Haunted Hotel Room Alone!! My First Solo Investigation! Ghosts of Casa De Solana Bed and Breakfast in St Augustine, Florida.

I was a ball of excitement and nerves during my drive to St. Augustine, Florida this February. I planned a fun-filled weekend of ghost hunting activities. This included a paranormal investigation of the Lighthouse, Ripley’s Haunted Castle, and the Old Jail. As well as a stay at a haunted hotel, the Casa de Solana Bed and Breakfast. Initially, I booked an Airbnb but then realized why do that when I have a plethora of haunted lodging surrounding me??!! After all, St. Augustine is America’s oldest city. With many of the buildings lining its streets still standing after hundreds of years, including schools, homes, restaurants, and inns, the history and ghosts awaited me.

The Location, Haunted Hotel:

I quickly found that the options for a haunted hotel were not lacking. The city seems to embrace its past through its history and the ghosts that remain and carry that history into the present. It is common to look up a reportedly haunted hotel to find an entire page of their website devoted to its ghostly inhabitants. Ultimately, I chose 2 haunted Inns to stay in during my visit- Casa de Solana Bed and Breakfast and Saint Francis Inn. Night 1, and my first planned solo paranormal investigation, was a the Casa. Not only did I choose this location that was near the top of almost every list of haunted hotels in St. Augustine, I also chose one of its most reportedly haunted and active rooms- The Montejurra Room. This establishment is designed for couples and romance, with an intimate appeal that accommodates only 10 rooms.

I worked that day and made the 4 hour drive to Casa de Solana, arriving around 10 pm. It was a Thursday night and the alleyways were silent, empty, and still. I was considered a late check-in because the hotel stops all operations after a certain time. As such, there was no one at the front desk to greet me or check me into the hotel. Instead, I got a passcode to the front door and my room key was left inside of an envelope atop the front desk. I was informed that my room was the only one on the second floor.

During my walk to the front door of the Casa de Solana, I noticed there were no rooms above that floor. Most of the hotel involved a second wing that was on the opposite side of mine. The downstairs area below my room consisted of the dining room and check-in counter, both of which were vacant. It seemed I was quite alone this evening in this haunted hotel, aside from the ghosts inhabiting my room for the night.

Initial Vibes:

After obtaining my room key, I sauntered up the stairs taking in the vibe and the surroundings. Paintings of people from long ago lined the walls. They were the types of paintings where you swear their eyes are following you, and perhaps some of them were. I put my key into the lock and twisted it open, the door eerily creaking as it opened, elevating the sense of hauntedness. But I didn’t need the creaky doors or the glaring paintings to give me that sense. I could feel the energy coursing over my skin.

It had started as I was standing just outside the door of the Montejurra suite- a subtle feeling I refer to as a sensation of static electricity. The hairs on my neck and shoulders standing to a point and the skin beneath tingling. As I stepped inside the room, this energy heightened and extended to other areas of my body as well. It seemed to be encompassing me. I said Hello and introduced myself and complimented my invisible roommates on the beautiful room they had. I stated my intentions and attempted to make it known I was there out of peace and not to disrespect.

The room itself truly was gorgeous. I entered an open space with a chandelier gracing the center of a beamed ceiling, already lit up for me. A sprawling wood-posted canopy bed. The carpeting and decor whispered of a bygone era. The bathroom was expansive. A door on the opposite side of the room led out onto a private balcony.

Planning the Investigation of the Haunted Hotel:

I had tailored the plan for this investigation in advance and knew I would be unable to use noisy equipment late at night in a hotel with other guests. Which automatically took my REM pod, spirit box, and trip wire out of the equation. While unpacking my car, I planned to set up a video camera for an abandonment session. I left three cat balls around the room and left my audio/EVP recording rolling. I showed the spirits the objects I brought them and invited them to play with them or speak into my devices while I was away.

The term “abandonment” is a term I got from Paranormal Quest (I love their investigations, they are available on YouTube). Abandonment is a process where you set up equipment and then leave a video camera recording while you completely leave the building.

I love this concept because it takes out the possibility of interference of noise, vibrations, movement, etc. that you may get with people in the building. Also, there is a possibility that spirits are going to withdraw when humans are present. Perhaps there is more chance of them revealing themselves when strangers aren’t present. Though my abandonment may not have been a true abandonment (I couldn’t go knocking on doors and asking everyone in the hotel to leave), I was confident that at least my section of the building was empty while I was away. I had brought no one with me, so my room was definitely abandoned.

Abandonment:

Upon review of the video footage, I did not have any activity on my cat balls. I did, however, capture several loud “thuds” and a clicking sound. The clicking sound seemed to emanate from just next to my video camera. I checked through all of my video footage and never heard this clicking sound again so I am confident it did not come from the recording device itself. During that time, no EVPs were captured that were audible.

