Ghostly Accommodations

The Sise Inn

The Sise Inn is located in Portsmouth a lovely New England seaport town in New Hampshire. The building is an 1881 Queen Anne mansion that was renovated into an inn. The house has three stories, a ground floor and an atrium. There is a wonderful Victorian-style atmosphere inside the inn and antique furniture in all of the rooms. Today it's the Hotel Portsmouth.

John Sise a wealthy businessman built the mansion for his family and it was used as a private residence until the 1930s at which time it was put to use for business reasons and professional services. There were doctors offices, a beauty parlor, apartments, a shop for fashion and a halfway house for mental patients.

Once the house became an inn the staff, guests, and a former mental patient started noticing strange occurrences. A favorite spot for ghostly entities appears to be Suite 204 located on the third floor and the area surrounding it. These entities like to have fun like playing with the ice machine and tossing ice about. They enjoy locking and unlocking doors and causing havoc for the living.

Strange occurrences

One night a desk clerk heard that the ice machine on the third floor was working and this was odd because there were no guests on that floor. So up he went to take a look at what was going on and discovered a trail of ice cubes leading to the open door of Suite 204. Right by the door was a heap of ice cubes but no one was around.

At another time guests staying in Suite 204 discovered that their key would not open the door. It was 2 AM and even the desk clerk couldn’t open the door. The manager came to the rescue with the emergency key but when nothing seemed to work by 4 AM a locksmith was called. What was incredibly strange was that the locksmith could open the door with the guest’s original key. For some reason, there was an entity that hadn’t wanted anyone to enter the room previously.

Other times the key to Suite 204 went missing.

Other strange and odd things have occurred in other guest rooms as well:

While maids have been cleaning up rooms there has been a male entity that prefers to come up behind them to put his hands on their hips.

There was a maid who found herself being pulled into a closet.

Several maids have discovered cold spots in empty rooms and have trouble opening locked doors.

A female guest lay down to rest and felt an unseen entity lay down next to her meanwhile pushing that side of the bed downwards.

A guest decided enough was enough when a potted plant in his room just suddenly flew off the coffee table. He asked for a new room.

Among the modern conveniences at the inn is an elevator that has a mind of its own and goes up and down by itself opening and closing the door.

Next to the registration desk a rocking chair enjoys rocking by itself.

A pair of scissors which are always kept under the registration desk was discovered on top of the desk with no explanation.

After these occurrences of course one would begin to wonder who these entities could possibly be. One frightening story is of a butler who fell in love with a maid and after their relationship broke up he killed the maid and then hung himself in the room which is now Suite 204. However, this has not been proven. There are those who speculate that after a man murdered his wife two houses away from the Sise Inn that perhaps these spirits moved on over to the inn. The thought is that perhaps the entity of the wife is now trying to lock out her murderous husband therefore some of the rooms cannot be unlocked at times. Then of course there is the ladies man the entity who enjoys toying with the maids and seems to enjoy playing with the ice machine and the elevator.

All of these entities enjoy their stay at Sise Inn and the owners are willing to put up with them even if at times they can get annoying. As far as anyone knows these entities are still there so if you like to mingle with spirits take a trip and stay at the inn. Who knows it just might be a fun night tossing about ice cubes.

New River Inn

The New River Inn in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is also home to the Old Fort Lauderdale History Museum. It is located across from The Old Fort Lauderdale Village where visitors can find old historic houses.

Philemon Nathaniel Bryan arrived in Fort Lauderdale in 1895 along with his wife and seven children. Bryan with his two sons, Tom and Reed, got a job to supervise 400 laborers who were working on building train tracks for the Florida East Coast Railway. When by 1905 Bryan had made some money he looked toward other projects. There was a great need for a hotel so he hired a contractor to build one right across from the railroad station. The result was a two-story building that became Fort Lauderdale’s oldest remaining hotel. Bryan called it The Bryan Hotel and had 24 rooms to rent to railroad men and others that came to town for business and pleasure.

The Bryan Hotel had a dining room, running, in house ice water and irrigation systems. There was the luxury of two bathrooms and lights that used carbide lamps. At some point, the name of the hotel was changed to The New River Inn. Bryan lived there for the last 25 years of his life and died at the hotel.

The New River Inn remained a hotel until 1955 and afterwards fell into disrepair. Finally the city of Fort Lauderdale took over and handed the hotel over to The Historical Society to manage it. They turned it into the Old Fort Lauderdale History Museum still keeping its original name.

Soon they discovered that the ghosts here are restless mostly between the hours of 11 PM and 3 AM.

Restless Man

The restless man is supposedly a horseman/rancher, Texas Ranger or railroad man seen dressed in a duster outfit with the traditional hat and a long black canvas or leather coat. He walks back and forth on the first floor of the hotel and on the front porch as if he was waiting for someone or worried about something. If anyone notices him, he glares at them and then disappears. If he remains unnoticed people have seen him looking angry just before fading away.

Apparition of P.H. Bryan

Bryan is still enjoying the hotel he had built. When the museum is closed people who have peeked into the front door have noticed the stern face of a white-haired gentleman looking annoyingly at them. At other times a hand or arm has blocked their view. Photos of the hand and arm unattached from a body have been photographed.

Young Girl Entity

The entity of the young girl is thought to be Lulu Marshall who was a child in Miss Ivy’s first class in 1899. She is seen as having blonde, curly hair and is about 5 – 7 years old. The girl is dressed in turn-of-the-century attire. She is seen on the second-floor veranda and appears to be a real live child. She has also been seen gazing out of the windows. She has actually responded to people who have asked her questions and told them that she lives in a two-story house. These people are always amazed when she suddenly disappears.

Supposedly the spirits still roam here according to eyewitnesses and the photos taken.