This Doubletree branch is known by locals as the Fort Shelby Hotel, as that was its original name since 1916. The building sat unoccupied for many years, and according to the local rumor mill, a homeless man named Al who used it as a temporary sleeping spot met his demise there when a plumbing pipe burst and he got mired down in feet of sewage. His bones were found in the muck years later. But Doubletree bought the building and spent $90 million on renovations, and Al seems to enjoy his fancy new digs. His apparition has been seen walking the halls and in the lobby.
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- 525 W Lafayette Blvd
Detroit, Michigan
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 42.3293423, -83.05320740000002
- County:
- Wayne County, Michigan
- Nearest Towns:
- Detroit, MI (0.4 mi.)
Hamtramck, MI (4.4 mi.)
River Rouge, MI (5.7 mi.)
Highland Park, MI (5.7 mi.)
Dearborn, MI (6.3 mi.)
Grosse Pointe Park, MI (6.7 mi.)
Melvindale, MI (7.0 mi.)
Ecorse, MI (7.5 mi.)
Grosse Pointe, MI (8.2 mi.)
Lincoln Park, MI (8.4 mi.)
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Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.
Ive stayed here. I never saw anything or got any vibe that someone was there.
I have stayed here in the past for weeks on end for the auto show. Never had an issue before but this year has been horrible. I can’t sleep, bad dreams night after night, odd noises in my room, tapping and clicking, sounds of my hotel room door opening and closing to the point where I get up and check to make sure no one is here. There just seems to be an intense energy in room 908 and I am not the only one experiencing it. Several of my co workers are having the same issues while many other have no problems at all. I’ve even heard other hotel patrons speaking about their bad dreams and poor sleep in the elevators. It seems it is very hit or miss and depends on your room and location. As I said before, I never have had this issue when staying here. Not sure what it is but there is something very odd here. If you’re having these issues while staying here I suggest switching rooms to you find a room not affected.
Friday September 11th, my husband and I stayed in room 817. I woke up at 1:57am to a dreadful odor. I could not fall back asleep for hours. I heard shuffling on the carpet, witnessed the drapes move as if being pulled and felt pockets of cold air several times. I was fascinated, one of the coolest experiences I have ever had, while my husband slept thru the entire thing. One more thing, originally we were in room 526 and requested a different room due to very noisy guests.
I have never believed in this stuff, but here I am sitting on my DoubleTree room unable.to sleep having extremely bad dreams with the same thing/figure showing over and over in them whenever I try to fall back asleep. Then I Find this site on a Google search trying to figure out what the hell is going on with someone commenting the same thing.
Stayed on the 7th floor the week of 5/15/17 on the East side of the Hotel. I didn’t get a bad vibe that there was anything I should be concerned about when entering the room. But….
I was woken up in the middle of the night, my heart pounding out of my chest, to what sounded like a pillow had been slammed down on the bed. I looked around and saw nothing and all pillows where where I left them, but told whoever it was to “knock it off, I’m trying to sleep”. I was woken up again later to the feeling of someone sitting down on the bottom corner of the bed and I actually kicked at it and there was nothing there. I looked again and told whoever it was to “get out of my room and leave me alone, I’m trying to sleep”. Nothing more happened the rest of the night.
My Son slept through the whole thing and wasn’t bothered at all.
I had a great uncle who was a treasure hunter that said if ghost appears to you ask it “what does the dead want to do with the living” and it’ll leave you alone. He’d seen ghost all his life but was one of the most mentally sound people I’ve ever known.
I am home maybe 10 days a month. Travel and stayed in a bunch of haunted hotels by chance. I can feel it now as soon as I walk into one…its a being watched over feeling .
I am still in the DoubleTree as I write this….I didn’t know it was haunted when I booked it. But I felt it was when I checked in….when I walked down the hallway to my room….then I had the worse dreams all night long. Wake and go back to sleep….more dark dreams.
Woke up at 4:30 am and ended up working till breakfast.
Came back to my room and saw a book on the desk called Historic Hotels of America . I looked up the DT-Fort Shelby.
Haunted, and people complaining about bad dreams.