Ocean City New Jersey
The Flanders Hotel
This high class hotel is jumping with a variety of well-mannered spirits in various moods, with different goals.
Unpleasant endings have caused unhappy but polite spirits.
DESCRIPTION
The Flanders Hotel, located very near the beach, has long been called “The Jewel of the Jersey Shore,” and we can see why! Built in 1925, it is an eight story, Spanish Mission style rectangular structure with two wings facing the ocean. This grand historic hotel has been both well maintained and authentically restored, when possible, and renovated with modern amenities throughout the years.
An “All Suites Boardwalk Hotel,” its 117 suites continue to attract guests and remain what it has always been, a resort hotel for upper class to wealthy vacationers and their families. Of course, there are first class accommodations for any social occasion or event.
Other former rooms of the original hotel have been renovated into condos that bring in money year round, which helps to keep the Flanders Hotel looking its best. It is a common practice among older, larger hotels to turn some of their huge supply of rooms that they will never fill even during their busy seasons into permanent housing for people wishing to live in the area year round. Condos are an upscale alternative. (Montauk Hotel – Long Island).
Walking inside, the entire, immense lobby area is decorated with upscale, high end 1920s and 1930s antiques, plus a few impressive works of art. My favorites are the Bronze mermaid with the cut glass, green tail scales, and the wonderful hand-carved circular table held up with fish standing on their flippers.
The 12-15 foot ceilings are stamped with a floral decor and ceiling borders as well. Chandeliers and fans bring added elegance. The black grand piano is another tasteful addition.
Besides the lobby, the first floor offers amenities like swimming pools, family dining in the Emily’s Cafe, a fitness room, library, an upscale gift shop, and an event room for weddings.
The well-finished basement, known as “The Catacombs of the Flanders,” has seven or eight expansive rooms for a variety of activities, legal and illegal during Prohibition.
The second floor has several large event rooms and Promenade Suites, some with views of the ocean. A formal dining room/ballroom has mirrored doors all the way down the hallway leading to its entrance. A board room used for business meetings and other business events has lovely woodwork and panels, with wood beams in the ceiling.
In the main area just off the staircase on the second floor, there is a huge, white carved stone fireplace, a small bar, and a white grand piano. This is a very classy atmosphere indeed.
Recently, three million dollars was used to update and renovate the rooms and common areas at The Flanders Hotel to be competitive with other luxury resort hotels in Ocean City. There are 117 luxury suites that have been nicely renovated to please today’s guests. The one to five room suites, some being oceanfront, range from 600 to 3,400 sq ft. and all have kitchenettes. Luxury condos are also available so people can live there year round.
HISTORY
The Flanders Hotel began after a 1922 meeting of up and coming entrepreneurs in Atlantic City, who formed a company, and enthusiastically embraced a new project; to build an upscale seaside hotel resort for the well-to-do upper class and their families at Ocean City Boardwalk.
Its name, The Flanders Hotel, was chosen in honor of the American Flanders Cemetery in Belgium, where American soldiers who were killed in battle during WWI were buried.
The Flanders Hotel opened in 1923, with 215 luxury rooms, a boatload of amenities and perks aimed at the rich businessman and his family.
The Flanders Hotel’s structural bones were built with steel girders and cement to guard against fires. This choice of building materials worked well, because it was spared from destruction during a 1927 fire that took out most of the boardwalk and some hotels and businesses. The Flanders Hotel took this opportunity to add a two story extension to their original hotel that connected with the new Ocean City Boardwalk, which was rebuilt a block closer to the ocean.
In 1929, large, saltwater swimming pools were added and were a very popular amenity indeed. These pools made the Flander’s catacombs into “an instrumental area of the hotel.”
“In the 1920s and 30s, guests were expected to be well-dressed and were not allowed to enter the lobbies in bathing suits. Guests would enter the catacombs through a back stairwell and would either climb the steps to enter the salt water pools or go through the tunnel that went under the boardwalk, in order to go to the beach. Bathers and beach goers would come back to the hotel, enter the catacombs and use the changing rooms and showers at their leisure.”
Its Spanish Mission Revival architecture, designed by Vivian Smith, inspired many other businesses and finer hotels along the boardwalk to use this style as well. Grace Kelly’s house in Ocean City was built in this same style.
