Hotel DeFuniak

We had the surf and turf at Cafe Nola, and it was very good. My 9-year-old daughter usually leaves food on her plate, but she finished every bite, which says a lot!

For my man’s birthday, we stayed here and had dinner at Cafe Nola. He was blown away by it. The place has such elegant beauty and old-time charm, which made it feel romantic and special. It’s a small-town gem, and feels different from a typical corporate place to stay.

I was in town for a funeral and stayed at The Hotel Defuniak. At arrival, nobody greeted me, and I had to wander around looking for help. When I found someone, they were no help at all and seemed a bit out of it. I checked in without signing any paperwork, then paid a random employee in cash. The red carpet upstairs was filthy, and the old paint was flaking off the walls along the way to a long hallway that looked like The Shining. I should have left then, but other family members were planning to stay, so I ignored my gut. The room seemed okay at first, until my bare feet started sticking to the wood floor. It was very dark, and when I opened the curtains I saw they were only half stapled to the window casing, with foam pads beside the AC unit. It felt like an unkept trailer, not a proper hotel room. Soon after getting in, I felt a dark, evil presence. My stomach started hurting, my head felt heavy, and I felt confused. Weirdly, I felt fine as soon as I left. I couldn’t sleep that night because I heard furniture moving in the room next door all night. I later found out nobody was in there. The room temperature swung between very cold and very hot. Around 7:30 am, I came to the lobby and heard two other guests say, “WE ARE LOCKED IN.” I checked both doors, and we really were locked in. I searched the desk and called the number on it, which just rang the desk where I stood. I looked for keys and tried unlocking the doors. Then two more guests came down, and after we told them we were trapped, a door suddenly unlocked. When I found an employee and asked about it, he seemed not to care. He said it must have been people who lived there. I asked who lived there, and he quickly said, “Oh no one.” The whole time I was inside, I could feel negative spirits. About an hour after checking out, I threw up twice, as if my body was expelling evil energy. It was truly the worst experience of my life. I think the place is haunted, and not in a cute historic-hotel way, but in an evil, demon-possessed kind of way, y’all. It was dirty, unmaintained, and shady. The staff seemed out of it, possibly under the influence or affected by the haunting, so they acted oddly. You might get locked in.

My boyfriend and I came for a getaway and a swim in the springs this weekend. It’s an outstanding bed and breakfast, and the rooms were clean, nice, and very comfortable. They say it’s haunted. We stayed in room 3, and at 1 am we did hear children running and playing in the hall. We’ll be back.