HISTORY -- The Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort & Golf Club

Although, the Vinoy Renaissance Hotel is gorgeous and super luxurious, it's well known for its paranormal activity!

I had the opportunity this past weekend to check out the Vinoy Renaissance Hotel in downtown St Petersburg, FL!

If you're a fan of Ghost Hunters, you should remember the hotel was featured on an episode back in 2008. The team discovered some haunting evidence! One of the investigators slept in one of the rooms overnight, where he set up cameras and one of the closet doors opened by itself, with tremendous force. Later on, another investigator was awakened by a demanding male voice stating to him to "Just get out!" This was caught on tape and he heard this mysterious voice twice.

The hotel was built back in 1925 by Aymer Vinoy Laughner. Back then, it was only $20.00 per night (which was an oober high price at that time). During WWII, the hotel was taken over by the US Army and used for training. Soldiers died there. In the early '90s a company bought the hotel and invested over 90 million dollars worth of renovation. Today, the hotel is as successful and beautiful as ever though still haunted! It seems that many people either forgot that this luxury hotel is haunted, or they're simply brave individuals!

(Vinoy condos)

It's been reported by many people that the most haunted parts of the hotel are the 4th and 5th floor. One ghost is a female in a white dress that floats through the hallways; the other is a male who is said to be a businessman who committed suicide during the 1929 stock market crash. There may be more ghost; however, these are the only two that have been reported. There were other reports of audible footsteps with no one in sight, slamming doors where no doors are present, cold spots, water turning on and off, rocking chairs moving on their own and other creepy things.

There are many celebrities who have stayed in this hotel: Jimmy Stewart, Babe Ruth, Admiral Richard Byrd, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio.

Recently, celebrities who have enjoyed the resort’s hospitality include the late Paul Newman and Eartha Kitt, Raquel Welch, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Jay Leno, George Clooney, Bo Derek, Carol Burnett, Vicki Lawrence, Tom Petty, Wolfgang Puck, Joe Namath, Melissa Etheridge, Tiger Woods, B.B. King, Dionne Warwick, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Olivia Newton John, Harrison Ford, Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez.

Some people claim that this place is slightly haunted; others claim it's infested with spirits.

So, as the reader and perhaps even a lover of a good ghost tale, I leave it up to you to decide if you believe this hotel is haunted or not!