Fancy a stay at one of the most haunted hotels in the United States of America? Plenty of horror movies have established the term “haunted hotel” for thrill-seekers who find the idea of spending a night in a hotel with a history of spooky occurrences somewhat frightening but fun. And let’s face it – many of us have dreamt of spending at least one night at a haunted hotel.
Ghost sightings and unexplained incidents have long been a part of some of the most famous hotels in the US. Regardless of the spooky elements, these same haunted hotels can be extremely luxurious and plush. You can actually stay at these haunted hotels this Halloween.
Although most of these hotel ghosts are friendly, a few are a bit mischievous and seem to get their eternal kicks from scaring the living hell out of the guests. Others, like the founders of The Stanley Hotel, Freelan Oscar Stanley and his wife Flora, simply want to make sure their beloved properties are well-maintained. Here are the 30 most haunted hotels in America where you can spend a spooktacular Halloween night.
Stanley Hotel, Colorado
Stephen King got the inspiration for the Overlook Hotel in his book The Shining from the Stanley Hotel. It is said that the hotel’s owners Flora and F.O. Stanley haunt their creation to date. Guests have often complained about doors shutting and pianos playing on their own. Room 217, where King stayed, is known to be haunted by the former head housekeeper Mrs. Wilson. The hotel offers ghost tours where guests can visit the creepy underground tunnel beneath the hotel and an extended five-hour paranormal investigation. Want a stay?
Shanley Hotel, New York
Not to confuse it with Colorado’s Stanley Hotel, New York’s Shanley Hotel is said to be one of the most haunted hotels in the US. With all the tragedy and life loss this hotel has seen, there are many restless spirits here. James Shanley purchased the hotel in 1906. His sister-in-law and brother are said to haunt this place. Visitors also see and hear the ghosts of many children who died in the hotel. There are many cold spots and paranormal hotspots that have spooked the guests staying here.
Emily Morgan Hotel, San Antonio, Texas
The neo-Gothic San Antonio hotel was a super-advanced medical facility back in the 1920s. The hotel is known for paranormal activity, particularly on the 7th, 12th, and 14th floors, which housed the psychiatric, hospital and surgery wings and crematorium. Guests have often complained about TVs and lights turning off and on, phones ringing in the middle of the night and sightings of a mysterious woman in white.
Chelsea Hotel, New York City
New York’s Chelsea Hotel is known for its famous guests and for housing ghosts of many popular people who had pretty gruesome stories. Poet Dylan Thomas died of pneumonia while staying at the hotel in 1953. In 1978, Nancy Spungen, girlfriend of English musician Sid Vicious, was stabbed to death – possibly by Vicious himself. The spirits of the departed are said to haunt this hotel.
Concord’s Colonial Inn, Massachusetts
It is one of the oldest hotels in America and comes with a few ghost stories. During the Revolutionary War, Concord’s Colonial Inn served as a hospital – where the operating room was in Room 24 and Room 27 served as the morgue. Guests claimed to have seen spirits roaming around these rooms, heard whispers from the closets and watched lights turning on and off and doors shutting on their own.
Admiral Fell Inn, Maryland
Located on the waterfront in Baltimore, The Admiral Inn has a ghostly history as it served as a business and lodging place for saloons, mobsters, brothels and sailors. Guests have reported sightings of floating sailor ghosts and disappearing butlers. The Inn has witnessed many murders and deaths inside its walls. The Admiral’s Historic Ghost tour teaches the guests about the property’s history, along with an experience-sharing session with previous guests and a nautical trick learning session.
Omni Parker House, Massachusetts
The hotel was opened by Harvey Parker – a truly dedicated and spirited hotelier – who remained profoundly involved with operations until his death in 1884. Guests have reported sightings of Mr. Parker inquiring people about their stay at the hotel. There are many reports of witnessing the spirit of Charles Dickens on the third floor, where he lived in the hotel for a brief time. Literary fans might want to stay here in the hope to encounter the great novelist.
The Sagamore, Bolton Landing, New York
Known for its luxury lodging and amazing lakefront location, The Sagamore Resort is also famous for its haunting factor. As the stories go, there is a ghost of a silver-haired woman wearing a blue polka-dot dress climbing down the stairs to the hotel’s restaurant, a mischievous little boy ghost hanging in the golf course who steals and flings golf balls at the players, another woman in white scares people by hovering over their beds and many others giving a fright to the guests.
Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans
Generations of hotel guests and staff at Hotel Monteleone have frequently experienced paranormal activities. There is a restaurant door that opens and closes almost every evening on its own, even after being locked and an elevator that stops on the wrong floor and leads people down a hallway that is chilly and has ghostly children. Among the spirits in the hotel, there are several former employees and children.
The Red Lion Inn, Massachusetts
The most prominent historic landmark in Massachusetts’s Stockbridge, the Red Lion Inn has been a favorite of paranormal investigators and mediums. Room 301 is particularly known as a haunted hot spot, where guests have reported being woken by someone or something tugging on the bed covers. The common sightings are of a ghostly young girl carrying flowers and a man in a top hat and olden-day attire.
Crescent Hotel, Arkansas
Crescent Hotel & Spa in Eureka Springs, Arkansas is well-known for its haunted sightings. It has been often called “America’s most haunted hotel” and offers a ghost tour for a fee. Many guests have reported ghost sightings and other paranormal activities. The owners of the hotel, Marty and Elise Roenigk, hired two certified mediums to do a reading of the edifice. It was discovered that the hotel showed signs of being a portal to a dimension that holds the spirits of the dead.
Hanover Inn, Dartmouth, New Hampshire
Located near Dartmouth College, Hanover Inn is particularly known for the incident that happened in 1934, when nine fraternity brother and their dates were killed by a carbon monoxide leak during a house party. Since then, many students and some local guests have reported running into the ghosts of those who died and finding a room that doesn’t exist on the map, filled with a party of those deceased young men and women.
Jekyll Island Club, Georgia
This 1886 resort has quite the haunted element to offer to its guests. Jekyll Island Club is known to have a few spirits roaming around its halls. Banker J. P. Morgan, known for smoking his favorite cigar at 5 am every morning in the Annex, was a regular guest; people can smell the smoke early in the morning. Samuel Spencer, a railroad executive of the southern railway who died in 1906, is said to visit his favorite suite. The spirit of a 1920 bellhop is still at work on the second floor.
Green Park Inn, North Carolina
The guests at this 1891 hotel have witnessed many apparitions, especially in Room 318, where Laura Green, the daughter of the founding family, killed herself after she was left at the altar. The ghosts of two children frequently have been sighted. People have often reported hearing disembodied voices from Rooms 332 and 333. The innkeeper at the front desk keeps a ghost register so the visitors can report any supernatural experiences.
The Pfister Hotel, Wisconsin
A major among the baseball players, Milwaukee’s The Pfister Hotel is known as one of the most haunted hotels in America. Many visiting players and celebrities have witnessed the ghost of Charles Pfister, the original owner of the hotel, roaming around the hotel to ensure that his guests are well taken care of. Guests have also complained about headboards banging, music playing on its own and voices in the hallways in the dead of the night.
Also Read: Ten Most Haunted Airbnbs in The US You Should Dare to Visit
The Seelbach Hilton, Louisville, Kentucky
According to the legend, a married couple was to meet at the hotel in 1907 after separation, but the husband died in an accident and the distraught wife threw herself down the elevator shaft of the hotel. Since then, her spirit wearing a blue dress haunts the Seelbach Hilton. Apart from the Lady in Blue, there have been reports of three other apparitions. People have also reported smelling a faint scent of perfume and hearing disembodied footsteps.
La Fonda on the Plaza, New Mexico
La Fonda on the Plaza is built on a historic corner in Santa Fe and is beloved by fans of all things supernatural. The 400-year-old spot has been a site of violent events. Guests have sighted many ghostly apparitions over the years – a black-cloaked judge who was shot to death in the hotel; a salesman who killed himself after losing money in a card game; and a murdered bride who returns to the hotel on special occasions.
Hawthorne Hotel, Salem
Salem is known for supernatural activities and the infamous 1692 Witch Trials. It also has some of the most haunted hotels in the US to add to its paranormal allure. The Hawthorne Hotel of Salem has ghost stories of its own, which mostly tell about lost sea captains returning to their gathering place. Guests have often reported moving furniture, sights of a female ghost and unexplained noises. Rooms 325 and 621 are particularly logged as the most haunted rooms in the hotel.
The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Los Angeles
This historic hotel has been home to many famous Hollywood names and is known as one of the most haunted hotels in America with sightings of a multitude of ghosts, including many deceased actors who stayed at the hotel during their lifetime. Throughout the years, people have reported seeing the ghosts of Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Cliff, Errol Flynn and Carole Lombard. Other apparitions involve a little girl and two men.
