The Haunted Driskill Hotel
There are haunted hotels in virtually every city and it’s amazing how much legend and lore becomes attached to these historic locations. The Driskill hotel in Austin, Texas is a prime example of such a place. One of the city’s most haunted locations, the Driskill has its fair share of characters from its long history, characters that many believe still linger inside.
The stately building’s founder, Colonel Jesse L. Driskill, a pair of suicide brides, and the spirit of a little girl who perished on the grand staircase are just of few of the ghosts purported to haunt the Driskill.
But one of the hotel’s most interesting tales has roots in both Europe and Mexico.
In the 1850s, legend has it that Ferdinand Maximilian was traveling in Europe when he met a gypsy woman who predicted that one day, he would be crowned Emperor. Ferdinand, hoping the prediction was accurate, did his best to befriend French royalty at every possible opportunity. Eventually, members of the court decided Ferdinand would indeed make a good Emperor…for their puppet regime in Mexico. But he would need a bride.
Enter Charlotte, Princess of Belgium. A woman more than willing to go to Mexico and share the throne with Ferdinand.
They were married in a grand ceremony and set sail for the French colony. Once in Mexico, Charlotte became “Carlotta,” and the couple took up residence in Chapultepec Palace on a hill overlooking Mexico City.
But a grand, royal life in Mexico was not in the cards for the couple. There was a U.S. blockade in place that made it difficult for French ships to reach the colony. Furthermore, local forces, spearheaded by Benito Juarez were constantly stirring up trouble.
As their regime began to fall, Carlotta rushed back to Europe, hoping to persuade the aristocracy to help. Unfortunately, she received a cold reception and the French court refused to even see her. She headed to Italy, hoping to find assistance from the Catholic Church. While waiting for an audience with the Pope, she received terrible news. Juarez and his men had stormed the palace, crushed the Emperor’s forces and executed Maximilian.
Carlotta was heartbroken. It’s said that her mind snapped, and she began suffering from paranoid delusions. She lived out her days supported by various European courts, continuing to be known as “Empress Carlotta” despite having no kingdom to rule.
It’s unknown if Carlotta ever learned about the belated wedding gift Ferdinand had ordered made for her: A set of eight mirrors with elaborate gold leaf frames, each crowned with a carved bust of the Empress. The ornate mirrors were backed with sterling silver and diamond dust to add a greater sheen to their surfaces. After the fall of the palace in Mexico, the couple’s belongings were pillaged and scattered. Somehow, the mirrors survived and ended up at an auction in San Antonio, Texas.
In 1930, the Driskill Hotel decided to renovate a large room just off its Mezzanine. The room had served for years as a men’s smoking lounge, but its new incarnation would be that of a grand dining hall for special events. The hotel purchased the eight gold, French mirrors from an antique shop in San Antonio and installed them in the newly renovated room to add a touch of European elegance to the décor.
Now dubbed “The Maximilian Room,” both guest and hotel employees have had strange experiences in the hall over the years.
Some people believe the spirt of Empress Carlotta haunts the mirrors, despite the fact that she had never seen them while she lived. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that her image adorns the frames, or, perhaps she returns simply to see if the gifts from her beloved husband are being properly cared for.
Austin ghost tour guide, Monica Ballard, recounts an interesting story involving the mirrors in her book on Driskill hauntings.
According to an account related to staff members of the Austin ghost tour, a photographer in the 1990s encountered an apparition that he believed was the ghost of the Empress.
The man was setting up for a shoot in the Maximillian room. He intended to photograph modern bridal gowns against the classical period background of the room’s décor. While he was unpacking his equipment, he heard the doors open and glanced up into one of the mirrors to see a woman stride into the room. He described her as a stunning, raven-haired beauty wearing a sumptuous antebellum white gown. The photographer turned to question this “bride” as to why she was wearing a period dress rather than something modern but found there was no one in the room, though the doors were now standing open. He turned to look in an opposite mirror, and there she was again! Snapping his head around once again to the doors, he found that the room was still empty. The woman, it seemed, only appeared in the mirrors.
Once the woman had vanished from the mirrors, the photographer found himself looking closely at the carved bust on the gold frames and shaking his head in amazement at the uncanny resemblance to the spirit he had seen.
Perhaps Carlotta didn’t want to have her picture taken.
The next time you’re traveling through Austin and want an unquiet night, book a room at the Driskill. The fifth floor is reputed to be the most active, but there seem to be a wide range of spirits roaming the site.