Ghosts of the Kalamunda Hotel

This halloween (2021), we decided to investigate one of WA’s most haunted places, The Kalamunda Hotel! Built in 1927, by a wealthy hotelier and racehorse owner, Paddy Connolly, it was renowned as a comfortable getaway health resort. Paddy lived in the hotel til the day he died. Some say he liked the ladies and was an eccentric man. In his older years, he lived out the back of the hotel with a high fence around him and armed with a gun, being fearful of his enemies. He died at aged 81 years old.

People who worked and stayed there reported seeing many ghosts and paranormal activity. Apparently the hotel had seen some tragic deaths including the murder of a female child in the communal bathroom and a young pregnant lady committing suicide off the back verandah.

Before the investigation, Karen, the psychic medium, and I did a little tour. On the back verandah, Karen expressed that she felt like she was pushed back over the balcony. She didn’t know about the suicide at the time. She also felt a pain in her head. Then when we were in front of the ‘murder room’ or communal bathroom, Karen said she felt sick. Apparently there is constantly a pile of broken glass on the floor in that room, no matter how many times the staff had cleaned it up! The room is locked and not used for anything.

In the ballroom, Karen saw Paddy standing behind me. He didn’t seem pleased that we were there and Karen said she felt ‘blocked.’ I introduced myself and explained why we were at his hotel and asked him permission to be there. Karen saw him stand back and arms folded as if to say, “We will see.”

We felt that the energies were palpable, and thick with etheric forms of people from the past. However, the energy changed after I took people on a historical tour. When we came back from the tour, the energies went very flat and ‘blocked.’

We still managed to ‘communicate’ with ‘something’ or ‘someone’ using the Ghost Pro. The EMF machine was very active at times as well. One lady said she kept hearing the name , “Mary.” Another lady said that she felt like she was being ‘strangled’ in the alleyway between the 2 historical hotels.

It was a little disappointing to not have more activity given the reputation of the place. However, this is the reality of ghost ‘hunting,’ you cannot predict and control what will happen!

I am tempted to go back another time but with a smaller group of people.

By Joyce Bok