Locals tell a tale of Fannie, a woman who died here in the 1950s, but never left. Fannie is said to haunt Room 209.
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- 308 Adams St
Seward, AK 99664
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 60.10314436485806, -149.4409695251312
- County:
- Kenai Peninsula Borough County
- Nearest Towns:
- Seward, AK (0.1 mi.)
Lowell Point, AK (2.1 mi.)
Bear Creek, AK (4.5 mi.)
Primrose, AK (16.9 mi.)
Primrose, AK (19.4 mi.)
Crown Point, AK (22.2 mi.)
Crown Point, AK (22.3 mi.)
Moose Pass, AK (26.7 mi.)
Cooper Landing, AK (29.9 mi.)
Whittier, AK (53.0 mi.)
Contact Information
- Web:
- http://vangilderhotel.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 use to work there as a housekeeper, there is not a doubt in my mind that the Van Gilder is haunted and not just by Fannie who haunts the entire hotel not just one room (and she died I’d room 202 not 209). Fanny likes to sit on freshly made beds and leave a butt print, move cleaning supplies and tools, open and close windows and doors and has been seen by many people sitting in chairs in he hallways. Fannie is described as having long blonde hair and wears a blue dress. In addition to her there has also been sightings of two men wearing bowler hats standing behind the front desk and 3 children have been seen running from room to room giggling when no one else is in he hotel.
In 2001 my kids were working summers in Alaska hospitality industry in Seward. They asked me to visit so I did and my son worked at the Van Gilder. It was the end of the season so the hotel was empty. All was normal till about the 5 day. The hotel had one other room filled and those folks ordered a pizza and I heard the delivery guy run up one flight of stairs to deliver the pizza at around 7:30.
At 1:21 am I woke to the whole building shaking, the windows squeaked like in a ghost movie then I heard running up the stairs but this time it was 2 floors of steps. I looked out the window to see if it was another pizza delivery but there were only the 2 rooms rented so no pizza truck was out side. Then I heard running down the steps 2 floors worth followed by the windows squeaking again like before and then the whole building shaking.Then all was again normal.
In the morning I went to the manager and asked if we had an earth quake and she said no and asked why. I toid her my story and she said No that is the ghost. A woman was killed in I suppose the room I was staying in decades ago and she and the killer are said to haunt the building and the ghost runs in and kills her again every now and then.
My mom stayed there when she was going to school and she said she had nightmares every night until she left. And she also said you could see 13 church steeples from her room. She forgot what her room number was.
I stayed in room 209. Just as Jessie said, it’s room 202 that is haunted. We were led into that room by the manager, and every single photo we took in that room was blurry. We were told the Fanny was shot by her husband with a shotgun.
My wife, grandkids, daughter and I stayed at the Van Gilder July 6 and 7, 2021. Don’t know if it was by accident or on purpose, but we were assigned Room 202 with the adjoining 202B – supposedly the room Fanny met her fate in. Although kind of run down and needing a lot of TLC, it was comfortable and we witnessed no unusual activities during our visit. Very nice staff (overworked due to Covid) made our stay pleasant.