Phenomena by the evergreens at the Brookdale Lodge
Written: Apr 16 '06 (Updated Nov 25 '08)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Haunted, the Brook Room, friendly staff
Cons: Outdated room décor, a bit run-down, public areas frequently closed for private parties
The Bottom Line: For anyone looking for paranormal adventure and history, this is excellent, but as a place to stay, maintenance is done only as absolutely necessary and décor is outdated.
|
|
|
| adriennefoster's Full Review: Brookdale Lodge/Brookdale,CA |
I had wanted to spend some time at the Brookdale Lodge ever since I learned that it is haunted. The story of Sarah, a little girl who drowned in the live creek running through its formal restaurant, the Brook Room, has been heavily documented. She has been known to approach people in the lobby to ask if they have seen her mother, then disappearing. On a trip to celebrate a friend's birthday at the Brook Room, I picked up a brochure for a self-guided walk through nearby Boulder Creek. After reading Ghost Towns of the Santa Cruz Mountains, my urge to explore the region became even stronger. As my birthday approached, it seemed like an ideal time for a weekend getaway. It would give me a special treat and demand little in the way of traveling expenses, since it was less than an hour's drive from my home in San Jose. Unlike so many of the historic lodgings I had previously visited, I was a little disappointed in its upkeep. My biggest interest, however, was obtaining some first-hand ghost stories, which compensated for the lackadaisical care of the facilities.
The site of the Brookdale Lodge was originally established as the Grover Lumber Mill in 1870. No gold was ever known to be found in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where the Brookdale Lodge is located, so when folks of European extraction began settling there, they found its most lucrative natural resource was in its trees. When the railroad came to the mountains in the 1870s, it also brought tourists yearning for outdoor adventure. Judge J. H. Logan purchased the property in 1900, then developed it with cabins, campgrounds, and a small dining hall, which supplied lodging for men who came to the vicinity looking for employment in the local logging industry as well as more temporary accommodations for tourists. A couple of decades later, the land was sold to Dr. F. K. Camp, a Seventh-Day Adventist physician, who had possession of it when the nearby river changed course, with a creek branching through the Brookdale Lodge's grounds. Inspired by the possibilities, Camp hired Architect and Landscaper Horace Cotton, who successfully designed a dining room to straddle the live creek. For 70 feet, it passes through the Brook Room, giving the Brookdale Lodge a feature few—if any—others have. This distinction was brought to the attention of newspaper readers everywhere when the dining room served as a subject in Ripley's Believe It or Not. Along with the restaurant, Camp also had the original 1870 building remodeled into a lobby and reading room. Camp sold the Brookdale Lodge in 1945 shortly before his death, and folklore has it that without the protection of its previous owner it fell to gangsters. There were rumors of mobsters burying a body under the floor. It was during this time when little Sarah, the niece of the owner, drowned in the creek. Barney Morrow bought the Lodge in 1951 and had the job of rebuilding the Brook Room after a fire in 1956. It was around this period that the campgrounds were paved to provide a big parking lot. In the 1960s, most of the cabins were demolished and replaced by a few motel-style structures. During its heyday, which was from the 20s up until the 60s, the Lodge attracted many international celebrities, such as Mae West, Johnny Carson, Walter Matthau, Joe DiMaggio, and Marilyn Monroe. President Herbert Hoover also visited and he was allowed to fish in the Brook Room. Three songs were also written about the Lodge, including "My Brookdale Hideaway," "A Place Known as Brookdale," and "Beautiful Brookdale Lodge."
What reeled me into booking a room was the writeup done on the Lodge posted on the Haunted Bay* website. While some of the details it provides sound dubious, it describes phenomena occurring in room 46. One live-in staff member stayed there for a while and claimed the paranormal activity was frequent. She saw objects and shapes fly across the room. Several apparitions materialized around her bed, including ballroom dancers, a boy of about 12, and couple of men—one with a dangling eyeball and the other with a knife slash across his face. At one point, she felt an unseen person sit on the bed and stroke her arm. This was enough for me. I wanted to stay in room 46.
