Mission Inn Hotel, Riverside, California

From it modest beginnings as a 12-room adobe boarding house to its current stature consisting of 239 guest rooms, the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa has been the keystone of Downtown Riverside since 1876. In the late 1800’s wealthy easterners and Europeans flocked to Riverside in search of a warmer winter climate along with the desire to invest in the area’s profitable citrus industry. By the 1890’s Riverside was the richest city per capita in the United States. This consistent influx of tourists to Riverside made Frank Miller, the Master of the Inn, recognize the dire need for a grand resort hotel.

Frank Miller opened the first wing of his new hotel in 1903. The Mission wing was built in Mission-Revival style architecture and sought to incorporate different structural elements of the 21 California Missions. Mr. Miller went onto add three more wings to his hotel: the Cloister, Spanish and completed it with the Rotunda wing in 1931.

Over the years the hotel has served as host to numerous celebrities and dignitaries.

The Presidential Lounge pays homage to the 10 U.S. Presidents that have passed through the doors of the Mission Inn. The current bar stands where President Theodore Roosevelt once slept during his visit to the hotel in 1903 and the lounge is also the site of Richard Nixon’s wedding to his wife Patricia. Whether it’s the JFK Cosmopolitan or the Herbert Hoover lemon drop, the lounge’s signature cocktails will leave you feeling very stately.

(Information of hauntings from Shadowlands)

The Mission Inn is an older, semi-spooky (yet extremely classy and pricey) hotel. While guests of the Inn may enjoy modern amenities such as an outdoor Olympic sized pool and fitness center, the catacombs that run underneath the building heading in the direction of Mt. Rubidoux are now closed. As one current employee of the Inn remembers, an older gentleman was once given a room in one of the upper stories of the building, as there were no lower floor rooms available due to construction. The next morning, when the gentleman was asked if his accommodations were adequate, he replied, "All was fine, especially the woman singing beautifully in the next room." He was the only tenant on that floor. This place is haunted by the Millers. The Mission Inn Hotel was originally a 12 room cottage where the pool now sits. The existing structure of the hotel was begun in 1900 and completed in approximately 1947. Owned first by C.C. Miller and sold to his son, Frank, in 1900. Frank's sister, Alice, managed the hotel until her death in the late '40s.
 
Reports of blue lights the size of a bowling ball have been reported inside room 215. 
Alice Miller's ('Aunt Alice') room 4th floor, south east corner. This two-level room is very active. Reports of cold spots, touches, apparitions. Strong presence of Alice.

Bridal/Honeymoon Suite Across from Alice Miller's room. Multiple reports of being pushed down the spiral staircase of this two-level room. In 1993, a couple on their honeymoon night checked out of the room just after midnight after reportedly being pushed on the stairwell.

Catacombs Once an underground museum, this area was closed to the public when the hotel was re-opened in 1992. There was an enormous amount of activity in the area of the foyer during the years immediately following the hotel's re-opening. The hotel's comptroller at re-opening resigned after seeing someone in this area late one evening.

Frank Miller's Room 4th floor, north east corner. One of the only rooms not restored during the closure of the hotel from 1985 to 1992. Possibly now a banquet room at the end of Author's Row. Strong presence of Mr. Miller.

Hallways; numerous sightings of vanishing guests along hallways throughout hotel, particularly along Author's Row, covered hallway near Alice Miller's room, 2nd and 4th floor hallways (east-to-west) parallel to pool, service area hallway behind Mission dining room.

Mission Dining Room (a.k.a. 'Spanish Dining Room') Apparition seen traveling near ceiling from entrance wall, near the patio, to the far back wall (south to north).

Rotunda limited sightings. Area was closed to public after re-opening but has since opened to retail space around 1997 or 1998.

Spanish Patio strong presences felt throughout, particularly in north-east cloister near the Lincoln bust. Mission-themed Glockenspiel was designed by Alice Miller who died just before it was completed. The clock is notorious for misbehaving.

St. Francis Chapel Courtyard strong presences experienced near left end of Flyer's Wall memorial.

Storage Building behind hotel (north side) Attached by a small bridge to the main structure of the hotel, this small building has been closed to the public since re-opening with limited employee access. Numerous accounts of sightings and unexplained noises. A construction worker reportedly lost his life during reconstruction in the late '80s in this building.