Julia Staab, the resident ghost at this historic property, is so beloved that the in-house restaurant is not only named after her, but serves a signature drink called the Juliarita. We don’t know what the woman behind the cocktail drank when she was alive, but we do know that Julia Schuster lived a life of luxury in the village of Lügde, Germany, before marrying Abraham Staab. He had emigrated to New Mexico, opened a dry goods store with his brother, and, in 1865, returned to Germany to find a bride, bringing Julia back with him.
After giving birth to seven surviving children and enduring other difficult pregnancies as well, Julia died at 52 in 1896, and, it is said, remained in the three-story French Second Empire brick mansion that is now part of the hotel. She has been known to make chandeliers swing, turn the gas fireplace on and off, and even push glasses off the shelf, leaving the scent of roses in her wake. (She was an avid gardener in life.) Not to mention the fact that she—or another woman in Victorian dress who wears her hair in a bun—has been spotted by staff and guests, with recorded sightings dating back to 1979. These days, Julia most often stops by Suite 100, which she inhabited while alive.
If you’re interested in learning more about this woman who crossed the Santa Fe Trail and became a society hostess, you can book the Julia Staab American Ghost Package, which comes with a copy of her great-great-granddaughter’s book, American Ghost: The True Story of a Family’s Haunted Past.
