Spook-tacular Stays: 10 Most Haunted Hotels in America

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to spend the night in a haunted house? At these historic properties, you can do exactly that! The US is home to some of the most haunted hotels in the world, giving you the opportunity to experience real-life chills and thrills.

Whether you love celebrating Halloween, are fascinated by ghost stories or simply want to know which hotels to avoid at all costs (it’s okay if you’re scared!), check out these spook-tacular properties.

• The Emily Morgan Hotel — San Antonio, Texas
• Crescent Hotel & Spa — Eureka Springs, Arkansas
• Omni Parker House — Boston, Massachusetts
• The Stanley Hotel — Estes Park, Colorado
• The Hollywood Roosevelt — Los Angeles, California
• Jekyll Island Club Resort — Jekyll Island, Georgia
• Hotel del Coronado — San Diego, California
• The Marshall House — Savannah, Georgia
• Hotel Chelsea — New York City, New York
• Omni Shoreham Hotel  — Washington, DC

Long before this gothic-style building was transformed into The Emily Morgan Hotel, it housed a number of medical facilities — including a morgue, crematorium and psychiatric ward. Not only that, but it’s built on the grounds where more than 600 men lost their lives during the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. With a history like that, you can’t really blame it for earning a reputation as one of the most haunted hotels in America.

So, what ghostly encounters and paranormal activity can you expect here? Throughout the years, hotel staff and several guests have reported hearing hospital carts wheeling down the corridors, seeing doors mysteriously close, catching a whiff of antiseptic and feeling a strange presence. Many others have claimed that they’ve spotted a woman roaming the halls in a white dress. Whether it’s a wedding gown or a hospital gown is up for debate…

Don’t let the name of this property fool you. Despite boasting a wellness facility, your days spent at the Crescent Hotel & Spa could be far from relaxing.

Erected in 1886, the building has served as a conservatory for young women, a junior college, a cancer hospital owned by a fraudulent doctor and more. As a result of this varied history, several ghosts are believed to reside here:

• Michael, an Irish stonemason who fell to his death while building the hotel, haunts those staying in Room 218
• Theodora, a cancer patient, has been heard fumbling her keys on the fourth floor
• Breckie, a four-year-old guest who died of appendicitis, bounces a ball while wandering the halls
• Morris, an orange tabby cat that was affectionately referred to as the hotel’s general manager, is regularly seen on the premises

And that’s merely scratching the surface! Many paranormal investigators have stopped by over the years in an attempt to understand these strange phenomena and even convene at the annual Eureka Springs Paranormal Weekend for nightly ghost tours, hunts and seminars.

The Omni Parker House is the oldest hotel in Boston and the longest continuously operating hotel in the US. That means you can expect a ton of old-school glitz and glamour alongside your ghost sightings.

According to legend, the spirit of the hotel’s founder, Harvey D. Parker, still roams the halls and makes sure things are in tip-top shape. (He was known for being an extraordinary host and keeping an eye on every detail.) Throughout the years, guests reported seeing apparitions of him in various rooms; in some cases, his ghost has even asked how people were enjoying their stay. Of course, you can’t expect him to be the only ghost to have popped up over the hotel’s nearly 200-year-old history — Charles Dickens’s spirit is also thought to linger here.

Many guests claim they’ve seen bright orbs of light in the hallways, heard strange whispers, smelled whiskey and cigar smoke, and been in elevators that mysteriously stop on the third floor, among other strange occurrences.

If you’re drawn to horror novels and films, The Stanley Hotel is probably already on your travel bucket list — this mountain property is what inspired Stephen King to write The Shining. While staying at the hotel in 1974, King had a dream that his son was being chased in the halls: “I woke up with a tremendous jerk, sweating all over, within an inch of falling out of bed,” he once recalled. “I got up, lit a cigarette, sat in a chair looking out the window at the Rockies, and by the time the cigarette was done, I had the bones of the book firmly set in my mind.”

Even though King never claimed to see any ghosts, this historic hotel is said to be haunted by several characters, including the original owners and a former maid. The Stanley also fully embraces its spooky history by hosting many ghost tours and special events such as The Shining Ball, Trivia Haunt and Murder by Death concert series. In other words, there are plenty of ways for you to get a thrill during your stay.

You’d probably jump at the chance to meet a celebrity at The Hollywood Roosevelt, but what if we told you not all of those encounters would be with a living celebrity? This famous hotel has a famous ghost: Marilyn Monroe. The legendary actress was a frequent guest and even lived at the hotel for two years during the early stages of her career. Today, her spirit hangs out in the mirror in her former hotel room.

