Believed to be haunted by people who died in a fire there decades ago, floor 7 is supposedly the hot spot of activity. Allegedly workers who were involved in a 2008 renovation reported numerous poltergeist/haunted activity including being touched, pushed and other sorts of mischief.
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- 1702 18th St
Bakersfield, CA 93301
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 35.3754208, -119.02151479999998
- County:
- Kern County, California
- Nearest Towns:
- Bakersfield, CA (0.2 mi.)
Oildale, CA (3.1 mi.)
Greenacres, CA (5.0 mi.)
Rosedale, CA (7.0 mi.)
Greenfield, CA (7.4 mi.)
Fuller Acres, CA (8.1 mi.)
Lamont, CA (10.0 mi.)
Weedpatch, CA (11.2 mi.)
Cherokee Strip, CA (14.9 mi.)
Edmundson Acres, CA (15.1 mi.)
Contact Information
- Web:
- http://www.thepadrehotel.com/
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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.
I worked at Home Depot back when the renovations were being done. All the contractors/workers would come buy supplies and such. Every single person would tell me they’re personal experiences while working on the premises. Everywhere from the hoist room to the lobby. Kids crying, touching,shoving.No one felt comfortable and ended up using the buddy system while navigating throughout the floors.i lived across the street in 2010 next to the mason temple-1930’s apartment complex. Also very strange encounters. Dark shadows, footsteps,my cat would get very upset sometimes when he would face the door leading to the trash chute. This place had a huge basement of course we sneaked into it didn’t catch any Evp recordings though but it still felt strange
After the movie “White Noise” came out, my ex wife decided to become an amateur ghost hunter.
(Which meant I became an amateur ghost hunter…..thank god she wasn’t vegan.)
We had an opportunity to investigate the Padre while it was being remodeled.
Walls torn out, wires hanging…..and I would say not a soul in sight. (As we didn’t see anything)
With that being said we got 30-40 EVP’s and 1 photo.
A total of 3 to 4 different voices were on the recordings.
This was back in 2006? Maybe 2007.
I still have the recordings……. .
Caught 1 more EVP across the street at the Bakersfield Californian.
(There was no chance of a voice being from a customer staying at the Hotel……they weren’t open. It was gutted, empty, and we were very much alone.
Yes Yes Yes, the Padre is haunted.
EVP’S caught in the lobby and every floor.
Hot spots were on the lobby, 3rd, 7th, & 8th floor.
Is there a way that I can see the evidence that you guys caught because I am very interested in the hauntings of the padre hotel.
I agree with Yazz, i’d lolve to see your evidence too. Very interesting.
Ok, I approach this with an open mind and all, but I have to call BS on this one. I have lived in Bakersfield for decades and frequented the Padre bar as a youth when it was the “Town Casino”. I even met and talked with the former owner, Milton “Spartacus” Miller when he was alive. At no time prior to its purchase and refurbishment, did I ever hear word one about ghosts at the Hotel Padre.
First of all, the “fire” which allegedly killed the little girl that haunts the 7th floor, or was it a group of children? The story differs on that one. It happened in the 1950’s, right? Or maybe the 30’s. Jury’s still out on that one. Fact is, no one seems to be able to back up any facts associated with this claim. Believe me, if a hotel caught fire and a little girl was killed, or several others, that would make news across the state. So far, I’ve been able to find zero information on this, except sketchy antecdotal info passed along by spokespeople for the Padre or their interests. In fact, for most of the nearly 50 years that Milton Miller owned the Padre, overnight guests weren’t even allowed above the 2nd or 3rd floor for lack of ceiling sprinklers.. He and the city fought long and hard over that one, earning him the nick name “Spartacus”.
Make no bones about it, the Padre of yesteryear was a dreary place. In the 1980’s and 90’s it was inhabited by drifters, druggies, wierdos, and those on the fringes of society. There was no doubt enough sordid activity that took place there, that it makes me wonder why there aren’t any demons running amok. However, facts are facts. I maintain that the Padre PR machine has concocted these “stories” to bring TV psychics and amateur ghost hunters to their establishment. In the process, they’ve lured all the looky loos who thrill at the stories and down Vodka Tonics while staring at that phony child’s handprint cleverly sketched on the wall of the Pharmacy Cafe.