When I arrived back at the room, I set up my motion-sensored music box. I positioned it so the sensor was facing the door leading to the balcony. One of the most common accounts of potential paranormal activity in the Montejurra suite is that particular door opening on its own. At least one guest of the room has caught it on camera.

I checked the door to ensure that it wouldn’t open easily due to wind or any other reason. Upon my arrival, I found the lock heavily deadbolted and very tightly sealed, making it difficult for me to open it. I am uncertain if this is a new addition to the door given its history of sporadically opening or if it has been a permanent feature of the door. Even without the deadbolt, it did not appear to be broken or easily pushed open.

The History of the Haunted Hotel:

I obtained limited history about Casa de Solana before my stay from their website and a few other sources. I was interested to see what I would get in a location where my known history was limited. The Casa de Solana is reportedly the 7th oldest existing residence in the United States. According to its website, construction on the building began in 1763 making it over 250 years old!! It was built by the original owner, Don Manuel Lorenzo Solana. He was part of one of the first Spanish families in St Augustine. At the age of 23, he was a member of the Spanish Army’s Mounted Dragoons.

Spanish Dragoons were Spanish Military who rode on horseback and dismounted their horses to battle. He was one of the few Spanish men permitted to stay in St Augustine after the British occupation in 1763. During his time there, he married a woman named Mary Mitchell, a London-born protestant. They had 2 children together during their wedlock. The catholic church refused to recognize their union, however, so their marriage eventually dissipated. Solana later took a second wife, Mary Mastres from Menorca Spain. From this union, 11 more children were born. Though the home needed space for all of their children, the house essentially served as a B&B at that time as well. The Solanas would commonly offer hospitality to Native Americans, injured soldiers, and travelers who needed a place of rest.

Paranormal Accounts from the Haunted Hotel:

Guests at the inn have reported multiple accounts of believed paranormal activity at the Casa de Solana. These include hearing whispers and footsteps, the appearance of orbs, and gentle touches. Full-bodied apparitions have also manifested to certain guests. These include a woman in white who some believe to be Mary Mitchell. Another theory is that it could be Victoria, a woman recorded to have been born and died there in the Casa. Some people claim that Fredrico is the apparition appearing in the courtyard. He was a soldier who guarded the Casa in the 1800s and died from an arrow to the back while protecting its inhabitants. The appearance of a ghostly Spanish Dragoon has also been witnessed, particularly in the Montejurra Suite. He has been seen sitting in the wing chair as well as standing outside the bathroom door.

Other ghostly encounters specific to the Montejurra room are that of the balcony door opening on its own and the sound of giggling children coming from the closet. The children may have been forced to hide in the closet during times of danger such as war outside the casa doors. Multiple guests, especially women, have reported being awakened suddenly around 4:15-4:30 am, either by being shaken or having their blankets pulled off of them.

Personal Experiences at the Haunted Hotel:

In relation to these accounts, I personally encountered an audible creaking noise at one point by the door to the balcony. I was taking a video of myself sitting on the couch when it happened, and the video distinctly captured the event. At first, I thought it could have been the sound of the door trying to open but it also may have been the floorboards by the door. There was no one in the room but me and the door led to a 2nd floor private balcony. In the morning, just prior to me leaving,

I also heard a noise that sounded like a “pssst” come from behind me and over my left shoulder at one point. I could not hear that sound on my video recording. My video camera did pick up multiple other sounds that I did not hear at the time. One of these was an unknown sound that almost sounded like footsteps around me and occurred around the time a faint red transparent light moved in front of my camera. The other sounds were tapping type noises that occurred while I was sleeping. At one point in the morning, not long before the “pssst” sound. I felt a sensation like a gentle stroke on one of my hands.

The energy of the bathroom seemed more heavy than other areas of the room to me. I am uncertain if it was the fact that it was the only room with the lights out when I walked in, or that I had read accounts of the ghostly figure looming at the bathroom door, or if it was a true energy I was picking up on. At first glance, without the sense of ghostly energy, it was an impressive bathroom. Expansive with a huge whirlpool tub with jets, and beautiful antique decorations. Regardless, I did not use the tub while I was there. I waited until I got to my hotel the next day. The thought of a Spanish military ghost man looming around the tub while I bathed was more than I wanted to endure that night. I truly would have been naked and afraid!!!!

The Investigation Continues:

During my investigation, it took a while to get the spirits to interact with me but I felt their energy around so I persisted. After the abandonment, I returned to the room to realize my camera battery was almost dead. Before turning it on in the parking lot, it was a newly charged battery. After just 30 minutes it had drained down to the red low battery zone. I found this interesting- had an energy in the room drained the battery while I was away?

