Kahler Grand Hotel

The Kahler Grand Hotel opened in 1921 across from the Mayo Clinic in downtown Rochester and has long housed patients and their families visiting the clinic. Because many guests arrived gravely ill, local stories say some of them never left, and staff and guests describe odd sounds, strange smells, sudden changes in temperature and sightings near the elevators. One of the named spirits is Helen Vorhees Brach, a wealthy woman who disappeared in 1977 after a visit to the Mayo Clinic, seen in 1970s clothing and then gone. The stories are hotel lore, and the Kahler remains an active hotel.