My Brookdale Lodge experience
Looking over my calendar, I found the best time to go would be the weekend of May 20th. The Lodge's website showed that rates were higher during weekends, which indicated most of its guests were there more for recreational reasons than business. This I had expected, since Brookdale is far from being a big business hub. Russell had agreed to keep me company, so once I acquired the contact info from the Lodge's website, I called about a month beforehand to make our reservation. I could have done this through the website, but I wanted to ensure we were given room 46 and felt more confident we would have it if I personally talked to someone.
"That room is small; are you sure you want it?" she asked.
"Yes, I definitely want that room."
Shortly after making the reservation, I talked to Russell to let him know it was all set up. He was temporarily on disability after a minor hernia operation, so neither of us thought there would be any conflict his work schedule. As luck would have it, the biopsy results came back and he found out the bump was actually cancer. A second surgery was scheduled May 11, so he wasn't sure if he'd be able to go May 20th. (Fortunately, the cancer was caught very early and there was no indication in the biopsy that it had spread.) Although he looked forward to going away for a weekend, he was just too delicate and needed a little more time to recuperate. In the meantime, I had received my booking confirmation by snail mail. It said that cancellations needed to be made 24 hours before checkin to avoid being charged in full. I actually called a few days beforehand to postpone our visit a couple of weeks and there was no fuss at all.
Trains no longer transport people to the mountains, but given the right directions the Lodge is easy to find by car from Highway 17. We took the Mount Herman exit west through Scotts Valley and into Felton, then turned right at Graham Hill Road. The next right was at Highway 9, which came up immediately after turning off of Graham Hill. It was about four and a half miles before a large sign appeared to the left. A large mural with the full figure of James Dean is painted on the plain wall of the motel block that faces nearest to the highway. Beneath two floors of guest sleeping rooms, the ground floor has a few shops, including an art gallery with a separate gift shop, laundromat, locksmith, grocery quick stop, and the Brookdale Pancake House & Grill. The ornamentation outside of the central building looked something like a Swiss chalet. It was painted a pale green with emerald green trim. We went straight in to check in.
The lobby is a big one. A round ottoman can be found in the center of it. A bar can be found by turning to the right, along with a couple of cages with finches in them. The counter was a long glass case displaying yellowed clippings of past news coverage it had received. Some of the stories were even about its hauntings. Another section of it paid tribute to some of its high profile guests and exhibited bottles of a brand of wine named after Marilyn Monroe. No surprise they played up that one a bit, since one of their luxury suites was themed after her. Behind this case was an old switchboard, which is wonderful to observe. Unlike the one I saw at the Jerome Grand Hotel it is not still in use, but it's kewl see a relic like this up close.
Our reservation was quickly found at the front desk. There was some question as to whether they needed to take a credit card imprint when they asked if we intended to use the phone. We had our mobiles with us, but at the time we were using Virgin/Sprint phones, which did not have a signal in the area. I asked to keep that service available, in case we needed it. With that, she gave us our keys, and I drove the car closer to our motel-style standard room, which was on the second floor.
On entering, room 46 had a musty smell that fortunately was easy to handle. A foyer was created with a half-shuttered dividing wall that separated it from the main bedroom. A low chest of drawers that was fit into the corner of the divider and bathroom wall made an ideal place for us to unpack our suitcases. The closet was across from it. On the other side of the divider, the room had not struck me as being small. There was plenty of space for me and Russell to move around. It had a full-size sleigh bed, chest of drawers with mirror, floor lamp, and table with two chairs. A standard TV sat on a small table. A couple of art prints hung on two of the walls. I found it rather amazing that it also had a chair, nightstand, and trunk made of wicker. Wicker can be attractive, but it is also more fragile and not the kind of thing I'd want to leave exposed to any potentially rigorous guest.
I have to admit, the room was rather plain. Friends who had stayed there before our visit had warned us that the Brookdale Lodge was run-down. In actuality, the drawback of our room was that the décor was outdated with hints of more than one bygone decade. The carpet had a color and texturing that I remember being popular in the 70s. The wallpaper had light flowery prints and borders that became fashionable in the 80s. The table chairs, which had castors, had a sleek modish design that would have fit well in the 60s. I could have stayed home for this. While the decorating of this room failed to impress me, there are other things to consider. Aside from a little cobweb that hung from the ceiling, it was clean. Everything appeared functional and good condition. At least the wallpaper was unsoiled and properly adhered to the walls.
