HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
1931 French Art Deco hotel within the Carew Tower, where staff and guests have reported the 'Lady in Green' apparition in the Hall of Mirrors and on the Mezzanine.
35 W 5th St, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Standard Hilton room rates apply; rates fluctuate with downtown event calendar. Dining is available at The 1931 restaurant, lounge and grille; self-guided access to the Hall of Mirrors and Palm Court is not currently confirmed.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Full-service downtown hotel with multiple elevator banks; historic public spaces (Hall of Mirrors, Palm Court) on accessible levels.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1931 · French Art Deco Interior · National Historic Landmark · Carew Tower Complex · Walter W. Ahlschlager Design · 1981-1983 Historic Restoration
The Netherland Plaza Hotel opened in January 1931 as part of the new Carew Tower complex in downtown Cincinnati. The 49-story Carew Tower, designed by Chicago architect Walter W. Ahlschlager, was the tallest building between New York and Chicago at the time of its completion and remained Cincinnati's tallest building for half a century. The hotel occupies the lower portion of the tower and features French Art Deco interiors that the AIA Guide to Cincinnati describes as among the most fully realized in the United States.
The hotel's public spaces include the Hall of Mirrors ballroom, the Palm Court restaurant, and the Continental Room. Original detail includes German-silver chandeliers, Brazilian rosewood paneling, and rare onyx and macassar-ebony surfaces. The Carew Tower complex and the Netherland Plaza Hotel were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994.
The Netherland Plaza was closed for restoration from 1981 to 1983, during which the 1960s-era over-cladding of original surfaces was removed and the lobby and public rooms were returned to their 1931 appearance. The hotel reopened under Omni management and is currently operated as a Hilton property.
For the haunted reputation, the most consistently reported historical anchor across local press is the death of a painter who fell from scaffolding during construction in the late 1920s. Local press has not fully corroborated the painter or his widow as named individuals; the underlying story enters the documentary record as Cincinnati hotel-industry oral tradition rather than as a documented contemporary news item. Hotel staff have shared accounts of unexplained encounters in the Hall of Mirrors, the Mezzanine, and the elevator system since at least the 1980s.
Sources
Cincinnati Magazine, CityBeat, and AllStays document the Lady in Green legend as the Netherland's central paranormal story. According to the tradition shared by hotel staff and Cincinnati Magazine, a painter fell to his death from scaffolding during construction of the hotel's Palm Court ceiling in the late 1920s; after the hotel opened the painter's widow checked into an upper-floor room, dressed in a green formal gown, and jumped from a window. The Lady in Green is described as a solid-looking woman in a long green dress.
According to CityBeat's ghost-hunt feature and the Browsing the Atlas writeup, sightings cluster in three areas: the Hall of Mirrors ballroom, the Mezzanine overlooking the lobby, and the elevators. One frequently retold account, published by the hotel's longtime tour narrative, involves a pilot alone in an elevator who felt a cold rush of air and saw a woman in a green dress beside him before she vanished between floors.
The Lady in Green was reportedly most active during the 1981-1983 restoration, when crews removing 1960s-era cladding from the lobby and ballroom encountered unexplained sounds, sudden cold pockets, and apparitions matching the description. Activity has been intermittently reported by staff and guests in the four decades since.
The underlying construction-death narrative is not fully corroborated in primary contemporary news sources reviewed for this entry; it should be understood as Cincinnati hotel-industry tradition and as the kind of legend that is documented through repeated retelling rather than through a single archival document. Staff accounts of unexplained encounters in the public rooms are, by contrast, recurrent and well-attested in local press from the early 1980s onward.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Where this legend is told
Full-service overnight stay at the 1931 French Art Deco Netherland Plaza, a National Historic Landmark inside the Carew Tower complex with the original Hall of Mirrors and Palm Court restaurant.
The hotel's lobby, Hall of Mirrors, and Palm Court feature some of the finest preserved Art Deco public interiors in the United States; current public access beyond hotel guests and restaurant patrons is not confirmed, so check with the hotel before planning a self-guided visit.
The hotel's on-site restaurant, The 1931, serves award-winning cuisine in its Art Deco dining room; The Lounge at 1931 offers craft beers and small plates, and The Grille at 1931 offers a casual menu.
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