Ocean City became the most popular resort destination in America. From The Flanders Hotel’s opening day in 1923 until 1929 when the market crashed, The Flanders Hotel was extremely popular with the well-off business class and movie stars, as well as, apparently, Mafia families, who were probably enjoying the hotel and its amenities while the men gathered downstairs in the basement with their “meetings.”
The Depression Era was hard financially for the original corporation that built The Flanders Hotel, resulting in its being sold in its entirety to Elwood Kirkman in 1932, the year that Prohibition was repealed and Al Capone went to jail. Elwood Kirkman, a multimillionaire lawyer, banker and stockbroker, bought The Flanders Hotel, through his company, Boardwalk Securities.
He was a hands-on owner who proved to be a fountain of business sense. He managed to keep The Flanders Hotel a first class establishment with its grand manner amenities intact.
The Flanders Hotel attracted stars such as Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly, successful businessmen such as the “three Lit brothers of department store frame” and cartoonist Al Capp. It was very popular throughout the 1930s through the 1970s, because Kirkman was willing to invest funds to keep the amenities and decor up to snuff, making the Flanders Hotel a competitive “Luxury Seaside Resort Hotel.”
In the 1950s, the rooms in the catacombs were renovated and updated. There were two large bar areas, rooms catering to card players, and rooms for private events that served food and drinks. One room was called “The Island,” one was named “The Captain’s room,” and other rooms were known as “The Inlet Rooms.”
Starting in the 1970s, Kirkman started to have legal trouble. He was sued for unfair practices in his land acquisitions. The legal battle that finally nailed him financially was a 1977 class action suit against him and a handful of directors of his own company, by minority shareholders. He was sued for using 1.2 million dollars of shareholder’s dividends to pay his own taxes. This not only stole from the minority shareholders, but allowed him to buy more shares of his company at a lower price.
The lawsuit came to fruition with a $3.8 million judgement against Kirkman in February of 1993. As much of Kirkman’s money was tied up in trust funds for his children, the court auctioned off his assets.
According to a February 1993 article posted on philly.com, “Among the assets on the block yesterday were 297 shares of stock in Boardwalk Securities; 4,575 shares in the Atlantic City Racing Association, which owns the Atlantic City Race Track; 19,802 shares of First Fidelity Bankcorp, and a minor interest in Kirkman’s venerable Flanders Hotel on the Ocean City Boardwalk.”
Unfortunately, only 1.7 million dollars was raised with this court-ordered auction. Uh oh. They began to think about ways to go after The Flanders Hotel, his favorite investment; a labor of love. Kirkman himself had tried to sell the large Flanders Hotel property as one parcel since 1983, because the upper classes wanted more bling and pizazz in their resort hotel than newer places could offer, and Kirkman could no longer keep up with the competition.
Toward the end of his life, Kirkman found some comfort in his favorite property and moved his office into The Flanders Hotel. He even gave input into its management, like he used to do in the 1930s. Kirkman died eight months later, in October of 1993 at the age of 88.
After Kirkman died, his family beat the court’s plans and sold off The Flanders Hotel property in sections, raising money to pay the lawsuit. As the Flanders Hotel was a beloved landmark of the people of Ocean City, plans to turn it into a retirement home were nixed.
James M. Dwyer of Ocean City Partners purchased The Flanders Hotel in 1996, with a plan that would generate funds to restore this “Jewel of the Jersey Shore.” Dwyer remodeled some of the rooms as condominium units, which provided income to restore and update The Flanders Hotel.
The newly updated property reopened as a resort hotel once again on Labor Day in 1997, with much fanfare. The Drifters and The Coasters performed for a large crowd of people who were so happy to have their landmark hotel renewed and up and running. New Jersey Governor Christie Whitman also attended with other dignitaries.
In 2003, all the original property including all the floors of the hotel came under one owner, when The Flanders Condominium Association bought The Flanders Hotel’s second floor banquet center, offices, conference rooms and adjacent parking lot from The Ocean City Partners.
Millions of dollars were invested in the building over four years. The Hotel’s historic exterior was given a facelift, while the guest suites, pool and deck areas were renovated and modernized, becoming competitive once again, yet mindful of its historic elements. The Flanders Hotel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 20, 2009, giving the property additional protection.
