Bella Maggiore Inn
67 South California Street,
Ventura, California
93001
Designed by architect Albert Carey Martin and built in 1927, the Bella Maggiore Inn started off as El Nido which means the nest. The early history of the hotel is vague, but appears to be a dubious one, with stories stating that the hotel was a brothel back in the 1930s and 1940s. In the 40s it was also rumored to be a hangout for gangsters and serve as an illegal after hours bar that served up drugs to the clientele.
It was during this dubious past that the woman, Sylvia Michaels, lived part time in the hotel. Some stories state she was a prostitute who lived in the hotel, but other, perhaps more romantic tellers of the tale, say she was a writer who hung out in dingy bars and brothels in order to get inspiration for her writing. She passed away in 1947 in room 17 and now to this day haunts the hotel.
There are conflicting stories on what happened to poor Sylvia. The most common is that in a bout of depression, on Christmas Eve in 1947, she went into her room, emptied her closet, went inside, shut the door, and then hung herself with a belt from the hanger bar. It is said, that as she was getting older, she was having less and less clients and her regulars weren't returning. One Christmas Eve, all alone while her clients were elsewhere perhaps with their families, she couldn't handle it any more and hung herself in her room.
Another story has her deeply in love with one of the sailors who often frequented the brothel during World War II. When the war ended and the soldiers and sailors began coming home, Sylvia waited, often visiting the wharf waiting for her love to come home. Other sailors returned home, but her love did not. Then a letter arrived from him, explaining that he was in fact married, and would be returning to his family and not to poor Sylvia. To make matters worse, the story goes on to say Sylvia was pregnant with his child. Again, despondant, she goes into her room and hangs herself.
The last story has her being murdered. The killer was possibly a military man and was never brought to justice. He strangled her to death and then staged the murder to look like a suicide. This story states that she will haunt the hotel until she can get justice on the man who murdered her.
For several decades now, the hotel has experienced poltergeist like disturbances as the ghost of Sylvia Michaels still wanders the building. The most prevalent manifestation of Sylvia is the smell of a rose scented perfume. Objects have been mysteriously thrown across a room and other objects of guests (specifically men's wallets) have moved by themselves, appearing in places they weren't originally left. Lights, especially on the second floor where room 17 is located, have flickered on and off, and bulbs in the building need to be changed much more frequently than is usual. Guests have reported hearing strange buzzing noises in their ears, seen strange balls of light, and even heard the piano playing by itself.
Additionally the sound of a woman sobbing has been heard on the second floor near room 17. Room 17, itself, has other localized hauntings. The closet door has moved on its own. Guests have experienced sudden drops in temperature in the room. The door to the guest room has locked itself when guests have left it for a brief time. Items in the bathroom have moved or floated through the air by themselves. And one woman, who openly mocked Sylvia in the room, felt in retaliation, icy hands close around her throat and try to strangle her.
Men have reported having pleasant dreams while sleeping in room 17. While women have had the opposite, experiencing horrifying nightmares while staying there. Women have also reported feeling like the air was suddenly being sucked out of the room. Men have experienced something ghostly pinching their behinds, and those men staying alone have reported feeling like something was getting into bed with them at night.
People using cell phones on the second floor have also had their conversations suddenly cut off by a woman screaming, screaming as if she was being murdered. Only they hear it, the person on the other line has not. Additionally Sylvia has been seen, usually as a human shaped body of light. Some people have reported her speaking, and still others have seen her looking normal wandering the hotel.
Sylvia isn't the only ghost to haunt the hotel. In addition to the ghost of Sylvia, there is also the ghost of Mark, a man who died of a drug overdose on the second floor back in the 1960s. There is the ghost of Elizabeth, who was a little girl who was murdered on the first floor back in the 1930s. And perhaps also there is the ghost of the piano player, reported to be a ghost that growls, then laughs when encountered. Still additional reports claim that guests have seen the downstairs lounge suddenly transform fleetingly into the 1940s complete with gangsters and women from that era.
