A Haunting View: Hotel hopes reputation, art exhibit draw visitors

Nilda Elizondo, art curator at the Starr County Historical Society Foundation, is well aware of the appeal of La Borde House in Rio Grande City.

But the Alto Bonito resident is hoping that during this Halloween season, visitors come for the ghosts and the hotel's newest art exhibit and stay for the culture.

For years, tales of mysterious happenings have attracted ghost hunters and patrons who were looking for a scare to the purportedly haunted hotel. Two weeks ago, a team from San Antonio representing the Sci-Fi Channel's Ghost Hunters did a preliminary assessment of the house; there's a chance La Borde House might get featured.

Elizondo sees no problem with their reputation; in fact, she's hoping to use it to get people to the historical building. The hotel offers free tours and has pieces on display inside the parlor room from local artists Amy Rodriguez and Marco Sanchez as part of the "In Touch with the Supernatural and All Things Sinister" exhibit.

"The art display is in connection with Halloween, but we hope they go for that and stay and look at the rest of the hotel and appreciate the rest of the building," Elizondo said.

Depending on whom you ask, Elizondo said those curious about the haunted origins will get one of two stories. The first alleges that a prostitute fell in love with a married soldier whom she had solicited. When he would not marry her, she committed suicide by jumping off the balcony. The second story has the daughter of the house's wealthy owner killing herself on her wedding day after her husband-to-be, who was a prominent man, locked her in a room to run off with another woman.

Since then, Elizondo said guests have reported smelling perfume and feeling like someone else is sitting on their bed when they were, in fact, alone.

Those are just stories, of course. She says the hotel doesn't officially call itself haunted and their goal remains ensuring that the structure is as appreciated as the ghost stories.

"We wanted to make the Valley and Starr County recognize this gorgeous building that's available to them," she said. "And these kinds of things get young people here, too."

The free exhibit will run until Nov. 2, Dia de los Muertos. It is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information, contact the historical society at (956) 487-2709.

Sandra Gonzalez covers features and entertainment for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4427.