Nestled in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City is The Peery Hotel. We stumbled upon this place after a winning bid on Priceline. Little did we know when we won our “name your price” bid that we would be staying at Utah’s only historic hotel. The hotel is very central to nearby restaurants and bars although don’t expect too much of a nightlife in Salt Lake City where we passed many signs to clubs that don’t serve alcohol. The Peery Hotel offers both adjacent public parking and overnight valet. And don’t slack on paying the public metered parking, even if it’s just to check in! We went in to check in and find out about parking and took no more than 5 minutes; when we got back to the car we already had a ticket! Luckily the ninja meter guy came by and asked us if we were staying at the hotel and graciously offered to cancel the ticket. He wasn’t even dressed as a meter maid, he was in regular clothes and on a bicycle!
Checking into The Peery Hotel
The lobby of The Peery Hotel was old fashioned but very elegant. The hotel is themed in the 1920’s with a beautiful seating area around a fireplace and a gorgeous chandelier just before the staircase. The elevator to the far right is original to the building and squeaks and howls when you are in it. Being on the 3rd floor, there was no way we’d make it up three flights of stairs with our luggage. However, after that first elevator ride, we refused to use it again until out departure the next morning. They affectionately call the elevator “moaning molly” after an apparent ghost that is thought to haunt the elevator. Naturally, we weren’t aware of this until the morning after our stay. We also frequently saw the elevator open on floors while we were walking down the stairs with no one going in or out of it. One time the elevator seemed to be following us as it was open and empty on the ground floor and then open and empty again when we reached the top of the third flight of stairs. Very strange occurrence when we first arrived at the hotel.
The Room Was… Old…
Our room at The Peery Hotel smelled like it was 1920 in there. It smelled of old wood and must but the white sheets were crisp, clean and fresh smelling. The bed and furniture also seemed of the 20’s era with draping white panels above the bed. It was a small room with an even smaller bathroom and a single window looking out into the side street of the hotel. With its black and white checkered floor, the bathroom was no larger than an airplane bathroom with maybe 2 feet more for a tight spaced shower that leaked out into the bedroom. The sink and mirror were in the bedroom itself. Nevertheless, the room had an old fashioned charm along with the rest of the hotel.
Then Things Got Interesting…
After a night out for dinner, we exhaustedly returned to our room at The Peery Hotel since it had been a long drive from Arches National Park that morning. We settled into bed and barely watched a movie before falling asleep. That is when all the fun began. The first thing that woke us up in the middle of the night was a howling sound coming from the window. We shrugged it off to the wind thinking there was a storm outside. However, a while later when the wind didn’t die down, Jason went to look out the window to see what kind of storm was causing such a sound at the window. Only, there was no rain and no wind for that matter. The trees on the street were eerily still. Naturally, we were then very confused at what was causing the on and off howling sound at the window, since it was tightly shut and there was no wind. We decided to ignore it and went back to sleep.
Sleep was the last thing that we were able to get that night. To start off, I had nightmare after nightmare that felt horribly real. Jason said I woke up screaming twice in the night. All I truly remember is an unknown person in my dream walking me up stairs in the very same hotel room trying to take me somewhere else that was very frightening to me in the dream. Jason had also had a nightmare that seemed very real to him. He felt a dark presence watching over him as he slept and in the morning he told me he couldn’t tell if it was a dream or reality.
Leaving The Peery Hotel
The next morning we were ready to go at the break of dawn. Not only was our flight early that day, but with neither of us getting any sleep and the nightmares and howling in the room, we were almost convinced the place was haunted. While checking out, Jason made a mention of the events to the concierge at check out, but she denied any knowledge of hauntings in the hotel. Aside from the nightmares, we didn’t feel any other odd feelings while at the hotel and what were the odds of actually stumbling upon yet another haunted hotel on the same trip? Yet when we googled the place while waiting to board our plane, we found several stories and a blog from a former employee confirming paranormal events at The Peery Hotel.
So what do you think? Were we just having nightmares from the exhaustion of an overexerted trip? Or did we actually experience some first hand paranormal activity? I don’t think anyone will ever know for sure on these things.
Alina
super creepy
Clementine Price
I stayed here with a friend and we could not sleep due to the kids running up and down in the halls… but when we opened the door to see if we could quiet them down- it was empty. Then the people above us were up all night jumping around. When we called the front desk to tell them- they said we were on the top floor.
