McMenamins locations have a history of being haunted and McMenamin’s Old St. Frances School, located in Bend, is no exception. Though employees cannot confirm nor deny reports of ghosts, they were able to tell of encounters at the hotel which left them a little spooked.
“We’ve had several women come up and say they feel a presence with them in the women’s restroom,” said McMenamins hotel assistant manager, Rich Jandt. “They all say that it is a very strong male presence.”
of a strong male presence watching them, something Jandt finds very odd.
“I don’t personally believe in ghosts,” said Jandt.
Jandt recalls back to when he was swapping out a television set in one of the guest rooms. After uninstalling the old set and placing it on a cart in the hallway, an associate who was helping him at the time asked, “How are you doing that?”
The television set Jandt had unplugged and moved into the hallway was turning on and off, according to Jandt. The seemingly possessed television had been removed from guest room 13.
McMenamins’ night auditor, Deena Singhose, works nights, weekends and holidays when “it can be really freaky.
Singhose recalls the first time she thought she saw a ghost at McMenamins, after the men’s restroom door began opening and closing by itself.
Sometimes the lights and fans in the guest rooms do not function properly and randomly turn off and on, which is something Singhose finds odd, because all the wiring is new.
One guest that sticks out in Singhose’s memory did not feel comfortable in her room because she said she felt the eyes from the painting following her. Staff ended up covering the painting with a sheet to accommodate the guest.
“Once in a while when you go down a hallway, you feel someone is watching you,” said Singhose.
So many ghost stories have originated at the various McMenamins locations that a blog was created to record McMenamins ghost sightings. Skeptics might say it’s “just the Hammerhead talking,” when others are left wondering, what is it about McMenamins that attracts paranormal activity?
About Author
The women’s bathroom is exactly where my sister and I experienced a ghost. We went in and knocked on one of the stalls…. It was locked but we got no reply so we looked under and saw someone in there and they were wearing old black shoes. We apologized and my sis used the other stall… Still no word or sound from stall one. After she was done I used stall two also. We both asked if everything was ok … Again, silence, so we again looked underthe door but there were no feet there. We were a bit freaked but gave the door a tentitve push anyways. Surprised it opened right up and the stall was empty. We went out totally second guessing ourselves and ordered a double!