The Driskill Hotel

Cattle baron Colonel Jesse Driskill built this Romanesque hotel in 1886 for $400,000 — then lost it in a poker game and died heartbroken. LBJ had his first date with Lady Bird here. Most people call it the most haunted place in Texas.

Colonel Jesse Lincoln Driskill was a determined cattleman who made and lost fortunes over his lifetime. After serving as a beef supplier to the Confederate Army and Texas Rangers during the Civil War, he rebuilt his cattle empire and poured $400,000 into constructing Austin's most magnificent hotel, which opened on December 20, 1886. Driskill died just four years later in 1890, giving him little time to enjoy his masterpiece—which may be why his spirit never left.

Driskill's ghost is among the most-encountered at the hotel. Known for always having a cigar in hand during life, multiple guests have reported the smell of cigar smoke in the lobby despite the hotel becoming smoke-free years ago. One cigar-wielding male ghost in 19th-century cowboy clothing has appeared before numerous female musicians—Annie Lennox claimed he selected her stage outfit while she showered, and Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde wrote the song "Ghost of a Texas Ladies Man" after enduring his ghostly shenanigans.

The most documented ghost is four-year-old Samantha Houston, daughter of a senator, who died in 1887 in a freak accident while chasing a ball her father bought her. She tumbled down the marble grand staircase to her death. Just one week later, staff reported the first paranormal activity: her giggling as she bounded after a bouncing ball. Visitors still hear her laughter and the "boing-boing" of a ball springing down the stairs. Her portrait, commissioned shortly after her death, now hangs on the fifth floor—and some say her expression occasionally changes from somber to smiling.

Room 525 has claimed two jilted brides. The first killed herself after her fiancé called off their wedding; she mournfully walks the halls in her Victorian gown. The second, a Houston socialite, escaped to the hotel after being jilted at the altar, went on a massive shopping spree with her lover's purloined credit card, and was found dead in the bathtub later that night.

Peter Lawless, a railroad man who lived at the Driskill for 31 years until his death in 1917, is most often seen exiting the elevator, glancing at the time, and giving a single nod to the front desk staff before dissipating from sight. In 2022, the Driskill reached the number one spot on Yelp's list of most haunted hotels in Austin.