The Jekyll Island Club Hotel, well-known for its spirit of hospitality and warm welcome to guests from other places, may project those same feelings to “guests” from the past.

On occasions, such as Halloween, there have been friendly spirit visits by a few early Club members, a long-departed bellman, and even a child and his grandmother who loved to visit Jekyll Island in the early 1900s. In each case, their stories seem to be about a need to resolve a circumstance, an unfinished matter.

One fairly recent visitor from the past was that of lovely Charlotte Maurice, and this is her story. Charlotte’s family enjoyed Jekyll Island so much that she and her husband in 1890 built a cottage, Hollybourne, where they could enjoy extended visits to the island each season. With a lively family of many children, the Maurice’s had wonderful adventures: biking the trails, outings on the beach, and exploring the maritime forest that covered most of the island. Charlotte’s husband, Charles Stewart Maurice, who made his fortune in bridge building, was delighted that his family felt as strongly about Jekyll as he did. He and Charlotte were very popular among the members of the Club, and their door was always open for guests. The Maurice family usually arrived early for the Christmas season and very generously included at their table the few others who were on the island at the time. Charlotte was well known for her kindnesses toward staff members in her household and especially their carriage driver, Charlie Hill.

As time passed, and the children grew to adulthood, four of the Maurice sisters continued coming to Jekyll until the very last year the Club remained in existence.

Fast forward a century to the present-day Jekyll Island Club Hotel. No longer an exclusive hunting retreat for the Maurice family, the Morgan’s, Rockefeller’s and Vanderbilt’s, it is today a four-star resort with full amenities and conveniences. And yet, its greatest appeal may be its Victorian charm and spirit of hospitality. That is indeed the opinion of three guests who not long ago chose the Jekyll Island Club Hotel for their “sisters’ getaway.”

It was to be a time of reconnecting and relaxing for three sisters from the upper Midwest. One of them planned to arrive a little earlier than the others to make sure the accommodations were just right and to locate the restaurants. This promised to be a memorable, happy weekend for them.

As fate would have it, the room assigned them was on the first floor of the Annex Building. The helpful front desk attendant described the room’s view of the lawn and majestic oak trees. It sounded perfect to the first sister, and she was excited to see the room. However, shortly after she entered the room and the bellman had left, she felt a distinct presence. While unpacking a few items, she changed her mind about the accommodations and called the front desk to request another room. Although there was none available at the moment, the front desk assured her they would call her right away when another room was ready.

Tired from her trip, the young woman sat down to relax while she waited for the call from the front desk. “Again, I felt the presence of a woman who said to me, ‘It’s Charlotte, you know, Lottie. I’m looking for Charlie Hill to give him a message. He needs to know that it’s the journey that’s important. You need to know that, too,’” the guest later told the lady at the front desk.

When the woman’s sisters arrived, she told them briefly about her encounter with Charlotte and suggested they have dinner while they waited for different accommodations. In the Grand Dining Room, the sisters caught up on each other’s news, but they were mostly excited to hear more about Charlotte. As they story unfolded, they decided not to change rooms after all. Perhaps Charlotte would return.

Nothing more was heard from Charlotte, and the sisters attempted to sleep. But, about three o’clock the sisters, tossing and turning, were wide awake. One suggested that they try to speak with Charlotte and persuade her not to return and spoil their weekend together. It worked well. Charlotte accommodated them and did not reappear.

“The three of us were up early the next morning deciding where we would go to find out more about this amazing Charlotte. We checked with the concierge and the folks at the Museum History Center to see if there were any names in the file. Each of them had some information to share about Charlotte Maurice and her family. We even visited Hollybourne Cottage which has quite an ambience, an air of mystery about it,” said one of the sisters.

“We changed our minds about not wanting Charlotte to re-visit us, and that evening after we returned to the room, we attempted to entice her to visit again. When we received no response, we agreed a walk might be a good idea. The Historic District is so beautiful at night. Just a short walk from the hotel, Hollybourne Cottage beckoned us in the moonlight. We looked up at its distinctive roof line, and there in the uppermost window of the Maurice family’s cottage was a pale flicker of light. Was it Charlotte looking again for Charlie Hill, or was she conveying a message to the sisters that all was well?

Hollybourne Cottage remains unoccupied today, but it has been the site of research conducted by the Getty Foundation regarding the effects of heat and humidity on historic structures. For information, visit this website.