The back wall also had a large picture window and a door that led to a small balcony. The balcony overlooked an atrium—for lack of a better word—between two of the room blocks. This is a nice little area to picnic on a sunny day and had the tables to do so. Portions of it were set up for horse shoes and a Jacuzzi. The Lodge claims it has 46 rooms available to let, but judging by how many room blocks there are, it seems it actually has more. The one directly across from us, for that matter, looked like it had people who were indefinitely residing there. What was even more startling, despite all of the signs saying no pets were allowed, I noticed a couple of cats wandering around the property. Not that it bothered me, since my cats are usually what I miss most when I travel. Later on during our visit, I heard that one of the owners just didn't like dogs.
Even if the staff considered room 46 small, no one can argue about the spaciousness of the bathroom. The design of the Formica counter and bluegreen colored walls really was a throwback to the 60s. An ambient heater was built into the wall between the toilet and the tub, but it was the one thing that failed to function. This wasn't really a problem; the room has since acquired an updated temperature control system. The toiletry freebies were sparse. I found five little bars of soap and small tubes of shampoo and lotion. It took little time to find out how noisy it was to flush the toilet. The towels were also thin and rough.
The two pillows on the bed were not enough to satisfy me, since I use them to prop myself up while reading. I soon realized that this room had no phone, radio, or clock. (The Lodge's standard rooms also have neither coffeemakers, fridges, microwaves, nor ice buckets.) I had to go to the lobby to personally ask for the extra pillows. When I mentioned that we had no phone, the desk clerk said that she had forgotten that rooms 45 and 46 don't have them and that she'd tear up our imprint. They had problems with the wiring or something to those two rooms. I later had a garment I wanted to press and had to walk down to the lobby to request an iron and board, too.
We also found that the counter characters on the TV were turned on and Russell, who does freelance work as a TV station engineer, could not figure out how to remove them. And he's usually pretty good about figuring all that video stuff I can't. He was taking it relatively easy that weekend and spent more time in the room than I did, so he found it particularly annoying. For some reason, though, we never got around to complaining. Perhaps that was because we had to walk to the lobby to do it.
The Lodge has a couple of dining options and we tried both of them. We were hungry when we arrived Friday evening and quickly went down to the Brook Room for dinner. Whatever guests might find wanting in the Lodge's sleeping rooms, watching the water flow through the restaurant while dining is a special experience. I have had a few meals at this innovative dining room and have to admit I really enjoy its atmosphere. The creek, on the other hand, is an excellent natural air conditioner, so bring along a sweater or light jacket to keep warm, especially on cold days. The dinner menu is a little on the pricey side, but I like the food. Russell and I were both in the mood for the same thing that evening. We ordered the 10 oz. steak with teriyaki, which came with garlic mashed potatoes and mixed veggies but no soup or salad appetizers. We also ordered coconut shrimp and couple of salads as starters. Overall, I was more impressed by the appetizers than the entrées. Russell paid our bill, which was the $70-something before tip. They do not charge meals to rooms. The Lodge is off line as far as that's concerned. The Brook Room is only open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday and Sunday Brunch.
The following morning we ate at the Brookdale Pancake House & Grill, which is open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch. During "high season" it serves dinner on Friday and Saturday nights. It was a cheery little dining room in the motel block with the shops. The outside looked like just another storefront, but the inside had hardwood paneling. We had a late breakfast there and found the food satisfactory. The staff was friendly and the prices comparable to IHOP.
There are also a good selection of restaurants along Highway 9 through that stretch of Felton, Ben Lomond, Brookdale, and Boulder Creek. Saturday night we had dinner at the Tyrolean Inn, a German restaurant with a huge menu and claims to have one of the biggest beer selections anywhere.