I decided to sweep the room with my K2 meter (detects electromagnetic fields) to see if there were any particular areas of the room that had higher EMF than others. The bathroom was of interest based on the initial energy I sensed from that area, however my K2 meter was acting up as well. When first turning it on, it spiked to red and was fluctuating around yellow and then it just started turning off on its own. It too had new batteries placed before I arrived in St. Augustine. It kept repeating that similar odd pattern so I decided not to trust it and left it off.

As I continued to attempt to speak with the spirits and explore the room with my equipment, I initially was getting no interaction in return. My cat balls were unlit, my EVP recordings weren’t picking up anything, my GhostTube app and music box were silent, and my GhostTube SLS picked up only outlines of objects in the room. I noticed a beautiful liquor decanter on the dresser and read that it contained sherry so decided to give it a try. I poured a small amount into a glass and declared to the spirits that it was for them. Then, I toasted to them for allowing me to stay in their room for the night. I sat around for a bit still waiting for someone to interact then decided to try the flashlight technique.

As I sat down my sherry glass and walked to one of the armchairs to collect the flashlight from my bag, my GhostTube said “Thank you”. I was delighted to get this apparent first direct interaction. The maglight was set up in the crook of the back of the couch that I was sitting on and it continued attempts to communicate. I really feel like this flashlight session got things going and the activity ramped up from there. I have posted the video from part 1 of my investigation below.

More activity from the Haunted Hotel:

I interacted with the flashlight and engaged in some cat ball activities for a significant amount of time, leaving me feeling tired and drained. I decided to ask permission to turn off the flashlight, and asked the spirits to turn off the flashlight if I had permission to turn it off. It almost immediately turned off. But as I started to reach for it to take it away, my GhostTube said “Fool”. This startled me a bit, and as I was attempting to reason with the spirits and apologize for having to turn off the flashlight, my GhostTube said “Please Go”.

This made me feel bad as it seemed I was now upsetting the spirits. I felt like they were enjoying the flashlight and irritated by me taking it away. Normally, if I got a request or a demand to leave an area then I would consider it, but since this was my source of lodging for the night, I instead attempted to appease the spirits by enforcing that I meant no disrespect. I felt the energy, though not malicious, was becoming heavy and draining, leaving me feeling unsettled. I opted to take a break from the investigation and went out onto the balcony for some fresh air.

Upon my return, I watched some television and tried to clear my mind of the spirit interaction for a bit. I did do a short GhostTube Seer session before setting up for bedtime and got a couple of interesting images. For my overnight investigation, I set up a video camera next to the bed that had a view of a large part of the room. I set out 3 cat balls and 1 flashlight.

I drooped a lightweight blanket across the foot of the bed behind me in case anything wanted to yank it off during the night (also hoping they would yank on that and not on my covers). It was difficult to sleep in such an energetically charged environment however I was also aware that I had stirred that energy up by my actions to interact. I asked that they respect me during the night and allow me to sleep, but couldn’t bring myself to turn all the lights off so I slept with all of the lamps on.

Over night portion of the Investigation:

My video camera rolled throughout the night to further the investigation. It caught me alas in a deep slumber around 3 am. I slept peacefully to my surprise. UNTIL around 4:22 AM. Remember those accounts of people being awakened around that time? Though I didn’t have anything drastic happen, I did find what happened quite intriguing.

It started out with me in the same position for hours. No odd noises and no activity on the equipment. No unexplained motions, lights, or shadows around the room. Out of apparently nowhere, my left hand, which I had resting on my chest most of the night, started to move. Just my hand. Just after, a fairly loud “Tap” sound is heard. Then another 2 “Tap” sounds, more faint than the first and spread out by about 10 seconds. Then I move my hand again. I abruptly shift my body, as though something was agitating me, you hear the bed creek as I do so, and then the same hand starts moving around again. Almost as though I felt something touching my hand.

Now could it just be normal sleep related activity? Yes, it absolutely could. But in combination with the tapping sounds, the time of the morning, and the fact I had slept undisturbed the remainder of the time, I find the entire capture quite interesting.

The Next Morning at the Haunted Hotel:

Despite no activity on my cat balls or flashlight overnight, the activity started up again the next morning as soon as I made it known I was ready to interact again. Immediately upon turning my GhostTube app on, I had a response. The morning was filled with equipment interactions on my cat balls, GhostTube, and flashlight. And most impressive and exciting to me- MY MUSIC BOX!!!! A music box is motion triggered so something has to walk across its sensor path to trigger it. Multiple times that morning, it was triggered when I was far from its path. This occurred when I was in the bathroom, which was a different room, and when I wasn’t in the hotel room at all.

