Avenue Hotel Bed and Breakfast

The Avenue Hotel, situated at 711 Manitou Avenue in the historic mountain town of Manitou Springs, Colorado, emerged from the Gilded Age construction boom as a luxurious boarding house in 1886, during the height of the region's development as a destination for wealthy travelers and health-conscious visitors drawn to the area's natural mineral springs and mountain climate. The building was meticulously designed to provide the highest standards of Victorian hospitality, featuring ten individually appointed rooms, ornate period furnishings including clawfoot bathtubs, expansive mountain views, and modern amenities that were exceptional for the era. Located near the famous Garden of the Gods and within close proximity to the Ute Pass corridor, the property positioned itself as an essential stop for visitors seeking both recreation and the reputed therapeutic benefits of Manitou's natural environment and elevation.

During the Colorado gold rush era, the town flourished with prospectors, merchants, and entrepreneurs whose activities shaped the region's development and left indelible marks on its landscape and institutions. The Avenue Hotel became a central gathering place during this tumultuous period, hosting gold prospectors, their families, traveling companions, and the service workers who enabled the mining boom. Among the spirits who haunt the property are three young children whose lives were cut short during the early years of the hotel's operation, their deaths remaining somewhat obscure in the historical record but clearly traumatic enough to bind their spiritual presence to the building for over a century. Additionally, the apparition of a coachman from the gold rush era appears throughout the halls, suggesting occupational fatality or sudden death while in service to the hotel's guests.

The paranormal activity manifests consistently and specifically within the hallways and second-floor bedrooms, with particularly intense phenomena reported in the Nanny's quarters, a residential space occupied by caretakers employed to supervise the young guests and manage domestic affairs. Guests report hearing the unmistakable sounds of children playing audibly in the hallways at night, complete with laughter, running footsteps, and the characteristic sounds of youthful activity, yet no children are present in the building. Staff members describe a protective presence, suggesting that one previous owner's spirit has remained attached to the property and may be watching over guests with benevolent intent. Beds shake unexpectedly during the night with no seismic cause, a phenomenon reported across multiple rooms on the second floor, indicating a systematic haunting rather than isolated incidents.

The most remarkable aspect of the haunting involves the Nanny's quarters, where persistent reports of ethereal singing emanate from empty rooms, accompanied by mysterious knocking sounds originating from walls and ceilings with no identifiable physical source. The singing is described as melancholic and indistinct, perhaps a lullaby from the era when the nanny occupied the space, suggesting the spirit may be enacting daily routines from life. Guests staying in adjacent rooms report these phenomena with consistent frequency, and professional paranormal investigators have documented unusual electromagnetic activity and temperature fluctuations concentrated in this area. The poltergeist activity, while generally not harmful, creates an unmistakable atmosphere of supernatural presence that many guests find unsettling despite the overall welcoming nature of the establishment.

The Avenue Hotel Bed and Breakfast continues to operate as a respected historic accommodation, blending the authentic architectural and cultural elements of Manitou Springs' Gilded Age heritage with modern hospitality standards. The property welcomes guests and paranormal enthusiasts alike, maintaining transparency about its supernatural inhabitants while providing comfortable, well-appointed accommodations with period charm and modern conveniences. The spirits of three children and a gold rush era coachman, along with what may be a protective former owner, have become integral to the inn's identity and historical significance, creating an environment where guests may encounter authentic apparitions of the past while enjoying the scenic mountain surroundings and mineral springs that drew visitors to Manitou Springs more than a century ago.