The hotel currently operates as an all suites luxury oceanfront boardwalk hotel that also has one to three room condominiums for people who want to live there.
HISTORY OF MANIFESTATIONS
Hotels, restaurants and clubs during the Prohibition years often had a speakeasy for their guests who still wanted to drink, gamble, and even get sensually satisfied. This often meant the involvement of the local chapter of the Mafia. Uh oh.
The Rex Restaurant and Offices, MT (The Mafia members had a floating bar and prostitute services, working in various rooms of the hotel, changing their location every day. The gambling card games took place in the basement. The illegal beer and other alcoholic drinks were snuck inside through the underground tunnels).
Rookwood Hotel, Butte, MT (In the basement, a disguised speakeasy drinking and gambling joint kept guests very happy indeed. The spirit of the Mafia enforcer still keeps an eye on the living).
Miami Hilton Hotel, FL (On floor 13, the speakeasy was a favorite party and drinking scene. A Mafia member was in charge of it, and really enjoyed doing so).
Flanders Hotel, NJ (A speakeasy was located in one of the rooms in the basement and a gaming room as well, with cards and a roulette wheel under the watchful eyes of the Mafia enforcer).
Historically, people who displeased the Mob, people with issues who enjoyed the Mafia-run services, and Mafia members who knew too much, often were disposed of in unpleasant ways. This meant that members of the Mafia would not only run the speakeasy, but sometimes would conduct their “official business” somewhere far from the eyes of the guests and police in the kill room.
Brumder Mansion, WI (In the basement speakeasy, the enforcer took an Italian gambler who was caught cheating into the coal room, and shot him).
The Comedy Store, CA (Because of all the pain, suffering and death that took place in the torture and killing room and the abortion clinic, the basement is thought to be the paranormal hot spot in the building).
Miami Hilton Hotel, FL (Thomas Fatty Welch, who ran the speakeasy on the 13th floor, was shot to death in front of the fireplace by a local Mafia member, Edward Wilson, in a fit of temper, accusing Fatty of skimming money).
Flanders Hotel, NJ (It is theorized that at least two people were taken care of in one of the basement rooms. While no official, recorded murders took place there that can be linked to The Flanders, the possibility still exists and may account for some of the spirits there. The bodies could simply be removed by carrying them out through the tunnel.
People who enjoyed themselves in life at a favorite vacation spot or at a place where they loved to work often like to visit the place as spirits and remember the good times they had, reliving them as best they can as spirits.
The Lake Hotel, WY (Spirits of former guests are still in vacation mode, even the drowning victims. The spirit of a former head porter is still hard at work).
The Jekyll Island Club Hotel, GA (Spirits of well-known patrons are still gazing at the views, taste-testing drinks and enjoying hotel amenities).
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, CA (Spirits of the prominent and the ordinary haven’t checked out).
The Flanders Hotel, NJ (It’s a favorite place to reside or visit for the spirits of its past guests who loved it, especially their rooms and the second floor ballroom. The spirits of various Mafia families also have joined the spectral community residing here. While alive, they conducted business in the basement, running the speakeasy and gaming that were two activities that hotel guests also enjoyed.
Children who die in accidents or from illness, sometimes their spirits hang around near the place they died, especially if it was a comforting, happy place. Sometimes these spectral children cannot rest until they find a parent.
The San Carlos Hotel, AZ (A little girl may have died from one of the many outbreaks of Phoenix flu epidemic when she attended this former school. As a spirit, she cries and wants her mother).
Old Faithful Inn, WY (The spirit of a tearful young boy appears in front of guests, asking if they have seen his parents).
Monteleone Hotel, LA (Three-year-old Maurice died of yellow fever in the hotel. His spirit visits guests on the third floor, looking for his parents).
The Flanders Hotel, NJ (Sarah was a young girl who died of hypothermia. Her spirit is still looking for her mother, and will ask the living if they have seen her).
People who suffer an awful spirit-shattering loss while alive, sometimes are not able to let go of their grief completely in their afterlives, and continue to mourn their losses.
Bee Bennett Mansion, CA (Two little boys from different families died here. After discovering each other in the afterlife, they have a blast playing jokes on the living. The spirit of the father of one of them still sits in his favorite chair and grieves the loss of his child).
The Pittsburgh Playhouse, PA (A woman and her daughter died in the fire that destroyed the low income housing where they lived. The playhouse was built on the same spot as the destroyed housing. Her spirit would appear to the living and cry).
Levy House, NV (A tragic accident resulted in two restless spirits, an active youngster and a guilt-ridden male. When the male caregiver turned his head for just a moment, the active girl went too far in her physical activity, and broke her neck in a deadly fall).
Flanders Hotel, NJ (Young girl, Sarah, died of hypothermia in the basement tunnel. It is thought by some that she may be the child of the forlorn female spirit who cries and mourns).
Some women look forward to spending their lives with their loved ones, but their men are unable to come back from war or meet foul play. These women sometimes die in loneliness and still wait for their fiancées as spirits.
Magnolia’s Vineyard Restaurant Building, PA (While this spirit waits for her Confederate soldier beloved to return, she is a kind, helpful, positive presence in existing businesses here).
Edgewood Plantation bed and Breakfast, VA (Lizzie Rowland suffered terribly in the loss of her beloved in the Civil War. Even after her death, her eternal hope is that he will return for her).
Longfellow’s Wayside Inn, MA (The spirit of a young woman still waits for her beloved, while simultaneously managing the living).
Flanders Hotel, NJ (It is theorized that Emily had plans to marry her soldier fiancée at the hotel after he came back from WW 1. Unfortunately, he lost his life. Her spirit is patiently waiting for his spirit to find her there).
MANIFESTATIONS
The Spirit of Emily
The staff gave her this name, though probably her real name is Maryann or Marilyn.
This spirit of a past guest is described as being a very happy woman in her late 20s or early 30s, with long, red, curly hair.
She wears a white, long formal dress with a train and is barefoot.
She loves people.
Her Frequent Personal Appearances
She has made her presence known all over the hotel for years, especially the lobby, the ballroom/formal dining area, the third and fourth floor suites, and the catacombs.
People have seen her in the mirrors that line the hallway to the ballroom and dining area.
Guests and staff have heard and seen her singing to music only she hears. She expresses herself by dancing as well.
She has appeared so many times that the hotel had a local artist, Tony Troy, paint a large portrait of Emily from all the descriptions he collected from staff members and guests alike.
It is displayed prominently on the second floor in the hotel.
“Do I Really Need an Invitation?”
Emily invites herself to weddings, events, and receptions, as her misty form has been caught on film by wedding and event photographers.
She once appeared in front of 100 people, so she isn’t shy about showing herself in front of the living.
She enjoys herself at parties, music concerts and recitals as well.
Third and Fourth Floors
The living have seen the end of the train of Emily’s white dress go around the corner of corridors.
Emily appears and disappears into walls, and makes appearances in guests’ suites.
Tomfoolery
Emily is suspected of being the one who plays with door locks, opens and shuts doors, and unscrews light bulbs.
However, these acts of fun may also be the work of other spirits who call The Flanders Hotel their afterlife home. I think it is a child spirit.
The Spirit of the Mourning Woman
She is described as being in her thirties with dark brown hair, and quite different from happy Emily.
She doesn’t have a spirit of fun, only the solemn countenance of a woman mourning a great loss.
Deep in the Sea of Grief
Though she tries to keep her grief under control, sometimes the floodgates open.
Owners and managers have heard a woman sobbing, coming from suites that are empty of the living.
Though she may be the mother of the deceased Sarah, she may also be mourning another loved one who was killed in war, or in an accident. Her loved one may also have been the victim of the Mob, who was executed in the basement kill room.
The Spirit of Sarah
She is between four and nine-years-old, still a child who needs her mother.
She is stuck here because she wants to find her.
Besides the basement tunnel where she actually died, she probably visits other places in the hotel where her mother might be.
While she checks her old suite, she may be the one who engages in tomfoolery.
Not Afraid to Ask
While she doesn’t make personal appearances, she does communicate with people who can hear her.
Sarah has told others probably through EVPs that were caught on recorders that she is looking for her mother.