Carole Lombard, Errol Flynn and Montgomery Clift (other actors and actresses who rose to fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood) have also chosen this haunted hotel as their eternal residence. They’ve been said to make their presence known by knocking on doors, tapping on hotel guests’ shoulders and dancing in the grand ballroom — the site of the first-ever Academy Awards. 

From 1879 to 1942, the Jekyll Island Club Resort was frequented by some of America’s wealthiest individuals. John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Joseph Pulitzer and other notable businessmen would come here to hunt, golf and vacation with their families. But unfortunately, after the Great Depression and WWII, the building sat empty for several decades.

Eventually it was re-opened as a hotel, and it didn’t take long for its former guests to return (albeit on a different spiritual plane). Some people have claimed that they can smell J.P. Morgan’s cigar smoke in and around certain cottages; others have apparently seen the spirit of railroad magnate Samuel Spencer reading a newspaper.

These sound like pretty friendly ghosts, if you ask us! Consider this a great choice if you’re interested in staying at a haunted hotel but don’t want to be completely scared out of your wits.

While a lot of the other haunted hotels on this list have multiple ghosts, Hotel del Coronado has just one. In 1892, a young woman by the name of Kate Morgan checked in with plans to meet a lover, but he never showed. After five days of waiting, Kate took her own life; she was found at the bottom of a staircase leading out to Coronado Beach with a self-afflicted gunshot wound.

Since then, Kate has been spooking the guests who stay in her third-floor room. Flickering lights, inexplicable scents and sounds, extreme changes in room temperature, phantom footsteps and voices, and other mysterious activities have been reported. Apparently, she also wrecks havoc in the hotel gift shop — items have been known to randomly fly off the shelves.

Savannah, Georgia is widely thought to be one of the most haunted cities in the US, so it makes perfect sense that it’s also home to one of the country’s spookiest accommodation options. But what exactly is this hotel’s haunted history? We’re so glad you asked.

Like several of the other properties on this list, The Marshall House has operated as a hospital… three times! Once for soldiers during the American Civil War and twice for outbreaks of yellow fever. As such, guests have long been convinced that ghosts roam the halls — and their beliefs only got stronger when human remains were discovered under the hotel’s floorboards during a restoration in the late 1990s.

Brave travellers, particularly those who have stayed on the fourth floor, have claimed doorknobs jiggle for no reason, faucets turn themselves on and toilets overflow without being flushed. What’s more, guests have reported hearing babies crying and children laughing in the halls. We’re getting shivers just thinking about it.

As one of Manhattan’s most charming hotels, it should come as no surprise that famous actors, musicians, artists and writers have been among its many guests. Everyone from Andy Warhol and Mark Twain to Edie Sedgwick and Leonard Cohen have stayed here, but only a couple have visited from the afterlife.

The first is Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, who fell into a coma in the hotel after a night of heavy drinking in 1953. While he died a few days later in hospital, his ghost sometimes appears around Room 206 as a disembodied head. The second is Sid Vicious, former bassist for the Sex Pistols. In October 1978, he was charged with stabbing his girlfriend to death in Room 100 — and since his own death the following February, his spirit has frequently been spotted in the elevator.

Other (less famous) ghosts include a Titanic survivor named Mary — distraught after losing her husband in the shipwreck, she hung herself in a room on the fifth floor — and a woman named Nadia who, decades ago, jumped to her death from a hotel window.

You know a hotel is truly haunted when it has a ghost room or, as the Omni Shoreham Hotel likes to call it, The Ghost Suite.

For many years, the hotel’s original owner, Henry Doherty, lived in this suite on the eighth floor with his wife and daughter. All was well until their housekeeper died suddenly one night; apparently, she woke up feeling sick and attempted to phone a doctor but passed away before she was able to make the call. And the tragedy doesn’t stop there! Doherty’s wife and daughter also mysteriously died in the room.

Understandably, Doherty moved out and the suite remained empty for several years… or did it? To this day, guests report hearing strange noises coming from the suite. Some have also claimed that the lights and TV turn on at 4am (the estimated time of the housekeeper’s death).

If you feel like scaring yourself silly in a destination other than the US, check out these 10 haunted hotels around the world:

• The Chelsea Hotel in Toronto, Ontario
• El Hotel Mesón de Jobito in Zacatecas, Mexico
• Fairmont Banff Springs in Banff, Alberta
• First World Hotel in Genting Highlands, Malaysia
• The Langham Hotel in London, England
• Nottingham Road Hotel in Nottingham Road, South Africa
• Parador de Jaén in Jaén, