekend we had some out-of-town friends to stay over. I decided to put some positive spin on our situation for our guests. The building is an old run down high rise and former hotel in Downtown Detroit, complete with vacant floors, unusued sub basements, a historic lobby and mezzanine, unpredictable elevators, and all sorts of strange things. Walking through this building reminds one of walking through the Titanic, both in her prime, and after she sunk, depending on the area. I did some research beforehand, and had some good ghost stories to tell. The ghost stories were followed by a ghost hunt. We traveled down the Leland's decrepit halls, and around it's elegant lobby and ballroom. It is said that the ghosts of Jimmy Hoffa, former gangsters, and depression era "roof jumpers" inhabit those hallway corridors.

Oddly, the drafts in the building actually do create sudden areas of cold sensations that come and go [[I assume that's what they were, but who really knows?). We also found an old postcard from the early days of the hotel, filled out by one of it's former guests.

Posted at: http://campusmartiuschronicle.blogsp...g-its-all.html

**epiphany** · November-01-10, 03:33 AM

My boyfriend died in the Leland. I lived there for a while and was faced with nothing but bad luck. One time I heard people screaming through the walls, but there was no one there. I won't even walk around that place alone anymore... too many bad memories. It gives me the creeps. Have you ever been to the basement? There are many things that have been left untouched.

**epiphany** · November-01-10, 03:37 AM

I lived in room 857. Does anyone live there now? We put a lot of money into painting and renovations and stuff because it was a wreck when we first moved in. Basically, it was filled with trash.

**Laurent** · November-01-10, 05:43 PM

Sorry to hear the sad story, epiphany. I don't think I'll be rushing to see the Leland any time soon, despite DD's intriguing spin.

**Magnatomicflux** · November-01-10, 05:58 PM

Neat story DetroitDad, and sorry to hear yours epiphany.

I live in a low income apt / former high end hotel here in Windsor.....Windsor Court. It's also been described by visitors of mine as being like walking thru the halls of the Titanic. I too have unpredictable 80 some-odd year old elevators with the sliding gate and all but I love it no matter how many times it traps me lol. A guy died in a bad fire 3 doors down from me, but I get nothing weird from that area. The basement at the very least is haunted. There used to be rooms to rent down there, and there was a serious fire in which someone had died. In the middle of winter, you can feel the steam heat pipes, follow one straight into that room. The pipe is scalding hot, so are the 4 rads it feeds, yet the room remains absolutly freezing.
Creepiest thing is the room was never repaired or anything...still all charred 30-40 years later.
Gives me the heebie-jeebies.

**Dave70** · November-01-10, 07:15 PM

Wasn't the City Club in the basement? I used to go there ca. 1990-1996.

**BrushStart** · November-01-10, 07:32 PM

Originally Posted by Dave70

Wasn't the City Club in the basement? I used to go there ca. 1990-1996.

City Club is still there, and is still in full-swing. Might be a slightly different crowd than the punk scene of the early-mid 90s.

**epiphany** · November-02-10, 05:26 AM

No, city club is not in the basement. There is an area below there. I think that Labyrinth is technically in a part of the basement, but there is another basement area with a bunch of old stuff from when the leland hotel was actually nice... abandoned sauna, etc. It's pretty weird.

**epiphany** · November-02-10, 05:27 AM

..And city club is definitely not the death rock/punk club that it used to be..lol. It's pretty lame.

**Gary** · November-02-10, 07:11 AM

I've known several people who lived in the Leland House through the years. Most of them seem to have good memories of the place, but this is going back over 20 years ago.

The club in the basement of the Leland House used to be called Detroit Studio 54 in the late 70s/early 80s. I think it went through at least one or two other name changes before becoming a punk rock club. I spent many hours and many dollars down there back in the Studio 54 days; decent crowd, good dj's, even a free after work buffet once in awhile. That place was really poppin'.

Mr. Houdini · November-02-10, 02:55 PM

The first auto shows were held in the lobby of the Leland hotel.

DC48080 · November-02-10, 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by Mr. Houdini

The first auto shows were held in the lobby of the Leland hotel.

That is incorrect. The first automobile show took place in 1899 at the Light Guard Armory [[no, not the one on Eight Mile road.) It was held by the Tri-State Sportsman's and Automobile Association.

The first Detroit auto show was held at Beller's Beer Garden on Jefferson near the Belle Isle Bridge in 1907.

Read the story here:
http://apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=20