She may have spoken to women who looked like her mother.
She Doesn’t Like Rude Behavior
During a ghost tour event, Sarah told psychic medium Joseph Tittel that she died because of being too cold from the ocean water, perhaps after being rescued from some mishap.
They had carried her through the tunnel to the basement, where she died.
When Joseph relayed this information to the ghost tour guide, the guide was rather snarky and rude.
Sarah slammed the door shut to protest the guide’s lack of manners.
Ballroom Memories
Many past guests have wonderful memories from special occasions that took place here.
Male and female spirits have been seen floating around the area in a festive mood and even dancing together.
Party Time in Basement
Apparently, Emily has plenty of company in the Flander’s basement, made up of former party animals now in spirit form.
Happy spirits, both male and female, who enjoyed the party atmosphere of the Prohibition days are still reliving their fun times in drinking, gaming and social enjoyment.
Disgruntled Victims
Other spirits located here are not so happy.
In some places there is a heavy atmosphere, described by staff who have come down to the basement as a “deeply unsettling vibe.”
This is sometimes felt in places that have experienced a lot of negative spectral activity, probably in the killing room where the Mafia had to do their “unpleasant business.”
Unseen Security, Mafia Style
Witnesses report seeing dark shadows and can feel not-so-nice eyes watching their every move, supervising them in an unfriendly manner.
PARANORMAL FINDINGS
While the owners of the Flanders Hotel don’t currently allow formal paranormal investigations, they admit the existence of spirits who make themselves known. They even have a portrait of the spirit of Emily hanging on the wall. The Flanders Hotel has had resident and visiting spirits on the guest list, and have various reasons why they have picked the Flanders Hotel.
In the past, Paranormal investigators, both scientific and psychic, have experienced contact with the spirits and caught hard evidence as well in EVPs, photos, temperature drops and unexplained readings, as well as having personal experiences.
South Jersey Ghost Research group posted the following results of their investigation at The Flanders Hotel. “The SJGR investigators obtained an above average level of physical evidence indicating spirit activity. Of the photos taken, 10% contained energy orbs. There were also orbs captured on the infrared video camera. We recorded 27 EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomenon). We also obtained 12 unexplainable readings on our EMF meters which indicate a fluctuation in the electromagnetic field with no natural sources found. Investigators detected one anomalous temperature drop with no explainable source during the investigation.”
Other guests who have checked into rooms probably have EVP recorders and have done unofficial investigations. They may have discovered more spirits on the guest floors of Mafia family members and perhaps have had an EVP conversation with Emily when she visits their rooms.
Quite a few owners, managers, staff members and guests over the years have experienced the whole sports package of paranormal activity at The Flanders Hotel. They have reported freely about their personal experiences.
Psychic mediums have made connections with some of the spirits as well. Psychic medium Joseph Tittel reported on his blog some of his spectral contacts and impressions when he participated in a paranormal event. He mention that he was exhausted after having contact with so many strong spirits at both his reading event and the investigation as well.
Just two of his findings reveal that two people were killed in the Flander’s Catacombs in the basement. Someone was hanged and another person was murdered as well, probably in a quiet way, such as by knife or strangulation.
Joseph also had a conversation with the spirit of Sarah, who told him how she died, and revealed her goal in staying.
STILL HAUNTED?
Yes Indeed! Some spirits who reside here love the place while having their own reasons for doing so. Others are working through their unpleasant ends, or have a goal to achieve before they can rest. Still others can’t let go of what happened to them, or are so full of grief they can’t find the peace to leave.
LOCATION
719 East 11th Street,
Ocean City, New Jersey
The Flanders Hotel is located within a few minutes walking distance to the Ocean City beach front and the Ocean City Boardwalk that is abuzz during the summer tourist and vacation season.
SOURCES INCLUDE
- http://theflandershotel.com
- https://www.hauntedrooms.com
- http://articles.philly.com
- http://www.theflandershotel.com
- http://spiritmanjoseph.blogspot.com
- http://www.theflandershotel.com
- https://frightfind.com
- http://www.waymarking.com
- http://www.phillyvoice.com
Our Haunted Paranormal Stories are Written by Julie Carr
Our Photos are copyrighted by Tom Carr
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