Melissa Moon Loftis
I have also stayed here, and being from just north of the area, I have heard of this Hotel many times.
My husband and I were in room 252, and the first night we were there I woke up several times just not feeling well and thinking I was hearing kids playing in the hall. That next morning I was in the shower rinsing the shampoo out of my hair, and thought my loving, but jokester new Husband, thought it would be funny to cool off my nice warm shower. BUT I never heard the door open, and turned around to find the my water temp was turned to cold. My husband swears it wasn’t him. And trust me he would have told me.
There were a few other things that happened but that was the biggest…
Dispite all that I am sure we would stay there again…
B. Thomas
I worked at the Peery Hotel for all of maybe 2 whole days as a teenager in the 70’s. Although I was in dire need of a job and was happy to have been hired – I absolutely could not work in there. I had a constant creeped out feeling of somebody watching me, and and it felt as if something was following me around all day, and was right smack next to me. The kind of thing that makes you just want to run. But I never saw or heard anything tangible. It was many years later I began hearing that the Peery was possibly haunted.
SMC
I am here now and love it! The old world charm is exactly what I was looking for. I didn’t realize the hotel had stories of being haunted when I booked it, but stumbled across them when I was trying to search for a phone number to call the hotel & confirm my reservation. Last night I was exhausted and fell asleep at 7:30pm. Slept most of the night off & on.due to noises that I assumed were from a nearby bar. I woke up about 2am and noticed the closet was opened about a foot and there was a light, similar to the flickering of a TV in the dark and voices. In my fogginess from sleep I said, oh it must be the people next door watching TV and fell back a sleep, not even thinking why would I see & hear their TV through my closet wall, which attaches to the bathroom. I then woke up again at about 4am and opened my eyes again and noticed the closet was closed. Well, when I got up around 6am I went over to the closet and anyone who has stayed here knows that the building isn’t exactly level so doors swing open. When I opened the closet about 1 foot and let go of the door it swung wide open. I guess I’ll never really know if what I saw at 2am was real or just a figment of my sleep riddled brain, but either way it was exactly the experience I was hoping for and I will stay here everytime I return to Salt Lake City!
Eric McGuire
Clubs that don’t serve alcohol? The Peery is surrounded by at least a dozen clubs that serve alcohol. They are within a couple hundred feet of the hotel. Gracies, Squatters, The New Yorker, The Inferno Cantina to name a few. Must have had your eyes closed.
Diana Mir
Granted, we were looking for a club atmosphere, not restaurants as those you named. We found several pub-like venues and restaurants nearby but the “clubs” we ran into were 18 and over stating “no alcohol” on the window. So we refrained from searching outside our walking vicinity.
Laura
When I stayed at the Peery hotel I smelled old heavy perfume in the middle of the lobby. I looked around for someone and no one was around me. The next morning my daughter said she kept smelling old lady perfume. We went out to breakfast the next morning and while eating the smell came back. The people next to us even noticed it. That night i was back home in Idaho Falls idaho and the smell woke me up. My daughter saw a dark shadow she felt was a parson in her room the same night. I heard the hotel used to be a brothel and a woman was murdered there. No clue if it was true. Across the street at the shilo there was a woman who threw her 7 children off the 11th floor then jumped. one child landed on her siblings and lived although she is permanently disabled with severe brain damage. The children are said to run the halls and haunt the game arcade.
Diana Mir
Very interesting account! Another commenter mentioned hearing children above his floor where there were none.
Dustin
My daughter and I were awoken at about 5:30 AM to the sound of an alarm (smoke alarm) outside our room. We got up and started putting on jackets and shoes to evacuate when the alarm suddenly went off. I could hear movement outside our room which I assumed was a guest or employee turning off the alarm. We assumed everything was taken care of, and we went back to bed. Not saying this was anything supernatural, but I have never had that happen before.
Courtney
I recently stayed at the Peery Hotel. While there, we encountered a sudden smell of sulfur 4 times. It was very sudden and would disappear just as quickly. Very concentrated in one area and would just disappear. I haven’t found anything online of people having a similar experience to mine. Odd thing was we had changed our reservation due to the small rooms and bathrooms but suddenly at breakfast the next morning I felt the overwhelming urge to stay. Evil spirits pulling me back?