Stories

Stories are just that. Stories and personal accounts that have been reported about the location.

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The stories and claims documented for this hotel are vast and encompass most of the building, but the main focus of the activity centers on the third floor. This is the floor where most of the recorded deaths have occurred and the previous owner used to live.

Employees have even reported that they do not like to go to this floor due to exploding lightbulbs and items moving by themselves while they are in this area; however, this floor is very popular with paranormal investigators who like to check in and try to communicate with the spirits that remain in the building.

Not only has the apparition of S.D. Hoag (the former owner and manager of the hotel) been seen and experienced on the third floor; the spirit also frequents the gun room restaurant on the second floor and in the bar area where it is said he would frequent when he was alive and used to play pranks on people.

One employee working in the gun room restaurant reported that she came into the room one morning to get ready for breakfast and noticed a man sitting in a corner booth. Thinking that it was a guest who had awakened early and was just sitting there awaiting breakfast, when she turned on the lights and looked back at the prospective customer, he disappeared. This was believed to be the spirit of Mr. Hoag..

A woman in a white dress and a tall man in a brown suit have also been reported to lurk in the halls up on the third floor only to vanish once they turn a corner. The identities of these two spirits is currently unknown.

Another employee had reported that many people have asked to stay on the third floor due to the paranormal activity. Guests who check in to the third, fifth, and second floors, respectively, are most likely to experience something. One of her favorite stories is of a woman and her daughter. The woman checked in to the hotel and decided to go for coffee with her daughter at Jeremiah’s Coffee House down the street, only to come back and find the Holy Bible in their room opened up to the book of Jeremiah when they returned.

Patrons have reported many different occurrences including; hearing footsteps in the hallways, items being moved around, and the feeling of being watched, Missing items, suitcases turned upside-down and emptied shampoo bottles. There are reports also of dark mists and shadows being seen in the bar and restaurant, as well as those reporting hearing someone whisper in their ear as they are walking down the hallway. The hotel elevator has even been known to travel up and down by itself even to the sixth floor that requires a special key to access.

There are also reports of the apparition of a woman dressed in period clothing and wearing a white sachet who has been seen moving through tables and the bar, almost as if pacing side to side from the restaurant to the lobby. She has become known as the woman in white. The name of this spirit is unknown, but since the Gun Room was once the women's sitting room of the Bellevue Hotel, perhaps she took a page out of Mr. Hoag’s book and has just decided to return to one of her favorite locations during her life.

There are also those who have stayed in the hotel who have reported that their door handles have been rattled during the middle of the night. These occurrences have frequently been reported to staff, only for them to attribute these anomalies to Mr. Hoag just looking after the place and having a little fun.

Guests have even complained so much about odd reflections in a mirror that was on the third floor that the hotel finally had to relocate the mirror to the hotel lobby. They have said that when they looked into the mirror, they would see a man standing behind them thought to be Mr. Hoag and when they turned from the mirror to look behind them, he was gone.

There are also the reports of a little boy spirit who likes to play pranks on those using the women's bathroom in the basement. The spirit has been known to lock the door and turn off the lights on those using the facilities. Employees do not like to use the bathroom in the basement. "The paranormal stories are endless," claim employees, though they never felt anything negative in the hotel and claims that the ghosts are just "a little bit mischievous." While they have quite a few guests come to stay in the hotel specifically because it is haunted, there are few instances where guests leave due to paranormal activity.

Employees have said they’ve experienced anything from “full body apparitions and things being moved or thrown” to hearing their names being called though no one was there.

The Lafayette even has a paranormal group that visits the hotel on a regular basis to investigate.

Added by: sdonley on 07/25/2022 DB#:1568
Source(s):
Various listed below

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Paranormal Claims

Here are the paranormal claims for this location. These have been found through Internet research, reports from members, or reports from personal interviews. To add a claim, please contact PANICd.com, and we will review and add your information.

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Claim #	Added	Added By	Claim
3276	07/25/2022	sdonley	Guests have reported shampoo bottles being emptied.
3285	07/25/2022	sdonley	Employees have heard their names being called.
3284	07/25/2022	sdonley	The door has locked on its own in the woman's bathroom in the basement.
3283	07/25/2022	sdonley	Lights have been turned off in the woman's bathroom downstairs.
3282	07/25/2022	sdonley	Guests have complained about odd reflections in a mirror that has been moved to the lobby.
3281	07/25/2022	sdonley	Door handles and doors have been rattled in the middle of the night.
3280	07/25/2022	sdonley	The apparition of a woman in period clothing wearing a white sachet have been seen pacing in the bar and lobby.
3279	07/25/2022	sdonley	The hotel elevator has moved on its own.
3278	07/25/2022	sdonley	Guests have reported hearing someone whispering in their ear while walking down the hallway.
3277	07/25/2022	sdonley	Dark mists and shadows have been seen in the bar and restaurant area.
3266	07/25/2022	sdonley	Lightbulbs have exploded on the third floor.
3275	07/25/2022	sdonley	Guests have reported suitcases being turned upside-down.
3274	07/25/2022	sdonley	Guests have reported missing items that were later shown up again.
3273	07/25/2022	sdonley	Guests have reported the feeling of being watched.
3272	07/25/2022	sdonley	Guests have reported items being moved around.
3271	07/25/2022	sdonley	Guests have reported hearing footsteps in the halls.
3270	07/25/2022	sdonley	The Bible in one of the rooms have been found opened.
3269	07/25/2022	sdonley	The apparition of a woman in a white dress and a man in a brown suit have been seen on the third floor.
3268	07/25/2022	sdonley	The apparition of the former own and manager has been seen throughout the building.
3267	07/25/2022	sdonley	Items have moved by themselves.