The inn became the current Bella Maggiore Bed and Breakfast in the 1970s. Now adays, there is a journal of ghost experiences available in a seating area near the registration area of the hotel. The journal has many of the guests experiences written down in it, experiences they've had with the ghosts of the hotel.
Does the ghost of Sylvia Michaels reside in the Bella Maggiore Inn? Stay in room 17 and you just might find out!
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Comments:
- David Green of Ventura, Ca on 2022-12-18 said:
- The only documented death in the hotel was back in 1933, of the owner of the El Nido Hotel, E.A. Beckett Sr. He had TB and 2 days prior the fire department took 4 hour shifts pumping oxygen for him to make breathing easier. The emergency was called off in the evening of 8 Feb 1033 when they say his breathing improved without assistance. He died the next day. sylvia michaels was completely made up. I actually own the original Piano from the El Nido Hotel and have the full documented proof to verify it, including the piano tuning receipts from RM Wagoner. Aside from debunking all the myths, I have no doubt that there might be hauntings at the hotel, although, the Sylvia Michaels story is completely made up.
- Anonymous of anaheim, California on 2016-08-09 said:
- I stayed in room 35 recently and heard the stories about Sylvia. I went out for the evening and left my ipad playing music from the 40s hoping to attract her.
I came back to the room after 1am, admittedly with a few drinks in me.
About 3am, I was jarred awake by a noise in the hallway. I worked up the nerve and opened the door to see if anything was out there....and the door slammed behind me!!
I had to creep down the the front desk and call the night clerk to let me back into my room.
I ain't saying it was Sylvia...but I am a man who was traveling alone.
Good thing for the night clerk I was sleeping in boxers that night!!
- •Anonymous of Ventura, CA on 2015-10-06 said:
- Great article. Love all the stories, séances and such surrounding these ghosts, Sylvia or whoever they may be, it sounds fun. I will add this to my list of places to stay. Weird comment regarding closets meaning there are no ghosts? Anyway, my grandparents house was built post war in the 40s and had lots of those little closets, one for each room. In the 50s, they added a large closet with sliding doors across the whole wall of the master bedroom, but still had that little closet where I always found old things to play with.
- Anonymous of California on 2014-03-14 said:
- Um, no. The Bella Maggiore is haunted, but Sylvia Michaels never existed. It was made up by Richard and Debbie Senate in 1989, during a seance, according to the Los Angeles Times in 1990. It is highly doubtful that the hotel had closets in the 1940s and that they were most likely added in the 1950s. In the 1980s, walls were knocked down and the whole upstairs area was gutted to make room for private baths, which possibly caused a few closets to be moved once again. So, please, don't believe everything you are told, re: Sylvia Michaels. Chasing ghosts is one thing, chasing snipes are another, and that's exactly what Sylvia is -- a snipe.
- Anonymous on 2009-03-08 said:
- i stayed at The Bella Maggorie Inn for a friends birthday and we stayed in room 17...the haunted room.it was a great experience and very fun.the girl that worked at the front desk named julie was very helpful and told us stories about sylvia michales one of the ghosts that haunts The Bella Maggorie Inn,and also told us some experiences she has had with the ghost sylvia.sylvia is not a harmful ghost and likes to play tricks and we shouldn't be afraid of her.The Bella Maggorie Inn is a place i recomend for people that want to know sylvia's story and wont judge her because she is a ghost.
- Alexis Solis on 2007-04-13 said:
- I have personally visited the Belle Maggorie Inn and can confirm that it is
haunter by the ghost of Sylvia, a prostitute from the 1940's. She haunts
room 17 where she hung her self over one of her clients, a sailor, left her.
Some things that happen in the room when you visit it is that lights flicker
on and off, the ceiling fan turns on by itself and sometimes you smell cheap
Rose scented Perfume. She has also locked employee's on the balcony outside
the room.
Outside References:
- Ghost Hunter's Guide to Los Angeles (2007) by Dwyer, Jeff, p: 172 - 173
- Haunted Places: The National Directory (2002) by Hauck, Dennis, p: 81
- Haunted Southern California (2009) by Stansfield Jr., Charles A., p: 8-9
First Created: 2013-12-24
Last Edited: 2013-12-24