The Lodge's other big asset is "The Brookdale Plunge," its big indoor swimming pool, which is shaped like half a donut and has a lifeguard. Its entrance can be found in the atrium on the ground floor of the motel block that was opposite from our balcony. I never took advantage of it, but it looked a decent size to me. Apparently, it is also popular with the locals, who can pay a small fee to use it. The Jacuzzi that was in the atrium was covered and locked up and had been so for a while, judging by the garden debris that cluttered its nooks and crannies. When we asked about it, we were told it needed repairing. Why it was taking so long to be done leaves room for speculation. There is second pool on the premises, behind the lobby, but was closed in the 70s after the death of a teen-age guest who drowned there. Dennis the bartender said the damage was so bad it was no longer repairable. At one time, visitors could watch the swimmers from the Mermaid Room, which had a large picture window to see inside the pool. No longer.
Nestled in the small town of Brookdale, the Lodge requires a drive to explore the attractions of the area, unless a guest is happy with simply looking at the redwoods that surround it. Roaring Camp is short drive away and the train tour there will put visitors face-to-face with some of the huge ancient redwoods that are famous in California. Our tour of downtown Boulder Creek was a little disappointing. The buildings outlined in the brochure were still functioning practical businesses for the community and not the cute little touristy places I had expected. I had hoped to see Patchen that weekend, but with Russell resting in our room after walking the streets of Boulder Creek, I opted to explore Felton and Ben Lomond instead. The Lodge is also about a half hour drive from Santa Cruz, where there are plenty of touristy places, a popular beach and the Boardwalk with its vintage Big Dipper roller coaster.
As for night life in San Lorenzo Valley, there is very little. We went to a movie in Felton on Friday night. We ran across a flyer for a play produced by a Ben Lomond community theatre and it felt appropriate to go Saturday night since it was The Uninvited, a ghost story. The Lodge appears to be the local hot spot. The bar lounge is open until midnight Sunday through Thursday and 1:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday. It frequently books live entertainment on the weekends. Some of well known artists who have booked there include Melvin Seals & the Jerry Garcia Band, Pete Best, Izzy Osborne, and Ambrosia. It also has other activities during the week, such as karaoke and Tiki Tuesdays. There are caveats, however.
On Saturday, the second night of our stay, I had hoped to go to the lounge to talk to people about the ghosts. Despite being an overnight guest, the public areas were off limits to me and Russell. Apparently, the Ghost Mountain Riders, a biker club, had booked the facility for a private party. No outsiders were permitted in the lounge, Brook Room, upstairs sitting room, or pool. I was bereft. They had also taken most of the sleeping rooms, but that seemed reasonable. When I returned a few months later to have dinner at the Brook Room with my friend Janice, who is a medium, yet another biker club, Hell's Angels no less, had booked it up again. Fortunately after that long drive, we arrived earlier than their booking, so we were seated. For anyone driving in, it is probably a good idea to phone ahead. This is obviously a popular place with bikers, as they are frequently seen riding on the highways of California's mountains.
Without any additional perks, checkout at the Lodge was easy. We dropped our keys off at the front desk, then met a couple of friends for brunch at the Brook Room before leaving. It was a pleasant way to end our stay, although I was disappointed the strawberry vinaigrette was not part of the buffet.
The ghost stuff
Despite staying in the most notoriously haunted sleeping room in the Lodge, nothing happened while I was in there. Russell spent even more time in room 46 and said he saw nothing out of the ordinary. It was a bit disappointing, yet also relieving. As much as I'd like to see a little something paranormal happen, this is a gamble. Anything that occurs can have negative consequences, which I would later confirm during a visit to the Tower of London in July. Be that as it may, whenever I visit a haunted location, I'm just as happy to hear the stories the staff or other visitors have.
Even though our visit went without incident, the young lady at the front desk said a previous guest staying in room 46 had demanded another. He had been resting on that sleigh bed and was discombobulated when he felt someone lay down next to him. There was no other visible person in the room at the time.
A lifeguard told us that one evening they had cleared all of the guests out of the pool area and locked it up. When she went to the loo to change, she was the only one in the room. A toilet flushed. Even though the pool was closed to the general public that Saturday night, this led to a conversation with some of the other young people hanging around outside its doors. One of them told me some other paranormal experiences he had off the premises, but also pointed out that before those of European extraction settled in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Native Americans kept their distance from this region. Could it have been the bears that frequented the forests or were their spiritual sides in touch with something more negative?