Lord Baltimore Hotel, Maryland
Throughout its 90-year history, the Lord Baltimore Hotel has had several reports of paranormal activities. Built in 1928, it was one of the tallest buildings in the city and during the Great Depression, there were at least 20 documented reports of people jumping from the 19th-floor rooftop deck. Guests and staff have seen three ghosts in particular – a couple and their daughter with a red ball.
Omni Mount Washington, New Hampshire
Located in an ethereal setting, Omni Mount Washington Hotel has something little extra to offer on the side. The hotel was built by Joseph Stickney in 1902, who died shortly after the construction of this summer paradise. His wife Carolyn remarried but kept spending summers here and now she haunts the hotel. There have been multiple sightings and spooky occurrences in the hotel, particularly in Room 314, which was Carolyn’s old suite.
Queen Anne Hotel, San Francisco
While there are ghosts who will scare the life out of you, there are a few spirits who will try and be friendly and caring. Take the ghost of Miss Mary Lake of the Queen Anne Hotel – she was the former headmistress of the girls’ school that opened here in 1890 and has been known to look after guests who stay in her former office, Room 410. People have reported that their clothes were unpacked for them while others were neatly tucked in bed.
Omni Homestead, Virginia
The classic “left at the altar” story! One of the oldest resorts in the US, the Omni Homestead was established as a simple lodge in 1766 before evolving into a luxury, European-style spa resort in the mid-1850s. According to the legend, the resort is home to a jilted bride from the early 1900s, who was left at the altar and took her own life. Apparently, she has been wandering the 14th floor of the hotel, stopping guests and employees and asking for the time.
The Mayflower Hotel, Washington
The inaugural ball tradition at the Mayflower Hotel started back in the 1920s. It is said to be haunted by former President Calvin Coolidge since 1937 when his inauguration date was changed to January 20. The hotel organizes a ball every year on that date in his honor, during which, the lights of the Grand Ballroom start to flicker around 10 pm, one elevator refuses to move from the 8th floor to the lobby until 10:15 pm and hors d’oeuvres and wine have been found on the balcony which hasn’t been served that day.
Hotel Sorrento, Seattle
The 114-year-old hotel is bound to have some haunted stories to tell. People have reported sightings of a ghost that appears to be the American-born member of the Parisian avant-garde movement, Alice B. Toklas, who wanders the halls of the hotel, particularly around Room 408. Guests and staff members have heard the piano being played by a disembodied entity, flickering of lights and other paranormal activities.
Hotel del Coronado, Coronado
While the all-wood Victorian design of this 135-year-old hotel speaks of a bygone era, its halls whisper its spooky secrets. The hotel has a resident ghost by the name of Kate Morgan. Legend has it that Kate Morgan was registered under an alias in 1892, stayed for a few days while waiting for someone and then killed herself when nobody showed. Aside from Kate’s apparition, guests and employees have often reported inexplicable noises, footsteps, cold spots and strange sightings.
The Hay-Adams Hotel, Washington
Named after John Hay and Henry Adams, who were active statesmen in Washington DC in the latter half of the 19th century, The Hay-Adams Hotel is home to many strange happenings. Guests have complained about doors getting unlocked on their own, radios turning on and off and objects being moved by disembodied entities. There are mysterious orbs, full-bodied apparitions and cold spots in the hotel. Many people have heard a woman’s low, mournful wails.
Queen Mary, Long Beach, California
The Queen Mary is a retired British ocean liner that sailed on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 and is now permanently docked in Long Beach. It has many ghost stories to narrate, including the sightings of an engineer who died in the ship’s engine room years ago, a ‘lady in white,’ and various children ghosts wandering around the ship, especially the 1st class pool. Stateroom B340 is particularly known to be haunted.
Bourbon Orleans Hotel, New Orleans
Steeped in Parisian grandeur and centuries of history, Bourbon Orleans is located in the heart of the French Quarters and is one of the most famous haunted hotels in the US. It has a multi-purpose past as a ballroom, theaters and a convent and orphanage for decades. People allegedly have seen ghosts from different eras in the hallways or lobby. Sightings of a lonely dancer spending nights swaying in the ballroom are a common report.
The Omni Grove Park Inn: Asheville, North Carolina
The Omni Grove Park Inn in Ashville has been a favorite among horror fans as it’s long been thought of as home to supernatural forces. Legend has it that a young woman, called Pink Lady, died in the 1920s after falling off a balcony in the hotel and this supposed phantom has been spotted by many. There have been reports of lights turning on and off, doors opening and closing and objects moving on their own.
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