The Top 20 Haunted Hotels in America
According to some paranormal enthusiasts, some of the oldest hotels across the country might have guests that have long overstayed their welcome. We’ve rounded up ten such properties, from a bohemian hot spot in New York to a favorite haunt of Hollywood celebrities (pun intended), that boast incredible histories, lengthy rosters of famous visitors, and, allegedly, some otherworldly residents. To celebrate Halloween this year, why not take a trip to one of these properties for a spectral adventure? Whether you’re looking for a luxury accommodation or a cozy getaway, we’ve found hotels for every type of ghost hunter. Discover the most haunted hotels in America and book a stay you'll never forget.
1. Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado
When Stephen King and his wife stayed here in 1974, they were the only guests, as the hotel was just about to close for the season. Sound familiar? Their experience in room 217, of course, inspired the novel (and later the Stanley Kubrick film) The Shining. Though the Stanley’s 107-year history is relatively uneventful, it had gained a reputation for paranormal activity by the 1970s that continues today.
stanleyhotel.com
2. Hotel Chelsea, New York City
Built in the late 19th century, the Big Apple’s Hotel Chelsea has been a muse to artists for generations, from Mark Twain to Andy Warhol to Ethan Hawke. With such high-profile guests, it comes as no surprise that the hotel has seen equally high-profile scandals, most notably, the unsolved murder of Sid Vicious’s girlfriend, fellow rocker Nancy Spungen. Now under renovation, the hotel is currently closed to short-term visitors but is expected to reopen in 2018.
chelseahotels.com
3. Bourbon Orleans Hotel, New Orleans
Before being converted into a hotel in the 1960s, this nearly two-century-old property served as a ballroom and theater, then a convent and orphanage. Some of its rumored paranormal guests include a Confederate soldier, who haunts the third and sixths floors; children and women from the convent days; and a dancer who once performed at the theater.
bourbonorleans.com
4. Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn, Big Sur, California
Ellen Brill, the set decorator of American Horror Story: Hotel, heard some ghostly footsteps and a door slam when staying at this hotel. According to Vogue, the innkeeper told Brill it was Grandpa Deetjen, referring to inn founder Helmuth Deetjen, who built the property in the 1930s with his wife, Helen Haight. Safe to say, Grandpa Deetjen doesn’t sound like a particularly threatening specter.
deetjens.com
5. Battery Carriage House, Charleston, South Carolina
This lodging proudly touts itself as Charleston’s most haunted inn (and it’s most romantic bed-and-breakfast), even going so far as telling the stories of several of its otherworldly visitors on its website. There’s a headless spirit that haunts room 8, an entire congregation in room 3, and a gentlemanly apparition in room 10.
batterycarriagehouse.com
6. Hawthorne Hotel, Salem, Massachusetts
Site of the infamous Salem Witch Trials, this New England city is no stranger to rumors of the paranormal. The 91-year-old Hawthorne Hotel allegedly is a hotbed of unearthly activity, with guests reporting flickering lights, faucets turning on and off on their own, and human-shaped apparitions. The television show Bewitched filmed several episodes at the property.
hawthornehotel.com
7. 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa, Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Over the course of its 130-year history, the Crescent Hotel has served as a women’s college and a hospital (notoriously run by crackpot “doctor” Norman Baker). Today, it’s referred to as “America’s most haunted hotel,” with ghosts named Michael, Theodora, and even Morris the cat.
crescent-hotel.com
8. Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Los Angeles
This luxury hotel built in 1927 on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has hosted many iconic guests—some of whom might still roam its halls. One of the most famous? Marilyn Monroe.
thehollywoodroosevelt.com
9. La Fonda on the Plaza, Santa Fe, New Mexico
While the current iteration of this Santa Fe hotel was built in 1922, inns, or fondas, have been constructed on the site since 1607. It has some notable spectral guests, including the Honorable John P. Slough, Chief Justice of the Territorial Supreme Court, who was shot in the lobby in 1867.
lafondasantafe.com
10. The Hay-Adams, Washington, D.C.
Built on the site of former mansions owned by John Hay and Henry Adams (a descendant of both Adams presidents), the nearly 90-year-old hotel is reportedly haunted by the ghost of Adams’s wife, Marian Hooper Adams, who was once a guest there.
hayadams.com
11. The Driskill Hotel, Austin
The hotel in downtown Austin was founded in 1886 by Civil War Colonel Jesse Driskill, who is said to be one of the spirits that haunts the premises. Room 525 is considered to be one of spaces with the most paranormal activity. Two brides reportedly committed suicide in the room 20 years apart.
driskillhotel.com
12. The Sagamore Resort, Bolton Landing, New York
Set on Lake George, the hotel opened in 1883 and guests from the property’s long history have stuck around long after checking out. Current guests have reported seeing a boy from the 1950s on the golf course, an eerie woman in white, and a couple dining in one of the hotel’s restaurants.
thesagamore.com
13. The Seelbach Hilton, Louisville
The Seelbach Hilton is home to the legendary Lady in Blue, a guest who died in the hotel in 1936. Legend has it that Patricia Wilson had come to the hotel to reconcile with her ex-husband, but he was killed in a car crash on his way and she threw herself down the elevator shaft out of grief. Guests and hotel staff have spotted a woman in a blue chiffon dress with long black hair on the 8th floor.
seelbachhilton.com
14. Hotel del Coronado, San Diego
Kate Morgan has been the resident ghost at the Hotel del Coronado since 1892. The 24-year-old checked into a room on the third floor on Thanksgiving and stayed for five days, waiting for a lover to join her. When he didn’t arrive, she took her own life, and her presence has been felt in the guest room where she stayed and in the hotel’s gift shop.
hoteldel.com
15. Emily Morgan Hotel, San Antonio
Long before the Emily Morgan Hotel housed travellers, the neo-Gothic building was the site of a medical arts facility, complete with doctors’ offices, a hospital, and a morgue. The 12th and 14th floors—the latter of which was formerly the site of the crematorem—are known as particularly active sites, as is the elevator.
emilymorganhotel.com
16. Hotel Sorrento, Seattle
If you’re looking for a celebrity ghost, head to Seattle’s Hotel Sorrento, where Alice B. Toklas, partner of Gertrude Stein, roams the halls of the fourth floor (room 408 is a favorite haunt) and is known to move glasses in the Dunbar Room. Toklas lived near the hotel while studying music at the University of Washington.
hotelsorrento.com
17. Admiral Fell Inn, Baltimore
The historic hotel is made up of seven buildings in Fell’s Point, once a major shipbuilding area. Guest have reported hearing parties in unoccupied rooms and the hotel offers a ghost tour and receptions Wednesday through Saturday.
admiralfell.com
18. Myrtles Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana
The plantation was built in 1796 by General David Bradford, who fled Pennsylvania during the Whiskey Rebellion. The current owner claims that nine ghosts inhabit the home, now a bed-and-breakfast, and two may have appeared in photographs.
myrtlesplantation.com
19. The Queen Mary, Long Beach California
The legendary ocean liner, which once hosted royalty, dignitaries, and Hollywood stars, is now docked in Long Beach and is a stationary hotel. The ship is reportedly haunted by a sailor, a lady in white, and several children. The property offers several ghost tours, including one led by the ship’s paranormal investigator.
queenmary.com
20. Congress Plaza Hotel, Chicago
The Congress Plaza Hotel opened in 1893 to house the visitors descending on the city for the Chicago World’s Fair. The hotel is supposedly home to a number of ghosts including notorious crime boss Al Capone and another known as Peg Leg Johnny. The hotel hosts a haunted Halloween ball each October.
congressplazahotel.com