Between its setting in the redwoods and the Brook Room, the Lodge is a popular place to hold weddings. Attached to the Brook Room is a chapel, which I was told is beautiful, but not open to the general public. While preparing for one such function, one of the waiters said that he had securely propped open one door with a wedge. He was carting a lot of stuff into the chapel and it would save him time not having to open it every trip. When he returned, it had been slammed shut. No one else was around to close it.
A couple of spirit photographs hang in the lobby of the Lodge, just outside the doors of the Brook Room. Both were meant as "landscape" shots of the rooms in question, cleared of humans so they could be a record of what they looked like. One was taken in the Brook Room, towards the upper right-hand corner, beside the steps onto the little bridge, appears to be the faint image of a little girl. The other, which was taken of a sitting room before the 1956 fire, is the indistinct form of an adult. When Janice looked at the Brook Room photo, she shook her head. The blurred spot everyone believes is Sarah is actually just a simple defect. However, she was bombarded by the crowd of spirits surrounding her and pointing out where they were when that shot was taken. They may have been there, but there is nothing in the picture to indicate them. Everywhere else the photo is crisp and clear. When she looked at the other photo, she stiffened a little. "That spirit is the first negative impression I've gotten on the ghosts in this place."
Janice walked around the grounds with me for a little while because I wanted to find out if she could pick up any impressions from room 46. We stopped at what appeared to be a utility room that had a split door with the top half open. It looked like the base for some sort of electronic system. We both peered in, with Janice immediately pushing me away from the small room with a swing of her arm, then backing away herself. "This is where the negative guy spends most of his time," she explained. She did not want to talk to him. Neither of us was in any danger, but this guy was such a nasty piece of work Janice wanted nothing to do with him. From what she told me, all of the other ghosts kept their distance from him, too.
Outside of room 46, she said that she did feel a presence there, but it was not strong enough to do much. Any activity that occurred in it was apparently drawn from the energy of those staying there.
The bottom line
The Brookdale Lodge has 46 standard rooms available to let. All have ensuite bathrooms and color televisions with cable stations, and most have phones. Rates for standard rooms range $59–$99, depending on the time of year and the day of week booked. In addition to the standard rooms, the Lodge also offers two family suites, two theme (Marilyn Monroe and Enchanted Forest) rooms, and two cottages that have more amenities (one or two have a Jacuzzi). These range $99–$205 per night, once again depending on the time of year and day of week booked. Rates quoted are based on 1 or 2 occupancy, each additional person 12 or over is $10 each. Rollaway beds are an additional $10 each. Checkin is 3 p.m.; checkout is 11 a.m., with a charge of $10 per hour for late departure fees. According to the Lodge's website, there are no refunds on cancellations made less than 72 hours before reservation date. This conflicts with my confirmation letter, which said 24. Please contact the Lodge for clarification.
Now that I think about it, I'm kind of annoyed there were no adjustments for taking a room that lacked an amenity most of the other standard rooms had, but the thought to ask for a reduction hadn't occurred to ask at the time. But I had also insisted on having that particular room. Personally, for what a guest receives in return, these "moderate" rates are on the high side by today's standards. As a place to stay, this aging resort lacks many of the features modern guests take for granted at professional accommodations, at least in its standard rooms. I have stayed at other historic hotels that maintained a luster and charm that made them feel like the time spent there was luxury, regardless of their age. However, I was looking for ghost stories and the staff was more than willing to share them, so that boosts up my opinion quite a bit. Anyone looking for a sleeker place stay may prefer to look somewhere else. The Brookdale Lodge is better suited for guests who want a little history and adventure than those expecting exquisite décor. I give it 3.5 stars, but round it up to 4 since Epinions doesn't have that option.
__________________
*http://www.hauntedbay.com/features/BrookdaleLodge.shtml
UPDATE: 25 November 2008
Since this review was posted, the Brookdale Lodge has been sold and is now called the Brookdale Inn & Spa. It is currently being thoroughly refurbished. Rooms are available to let, but most everything else is pretty much in a state of flux. Once the refurbishment is finished, though, it looks like it will be awesome.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2010 Shopping.com, Inc.