Paranormal Evidence

Paranormal evidence is based on claims that have been reported for this location. There can be several types of evidence; however, we have grouped them based on media type for better organization. Here you will find evidence that are logs, audio, video, or photographic.

To add evidence for a claim, you must submit it to PANICd.com for approval to be entered into the database.

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No Evidence Reported Yet!

Additional Resources

This is a collection of Internet resources for this location. This section will house links to other websites that contain information related to history, claims, investigations, or even the location's website.

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Stephen Durward “Steve” Hoag Sr. (190 : 982) : .. Added: 07/25/2022 By: sdonley	GREAT NEWS! We have a volunteer within ten miles of your requested photo location. GREAT NEWS! We have 2 volunteers within ten miles of your requested photo location.
Mentor Spotlight - by Bill Barr Added: 07/25/2022 By: sdonley	Traditions make up the culture of the river, and one of the most treasured is that of the mentor.
Lafayette Hotel marks 100th year in Marietta Added: 07/25/2022 By: sdonley	MARIETTA — More than a landmark, the Lafayette Hotel is a survivor with class. The Marietta hotel, gateway to Front Street with a commanding view of the waters on which the first settlers sought a landing where the Muskingum flows into the Ohio, on July 1 will mark 100 years since its opening.
Spooky things to do in Marietta Added: 07/25/2022 By: sdonley	Marietta, Ohio is rich with history, making it a prime area for ghost legends and stories, and a perfect town to visit to get in the Halloween spirit. For those who love all things spooky, a favorite place to visit is the Lafayette Hotel on front street.
Lafayette Hotel: Most Haunted Hotel In Ohio Added: 07/25/2022 By: sdonley	If the rat race of festivals that fill Columbus each summer aren’t your thing, Columbus Ghost Tours give to you The Lafayette Hotel: a time machine to the steamboat era that sits at the convergence of the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers in Marietta, Ohio.
Lafayette Hotel – Investigation Added: 07/25/2022 By: sdonley	The Lafayette Hotel has withstood tragedies and the test of time.  After a fire destroyed the original structure, the Hoag family stepped in to rebuild.  In 1918, the Lafayette Hotel was officially opened and brought in all kinds of clientele.
One Of The Oldest Hotels In Ohio Is Also One Of The Most Haunted Places You’ll Ever Sleep Added: 07/25/2022 By: sdonley	Ohio’s oldest town is bound to host a haunting or two. The historic riverboat town of Marietta is known as the first permanent settlement of the Northwest Territory. It’s a beautiful town, known for its Victorian-style houses, European ambience, brick streets, sternwheelers—and ghosts.
Hidden Marietta Paranormal Exposition haunts Lafayette Hotel Added: 07/25/2022 By: sdonley	MARIETTA — The inaugural Hidden Marietta Paranormal Exposition drew about 275 people Saturday to the Lafayette Hotel. Sponsored by Hidden Marietta, the expo was an opportunity to learn about things paranormal.
Lafayette Hotel - Real Haunt in Marietta OH Added: 07/25/2022 By: sdonley	Stayed in room 332 with my mother this past weekend. Not sure if this was an appliance issue or something more, but the heater kept making an odd sound unlike anything we had heard before. It was almost like a scratching and pounding. It kept us up all night.
History Added: 07/25/2022 By: sdonley	Both The Lafayette and the city of Marietta are of significant historical importance. During 1788, pioneers to the Ohio Country established Marietta as the first permanent settlement of the new United States in the territory Northwest of the River Ohio.
Haunted Ohio: The Lafayette Hotel Added: 07/25/2022 By: sdonley	Although the city of Marietta’s riverside hotel originally opened in 1892 as the Bellevue Hotel, a fire destroyed the place in 1916.
Marietta's Haunted Hotels & Restaurants Added: 07/28/2022 By: sdonley	Part of the fun of exploring Marietta is staying in, eating or having drinks in a historic building. Many of these wonderful structures date from the early 1900s. A few are even older. Building owners go to great lengths to preserve period details and to recreate the charming atmosphere of the past. A few locations, however, have a bit more historic authenticity than their owners intended. These buildings are haunted. The Buckley House, now an elegant restaurant, was built as a private residence

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