“prior to” maybe disturbing the grounds caused their awakening
Oh, elmo. What a spoil sport you are. If people want to go ghost hunting at the Padre, let them have an adventure without throwing a wet blanket on their party. What can it hurt?
Along with the so-called “reality” shows out there, there isn’t much we can believe in anymore. This is just one more instance of modern man trying to make his legends and myths. Let the ghost hunters go play, I say.
Another claim by the Padre PR hacks, is that some of the ghosts “may” be victims of the 1952 Bakersfield earthquake, who perished when the basement caved in. Fact: There were two people who died in the Bakersfield portion of that quake. Neither was anywhere near the Padre Hotel when the ground started shaking.
We slept on the 7th a few days ago. I think we were the only one on the floor that night. There was a big thunderstorm that night that nobody from the staff have ever seen in Bakersfield they told us.
So, enough ingredients for a haunted night if you ask me:) I didn’t knew the haunted story when we booked the room, neither the 7th floor story but found it by accident on the web when we arrived. And because I sense those things a bit more than other people I was afraid there would be not much sleep that night for me…
But, (luckely) no single ghost, laugh, giggeling or touching was sensed. The hotel has that scary “tower of terror”look from the outside but I am afraid that this story is nothing more than PR for a city that is a bit boring. By the way, the Padre is a very luxury hotel with an helpful and friendly staff and good food, so you will enjoy even without the ghosts 🙂
Grtz
All my input comes from the mid 1980’s, back when old man Miller owned it. He was the crazy man that had the ongoing feud with the city, had ‘Army” rockets on the roof ‘aimed” at city hall, and on the side of the hotel about 6-8 floors up was painted “Alamo Tombstone”
Before I start, i must say that i have lived in what you’d call haunted houses, and have always “seen dead people” so stop reading if you wish.
Why would the Padre Hotel NOT be haunted? The Padre was the favorite ‘Jumping Off” place in town. There were multiple suicides every year, for several years. It was originally called the “Town Casino” if I remember correctly, and at that time, the sign still hung on the H street side..I used to hang out at the Padre bar quite a bit, I was pretty much a “regular” I had an art studio at 19th and H, just a from there. The 18th street side had a little coffee shop, and I think had it’s own entrance from 18th, which you just did not use… it felt too creepy for some reason, and once in the coffee shop, you set as far away from 18th st as possible. I think that something terrible happened on or in the south end of the building at some point. There was a fire there years ago, and I’ll come back to that.
The lobby on street level was eerie, you moved through it as quickly as able. The restrooms were around the back side of the bar , and you had to enter from H street, pass the bar, take a right, and make your way to the restrooms while skirting along the very edge of the lobby..There was not a rush of people checking in ever, but still they had the velvet ropes sectioning off the areas you could and could not travel across. The whole place was very 1940’s gangster movie -ish. There were elevators, but also a very ominous staircase which presumably went up, but also went down to some unknown place. I found out years later where the ‘down’ staircase went.
Okay, so as years passed. I had the opportunity to spend a night or two now and then on the few floors that were open to residents and rentals, maybe the 3rd and 4th floors,. There were no events or visitations during the night, but the room felt like there was an elephant sleeping on your chest, and this was in multiple rooms on several floors. Years later I was invited to a Halloween party which was on an upper floor, maybe the 7th, whichever is top. It was not accessible to the public at that point, but a photographer friend of mine rented space there and apparently it was dirt cheap because of all the events that she had to put up with. We went to the external door on that floor where people would step out onto a landing and take their last breaths before jumping to their ends….. HORRIFYING!! It was as if all those jumpers, and any other who lived there, or died there over the decades was suddenly screaming at me, maybe to jump, maybe to run- I chose to leave when I couldn’t take any more. That entire floor was pretty scary… very few of the offices/rooms were habitable, The other vacant spaces were as unsettling as any place I’d ever been.
