BooMont Hotel at Galleria Dallas

Did you know Galleria Dallas has a haunted hotel – and it’s not the Westin! Baymo, the team behind Santaland and SNOWDAY! at the shopping center, is reopening the BooMont Hotel, founded by Rupert B. BooMont in 1901, this September. The hotel was a smashing success, but in 1924, a huge storm caused an electrical event – and many of its guests, along with Mr. BooMont, were never seen again. It’s rumored you can see him at the hotel from time to time.

BOO!, as the spooky hotel experience is called, will allow older children and adults to navigate through mysterious rooms, interactive spaces and imaginative photo opportunities. The hotel is dark and contains moments that some might consider frightening. But don’t worry – no haunted figures will frighten visitors with jump scares, and there’s no gore or blood, just a spooky good time. The Galleria promises that if you check in, you will check out!

Location:
The BooMont Hotel, BOO! for short, will be open on level three of Galleria Dallas near the Play Place.

Hours:
September 5–28: 10am–8pm Fridays and Saturdays and noon–6pm Sundays
October 1–November 2: 10am–8pm Mondays through Saturdays, noon–6pm Sundays, with some extended hours the week of Halloween
Special adults-only nights featuring special spooky characters will be scheduled in October.

The Spooky Story:
Here’s a little-known story about an old hotel in the heart of Dallas: Founded by oil and electricity tycoon Rupert B. BooMont, known affectionately as “Boo,” and his wife Emerald in 1901, the spectacular BooMont Hotel was the first hotel in Texas to have full electricity, wired using BooMont’s own patented electrical designs. The BooMont Hotel offered everything discerning guests desired: imported teak, Venetian glass fixtures, European furnishings – even first-of-their-kind elevators designed by BooMont himself. The hotel, considered one of the finest in the world, was an instant success, visited by Hollywood elites, U.S. presidents and other celebrities.

Unfortunately, Emerald BooMont did not live to see the hotel become a major success. On Oct. 13, 1901, just weeks after opening, she died during a routine electrical test at the hotel. Boo himself became a recluse after Emerald’s death. In the rare instances he was seen, he reportedly muttered, "She is still here."

Exactly 23 years after Emerald’s death, on Oct. 13, 1924, a major lightning storm sped through Dallas, causing what many called “blue fire” to shoot down from the clouds, causing an unprecedented electrical event at the BooMont Hotel: Many registered guests, along with BooMont, disappeared from their beds and were never seen again.

As the hotel tried to carry on with business as usual, guests reported unusual, dreamlike experiences in which they felt they’d been at the hotel for long periods of time, even when only in residence for a night. Others described clocks with unusual behavior and stumbling upon rooms of indescribable imagination. Unable to shake whispers about a haunting, the hotel closed in 1925.

The Experience:
And now, 100 years later, while overnight accommodation is not available at the BooMont Hotel, guests are invited to experience the hotel’s 13 public rooms at their own pace. Each door that is opened will provide guests an unforgettable immersive experience. While the entire hotel is photo-worthy, three RFID-enabled photo ops will be connected to guests’ hotel keys, sending photos straight to their cellphones.

Guests will enter the BooMont Hotel through the refurbished lobby, still decorated in the golds and greens that delighted guests in 1901. Elevators transport guests through the hotel, where older children and adults can expect the unexpected as they navigate through mysterious rooms, interactive spaces and imaginative photo opportunities.

The hotel is dark and contains moments that some might consider frightening. But don’t worry – no haunted figures will frighten visitors with jump scares, and there’s no gore or blood, just a spooky good time. We promise if you check in, you’ll check out!

Find more family fun events every day of the week at dfwchild.com/calendar.