After many years of jokes and denial, it’s time to face facts: I own a haunted hotel. Yes, the Elk Mountain Lodge has a ghost. The odd occurrences always seem to start during the off season, usually around mid-October, when a guest raises concerns about strange noises or the feeling of a presence in their room. This year, coat hangers kept moving around and a guest swore something (or someone) nudged him while he was sleeping. He promptly asked to switch rooms.

I think it’s off-season repairs that wake up our paranormal inhabitant. A few weeks back the painter kept asking who else was in the Lodge. The answer was no one, at least that’s what I thought. Then our in-house manager asked why the in-house phone kept ringing when nobody was staying at the Lodge. Guess it was the ultimate prank call.

So what to do about this ghost story? It appears our best option is to share it with our guests. After all it’s only a prankster, nothing to be alarmed about. So if you would like to increase the odds of having a truly unique Crested Butte experience, we recommend that you request room No. 11, which will heretofore be known as the Ghost Room.