And a seance hot-spot.
On a warm and sunny Florida winter daylight , I find myself step into a glum , frozen - in - time , haunted hotel where many a seance has lease place . Just northeast of Orlando , the town of Cassadaga is allegedly full of emotional state — but the so - calledPsychic Capital of the Worldhas more than your usual booing and chain - clank specter . Hotel Cassadagais haunted , surely , but it ’s also a home to get a tarot card reading , meet with psychics , grab lunch , and maybe have a seance of your own .
In her early 70s , hotel owner Diana Morn greet me — impeccably dressed , lips slick in glint pink gloss , and neck and finger adorned with crystal and jewel . The lobby at Hotel Cassadaga is decorated with vintage furnishings and antique Morn has collected over the years , including a circular courting sofa that dates to 1883 , Tiffany - trend lamps , and tapestry . It ’s bustling with gaggle of friends waiting for engagement with the resident mediums , people streaming into the hotel ’s on - siteSinatra ’s Ristorantefor lunch , and others quietly perusing crystals , moonstone jewelry , and new long time Christian Bible in the reception region that doubles as a endowment shop . Morn and I discover a placid turning point to chat .
The hotel was earlier built in 1901 , she tell me , as a embarkment star sign and hotel for the town ’s Spiritualist camp — the largests of the community of interests in this country . It burned down along with several other buildings in 1925 and was rebuild in 1927 . Morn bought the hotel in 1979 on a whim after coming down from Wisconsin to nearby Deltona to visit champion who had a winter dwelling in the expanse . She ’s been here passably much ever since , host guests , spirits , and anyone else who spend through .
Photo by Joleen Zubek for Thrillist
“ I was a small Catholic girl , I had no idea about Spiritualism , ” Morn , who is not a Spiritualist , tells me . But on her very first night in the hotel after buying it , she say , she saw a sprightliness .
Conjure a soul from the other side
“ It was like see your married man mighty there , ” she sound out of her own encounter , point to the lobby ’s chief staircase , where a man in a disastrous case appeared , staring back at her . “ He was looking at me . I could see him , but he was kind of like , not crystal clear , but nigh to it — so that you definitely know he ’s not human . ”
Apparently , she ’s not the only one to have such a sighting .
“ Because many guests come here and meditate at dark or just need a still retreat , I do n’t permit children to abide overnight at the hotel , since they can be disruptive , ” Morn say . “ But guest will come up to me and say , ‘ I guess you articulate there were no small fry allow here ? ’ It happen all the time . ”
Have a seat, grab some food, chat with a ghost…|Photo by Joleen Zubek for Thrillist
Without fail , guests cover the previous Nox sounds of a little boy and young woman playing together in the hallway and the tinkling of tricycle bell shape .
hoi polloi also regularly photograph orb in the guest rooms and hallways , Morn says , and she encourage others to give it a endeavour .
“ Just invite them to come through as you ’re walking around , ” she suggests . “ Tell them , ‘ I would fuck to catch you on film and we will honour you when we put these exposure out . ’ Always bless them and say them what you ’re doing . ”
You never know what’s behind the doors.|Photo by Joleen Zubek for Thrillist
guest need n’t worry about any malefic spirits appear at Hotel Cassadaga , though .
“ They protect me and they protect this edifice , ” Morn says . “ It ’s their home so they ’re loving — but I ’m not going to say there are n’t any pranksters here . ”
Look into your future with a psychic session
While the Southern Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp ’s officiallycertified mediumsoperate out of their own homes in Cassadaga and other fleck around township , Hotel Cassadaga has its own reach of un - certified psychics and spiritualist with many of their own endowment — and with whom you’re able to book sessions with at the hotel ’s response .
Welcome to Cassadaga, the Psychic Capital of the World
Mediums, psychics, vortexes, and fairy gardens await in this backwoods Florida town.
Browse the wall of brochures in the lobby to decide if you want to get wind from Misty , who does palmistry and can read your glory , or you ’d favour to give Gypsy Eris Phoenix a try — a psychic who uses tarot and vaticinator card to “ extradite messages from the Divine . ”
If retiring liveliness regression is up your back street , then certified mesmerizer Dawn Medley is the one you want ; you ’ll usually find her work at the hotel ’s receipt desk . She ’s also a pro at finding and photographing orbs around Ithiel Town during regularEncounter the feel Night Toursthrough the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp . The tour start with a slideshow before heading out to two “ definite hot spots ” for orbs , says Medley , during which she ’ll leave you through energy exercises that eviscerate tending to subtle changes in energy in these plaza .
All sorts of other sessions are on crack at Hotel Cassadaga , too , from retiring animation regressions and Akashic record readings to Reiki sessions and even a crystal chakra healing bed you could lay atop to get sweep up in the healing energy .
Look out for orbs and moving eyes.|Photo by Joleen Zubek for Thrillist
On the day I ’m jaw , I opt for a 30 - minute tarot seance withNora , who recently brought her talents to Cassadaga from Pennsylvania . She begins my session by doing a numerology show using my nascency appointment to uncanny effect before continue on to the Tarot bill of fare .
It finger a bit like a whimsical therapy academic term , as she fork up content from the cards I pick out and channels her “ apparitional circuit board of directors ” during the reading , encourage a mo of back and forth with me . I ’m most surprised when I picked the most fitting crystallization card for me out of a stack of more than 50 : the aventurine crystal , with writing on the back that check me my life sentence will be full of “ secure , adventurous travel full of cosmic coincidence , ” which is pretty spot - on for a traveling author .
If you ’ve always wanted to sit in on a seance , Hotel Cassadaga can make that hap , too . Kathy Cartagena leads seances in the hotel ’s conference room , where you may ride down , settle in , and see who come through .
Which would you pick?|Photo by Joleen Zubek for Thrillist
Dare yourself to stay the night
The first thing to roll in the hay about Hotel Cassadaga ’s 22 elbow room and “ suites ” ( and its three kitchenette apartment ) is that you ’re not remain at the Ritz here . room on the priming coat story assailable to the hotel ’s shared wraparound balcony , while the second - story quarter , down some narrow hallways lined with mirror ( a turn likeThe Shining ) , have no balcony at all . The suite are comfortable but introductory , with thin counterpane and tiled toilet that probably could have used an update eld ago , but it ’s all part of the feel — Morn is suffering to change things too much here , as the spirits are felicitous with the hotel as it is .
hoi polloi do for the atmosphere anyway , of course : to bide up all night , listening for giggling , childish intent , or to position up a camera on a tripod in the hall to see if you’re able to appropriate an eyeball doing its affair .
And even if you do n’t conceive in any of what Hotel Cassadaga is selling , Friday and Saturday nights at Sinatra ’s trace resilient eccentric of the very human variety to croon classics alongside a piano player ( Journey ballad , anyone ? ) or pick up the microphone for what ’s easily one of Florida ’s most bouncy karaoke sessions .
Get your moonstones at the gift shop.|Photo by Joleen Zubek for Thrillist
The decor around the hotel—even in the psychic offices—is ghost-friendly.|Photo by Joleen Zubek for Thrillist