Okay so I mentioned a fire that happened years ago. This event happened during the last time I ever visited the Padre. I leave the bar, need to use the restroom. I make the right turn in the lobby to go the the restroom, clearly in sight of the hotel desk. Usually there is no one at the desk. Now and then there would be Mr Miller, doing some books or whatever. There are 3-5 people there, none seem to fit in to the time and place. I don’t know if it was the clothing, hair, their silence, or whatever, but they just seem out of place. I go to the restroom, do my business, wash up, maybe 40 seconds I’m in there and go back to the bar. The strangers at the desk are gone without a trace, in 40 seconds. The waitress in the bar says” Sorry you gotta go, Old man Miller says you started a fire in the men’s room, and several people saw you there. Really? who? and how could I have in such a short time span?
Okay, so the downstairs, In the basement of the padre are one of the entrances to the tunnels which crisscross the downtown area. the access has been fenced off, but imagine how many people lost their lives down there during the building of the city, just a few blocks from the railroad center. The Padre is a haunted place, count on it. I’ve seen it, felt it.
The Tegeler down the street was the scene of at least one jumper, too. I was driving by there and saw what at first looked like a child lying on the sidewalk. Then in the midst of all the commotion, I realized it was an older man who had jumped from the roof. He just was slightly built so I guess that’s why he looked like a child at first.
We were visiting family over the Christmas holidays 2014. We were able to book room 704 which is supposed to be the most haunted room. We did take some pictures and one of them shows an image coming thru the door. We slept fine and were never scared. So whatever came to visit us was not there to scare us. We are headed back to the Hotel to visit family in a few weeks. Not room 704 but are looking forward to staying at this great Hotel.
ok this doesn’t have to do with the padre but i lived in Bakersfield when i was younger with my dad we lived in a house behind food 4 less pizza hut and the hometown buffet i cant remember the address because i was like 7/8 supposedly a man had been shot in front of our house and i cant
confirm but there was blood in the front of the house i remember this vividly when night time would come and i was in bed trying to sleep someone would knock on my windows and id see shadows outside the house and youd just feel like you were being watched even during the day, we lived there a short amount of time and then we moved to a house across the street and it was just as creepy but i never saw or heard anything there im just really curious to know if anyone knows the history about that house ? i no longer live in Bakersfield so i dont really know anyone that could verify .
To webhost. Really? Please delete unrelated articles and post comments that belong. Waste of space. You don’t need to post this comment, but I’ve sent in actual related comments to the post and they didn’t get posted to page. Disappointing. Is this website page out of date? Thank you! Re: thepadrehotel.com
We used to visit and investigate The Padre Hotel in the early 1980’s when the owner Milton Miller was alive. We were on the highest floor, just looking around very quietly and the owner came up to us with a gun pointed at us. He was angry and insisted that people had been stealing signs (from the hallways) from his hotel. He demanded that we (two females in our early twenties at the time) get into the elevator with him. I refused, but I told him that I would walk down the stairway with him. He got ahead of us at one point and I didn’t bother to keep up with him. We left the hotel, while the owner ran looking for people he believed to be stealing signs. I wouldn’t be surprised if he still haunts the hotel, because he was acting so crazy that night. Anyway, although I didn’t actually “see or hear” anything paranormal during my many visits, the hotel always had an unusually strange vibe… similar to many haunted locations I’ve been. Many hotels have lots of History and Residual Energy…even if there’s nothing still intelligent still lingering around. Either way, as old as this place is, I would be surprised if you didn’t get some EVP recordings here 🙂 L.O.L. 🙂
stayed there in 2020 on 6th floor room 604 that was the creepiest scaryest stay middle of the night sounded like children running down the halls scratching on the walls next morning got up grabbed the tv remotr turned on the tv was watching tv the wife was ready to go so i grab remote to turn off tv and tv wouldnt turn off the remote wasnt responding went to check the batteries and guess what there werent any how did i tuurn the tv on with the remote not to mention nobody had used the shower the nite we got there after we checked into hotel took the luggage to the room and left for the evening when we got back it was like someone had taken a shower there was water all over the bathroom floor kinda fogged up mirrors i wont be staying at the padre anytime soon and the hand print on the wall was pretty creepy too justsayin padre is haunted