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Reported phenomena, as catalogued
+ 2 further entries on record
1928 Henry Trost hotel in Alpine haunted by Crystal Holland Spanell, murdered in front of the building on July 20, 1916, whose apparition is reported on the third floor.
209 W Holland Ave, Alpine, TX 79830
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Hotel rooms; restaurant and bar open to non-guests.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Restored historic building with elevator access; courtyard
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1928 · Texas Historic Landmark (1980) · National Register of Historic Places (2025) · Henry Trost Spanish Colonial Revival architecture · Site of Crystal Holland Spanell double murder (July 20, 1916) · New York Times front-page coverage of 1916 murders
John R. Holland was a prominent Alpine cattleman who built the first Holland Hotel on his eponymous avenue in 1912. The original building served as a social center for Brewster County's ranching community, positioned close to the Southern Pacific depot that was Alpine's primary commercial artery. When the original structure needed replacement, Holland's son Clay commissioned Henry Trost — the El Paso architect who would also build the Gage Hotel in Marathon and the Paisano in Marfa — to design a new building. The 1928 replacement cost $250,000 and was executed in Spanish Colonial Revival style. It was designated a Texas Historic Landmark in 1980 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2025.
The murder that established the Holland Hotel's dark reputation occurred on July 20, 1916, twelve years before the current building rose. At approximately supper time on that evening, Crystal Holland Spanell — John Holland's daughter, 30 years old, mother of a 6-year-old daughter — was shot and killed on Holland Avenue in front of the hotel by her husband Harry Spanell. Matthew C. Butler Jr., a cavalry officer with the 6th U.S. Cavalry and son of U.S. Senator M.C. Butler of South Carolina, was killed alongside her. Witnesses heard gunshots and Crystal screaming 'Oh Harry! Please don't kill me.' The case made the front page of the New York Times on July 21, 1916. Harry Spanell was tried and acquitted.
The hotel was acquired by Greenwich Hospitality Group in September 2011 and restored with 24 guest rooms and a full-service restaurant. Management by Alexa MGMT has been planning renovation work beginning in 2025 to expand capacity to 27 rooms.
Sources
The Holland Hotel carries at least four distinct reported presences, each tied to specific parts of the building. The most prominent is Crystal Holland Spanell on the third floor. Guests staying in upper rooms report a woman's figure in period dress, and separately, a child has been observed alongside her — the two moving together as if connected. Crystal was 30 years old when she died on the street below; the child figure has no confirmed historical identity.
At the hotel bar, staff and guests have reported Matthew Butler — the cavalry officer killed on July 20, 1916, alongside Crystal. His presence is described as stationary rather than mobile, a man sitting at the bar who does not acknowledge those around him and who disappears when directly addressed. John Holland Sr., the hotel's original builder, has been reported in the lobby and in areas behind the front desk not accessible to guests, described as a man in period ranching attire moving purposefully through spaces that are now staff-only.
A separate tradition involves a little girl named Nina, said to have drowned at the hotel during the 1930s, reported on the second floor. This account circulates in local ghost tour material and secondary sources; no historical documentation of Nina's identity or the drowning has been confirmed in sources consulted. The penthouse has produced the most varied reports — multiple apparitions described by different guests without apparent connection to any single identified historical figure.
The Holland is the endpoint of Alpine's Historic Ghost Tour, a walking tour organized by the Alpine Historical Association and Sul Ross University that begins at the Reata restaurant and covers the Alpine Railroad Depot, Hotel Ritchey, and the Brewster County Courthouse before arriving at the Holland.
Notable Entities
The hotel's 27 rooms include the third floor where Crystal Holland Spanell's apparition is most frequently reported, along with a child figure also associated with the floor. John Holland Sr. has been reported in the lobby and employee areas. The penthouse and upper floors have the highest concentration of accounts.
Dine or drink at the hotel's ground-floor restaurant in the restored 1928 Spanish Colonial Revival building. The murder of Crystal Holland and cavalry officer Matthew Butler on Holland Avenue — made the front page of the New York Times on July 21, 1916 — is part of the documented history discussed in Alpine's ghost tour, which ends here.
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