Welcome to travel ➕explore ➕play with Sallee Jay, where I am your host. 👋🏾💓‼️ Want a great suggestion for a great off the beaten path destination getaway, keep reading!
Listen I don’t generally mess around with ghosts and spooky things, that said I’ve always wanted to stay in a hostel and I love exploring charming historic places. Have you ever heard of “haunted hotel industry?”
In the spirit of adventure and exploration of my great state, I headed to the once abandoned old mining town and known “haunted” town of Victor, CO. A small and quaint community of 200 people, it’s an interesting place if you are looking for a glimpse into the old west. It’s as if the town has been placed in a time capsule. The people, while far in few were, friendly and my stay is one that I’ll remember.
The Olympia Hostel House is themed “hostel” with rooms being named after various mines throughout the region. I had the pleasure of staying in the Mollie Kathleen suite. A quaint room with a window overlooking breathtaking views of the Rocky Mountains, while natural light brightens every corner of the room. This room offers one queen bed. There are two private bathrooms shared between all rooms on the floor, which was typical of a hostel house in the late 1800’s. This is also why I have hostel in quotations as in a traditional hostel house, the room and bathrooms are shared spaces with lockers to stow away your belongings. Each room was equipped with a keyless entry device and as soon as you closed your door is locked behind it. I felt very safe a secure as a single traveler.
Wanting to know more about the woman and mine on the door, I did some research to see just who and what this famous mine was all about. Discovered in 1891, the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine was the first claim to be struck by a woman in the Cripple Creek and Victor gold camp — a true rarity in those days. Named for its discoverer, the mine produced gold for decades, until a lack of ore processing methods in the region made mining too difficult.
Victor appears as it did at the height of the early 20th century, when it was the fifth largest city in the state and was pumping out billions of dollars of gold out of the 500 mines that surrounded it. The town went from a booming economy with a population of 18,000 to nearly a ghost town by 1990 and it has a very bloody and chilling past.
There is another haunted themed hotel in town half a block away called the Black Monarch. While I did not have the opportunity to check out the accommodations, according to the website, “the black monarch was originally built as a casino, saloon and brothel at the height of the gold rush and Victor,CO. Being founded in such an exciting and fast-paced era and our country’s timeline, the town is chock-full of fascinating history and character. Tall tales of striking it rich in the west brought a mass migration of settlers to the area of Cripple Creek in the late 1800s the town of Victor was formed in 1893.” Adam Zimmerli, the hotel’s owner embraced the building’s reputation of being visited of spirits of old. One of the rooms, the Elizabeth Bàthory room is named after the Hungarian countess who tortured and killed more than 600 girls and bathed in their blood thinking it would persevere her youth. 😳😳😳😳😳😳
While my stay was peaceful, I definitely had some experiences while visiting that let me know, that I was an expected, unexpected surprise visitor. The local bar was a blast with great down to earth folks and good all American eating. If you are looking to have a similar experience with a little less fear factor, head to Estes Park and stay in the Stanley Hotel.
God is also in Victor, CO, there is wisdom in the hills.
Until the next adventure, stay safe ✌🏾