With fall beginning, we are officially stepping into spooky season. Around this time of year, I’m always reminded of a haunted trolley tour my family and I took around Asheville, North Carolina, when I was very young.
Me being me, I was ecstatic. I paid attention to all the fun facts and stories, even though I had already done my own research into the spooky side of Asheville. But there was one story I hadn’t heard before that caught me off guard: the Pink Lady of the Grove Park Inn.
The Grove Park Inn in Asheville is a historic hotel known for its mountain views, golf course and annual gingerbread competition during the holiday season. Before the trolley tour, that was about all I knew of the hotel. So, when the trolley slowed down in front of the Grove Park Inn, I was ready to hear the story.
The legend of the Pink Lady is similar to other “woman in white” ghost stories, except this mysterious woman is said to appear in pink.
According to the legend, the story dates to the early 20th century, not long after the hotel opened. A young woman reportedly fell to her death from a balcony at the hotel. Different versions of the story speculate about how she fell and who she was, but her identity and the circumstances surrounding her death remain part of the mystery surrounding the legend.
As for the haunting, the Pink Lady is generally portrayed as a friendly rather than malicious spirit. Stories claim she is especially fond of children and has sometimes comforted children who became separated from their parents. According to the legend, children have described a kind woman in a pink dress who helped them before disappearing.
The Pink Lady is also said to have a mischievous side. Stories attribute unexplained activity involving faucets, televisions and lights to her, while some guests have even reported feeling their feet being tickled.
Sightings of the Pink Lady have been reported throughout the Grove Park Inn, with Room 545 particularly associated with the legend. Guests have attributed misplaced objects, unexplained cold spots and other unusual experiences in the room to the Pink Lady.
Another commonly reported sighting is a mysterious pink mist. Less commonly, people have claimed to see the figure of a woman in a flowing pink gown moving through the hotel.
There is no way to know whether the Pink Lady actually haunts the Grove Park Inn, but her story has become part of the hotel’s folklore. Guests and employees have shared stories of encounters over the years, keeping the legend alive for locals and tourists curious enough to see if they might encounter the Pink Lady themselves.
