Lady in Pink:

Grove Park Inn’s Out-of-this-World Guest

Many guests and staff at Ashville, NC's Grove Park Inn have seen visions of the Pink Lady.*

By Kathy M. Newbern and J.S. Fletcher

"The Pink Lady" and writer F. Scott Fitzgerald have one thing in common -- Room #545 at the Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC. Fitzgerald stayed in that room when he visited. And the Pink Lady, the esteemed North Carolina resort's resident ghost, apparently mysteriously fell to her death from a spot not far from there. 

While no one knows the ghost's exact story one author has researched the potential story line. In his book "Haunted Asheville," author Joshua P. Warren speculates that around 1920 a female guest either fell or was pushed to her death outside Room 545. She fell onto the Palm Court two floors below.

Since then, ghostly sightings at the resort have involved a young woman in a pink evening gown. Alternatively, at times she's surrounded by wispy clouds of pink smoke. Hence the name, the Pink Lady.

Playful Encounters

Encounters have been reported by resort employees, a police chief, a journalist and a child. “She’s playful. She’s a friendly ghost,” says Gwen White, the North Carolina journalist who was sleeping atop the bed covers. White suddenly felt something tickling her foot, "like a fingernail going up and down.”

Says long-time bellman Ted Scales, "I'd been told by older people that the Pink Lady did exist. But Scales wasn't convinced at first. But one day many years ago, he was on duty during a period when the resort was closed to all guests for the winter season. Scales was operating the elevator and got a bell call to the fifth floor. 

"When the elevator started ringing, I became a believer," Scales quips. He repeatedly answered the bell's call to the fifth foor, site of Room 545. But upon arrival, no one was waiting. 

Playful ghost aside, the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa transports guests back in time yet it also satiates every modern craving. It's a luxurious experience detailed on the North Carolina state page (just click on the state name in the upper right column of the Quirky page).

The Inn is not to be missed for a relaxing, getaway experience. Most guests needn't worry about spotting the Pink Lady. Many people stay at the resort and never see the so-called apparition.

But who knows? You might.

For More Information

Contact the Grove Park Inn & Resort (800-438-5800 or www.groveparkinn.com), 290 Macon Ave., Asheville, NC.

Kathy M. Newbern and J.S. Fletcher are a husband-wife writing team who specialize in cruising, spas, romantic and luxury destinations plus travel in the southeastern United States. They are members of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW). Their worldwide travels inspire their other business, (www.yournovel.com), where for 15 years they've been putting couples in personalized romance novel in settings like Tahiti, England, Jamaica, Rome, Alaska, a cruise ship, a dude ranch and more.

*Photos are owned, copyrighted and used with permissin of the Grove Park Inn. All rights reserved. Please do not link to nor copy these photos. Thank you.