The video from part 2 of my investigation of the Casa de Solana is below. A couple of times it got quite intense.

Final Thoughts on this Haunted Hotel:

During my first ever solo investigation, I definitely learned some things. One was to be patient. Sometimes the spirits need the time or perhaps the right trigger or energy to interact. I recently heard one investigator refer to it like fishing and that analogy seems very accurate. It reinforced to me that a spirit may not be able to or may not want to use certain modalities of equipment. However, they may really be good at or into another modality.

For example, the flashlight seemed to be a big hit in this room. And where the music box got no activity the first night, it triggered a lot the next morning. And finally, respect the spirits and hopefully they will respect you back. I felt on edge when asked to please go but I ended up with a good period of sleep after reinforcing I meant no disrespect. Had I been disrespectful, it could have gone the other way. They could have kept me up all night or may have not even communicated with me at all.

As far as a stay at the Casa de Solona Bed and Breakfast- I highly recommend it. The accommodations were cozy and gorgeous for sure. And I do believe that the ghosts there do not mean harm. I may have annoyed them because I kept trying to interact with them.. However, I also felt appreciation from them at times. And like I said, it took a while for them to communicate with me. So if you are going there for some relaxation and quiet, I’m sure you can obtain that too. Maybe just close the bathroom door when you’re in the tub and ask them to stay out, just in case.

If you enjoyed this Haunted Hotel investigation please check out some of my other investigations!!

Warned by a Ghost- So we Left!! Haunted Savannah Theatre Mirror Room(Opens in a new browser tab)

Moon River Brewing Haunting- The History.(Opens in a new browser tab)

Ghosts of the Old Jail St Augustine Florida(Opens in a new browser tab)

My Ghost Hunting Equipment Part 1: Myself(Opens in a new browser tab)

Explanation of Equipment used in this Investigation:

CatBalls:

These are the balls that flash different colors of light. Once you hit the red button on top, it turns them on. They light up and flash the different colors to indicate when activated. The only way for them to light up after first turning them on is to have them moved or touched. They were designed for cats because they light up when they get batted around. I have noticed that sometimes they may light up if vibrations such as footsteps nearby sets them ajar. I like to have them on a steady surface with no excessive walking around them to truly trust them.

Mini Maglights:

These flashlights twist towards the lightbulb side to turn them on and off. They can be dimmed or brightened based on the extent to which they are twisted. The idea behind their use for paranormal investigations is that a spirit can affect the beam of light, either directly through their energy source or manually through twisting it. They are commonly used to ask yes/no questions. This is done by asking spirits to turn the flashlight on for yes and off for no. However, they can be used in other ways as well. For example “Can you turn that flashlight on if you’re a man”.

Paranormal Music Box: 

This device senses motion. It will activate with music and motion only if something crosses its sensor path. There are multiple types of these on the market. I love mine. The music is so creepy. When triggered, a little handle spins to play the music, and the coffin-shaped object also lights up.

Ovilus:

This is a type of word generator that contains a libray of words. Spirits can manipulate the device to generate words in various ways. The device speaks the words out loud and displays them in text on the screen.

Audio recorder (EVP recorder):

An audio recorder is frequently used in ghost hunting to capture Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVPs). EVPs are sounds or voices that can not be heard with the human ear but get recorded onto the recording device. They can only be heard during playback. I was carrying one of these with me during the investigation. EVPs can be audibly differentiated from words coming from the geoport as the geoport has that distinct echo sound whereas EVPs do not. EVPs are typically best heard with headphones as they can be subtle. There is lots of debate on which recorders are the best and I would love to experiment with more. Up to this point, I am liking my results with this one.

Phone Apps:

Yes, believe it or not, there are several phone apps out there that paranormal investigators do use and trust, so you don’t always need fancy or expensive equipment to get results. I used these during the investigation:

GhostTube original: Works similarly to the ovilus in that it contains a word bank that spirits can manipulate to make words. Where the ovilus typically only puts out 1 word at a time, this App can put out several words at a time. It has the added bonus of being able to record the video and audio while in use. GhostTube uses the phone’s environmental sensors to measure fluctuations in the environment.

Fluctuations in electromagnetic fields (EMF) could indicate the presence of a spirit. The sensors can measure magnetic interference and select words from the dictionary when magnetic signatures correspond to it. GhostTube only selects words based on the environmental readings from the sensors in your device only. They do not use any personal information or microphone input to generate or select words. Per their website, this makes GhostTube one of the most reliable and trusted paranormal investigation tools for your handheld device. 

GhostTube Seer: This is one of the most recent GhostTube additions. It uses a similar concept as GhostTube original but instead of words, it produces pictures. It also has the ability to record video and audio while in use.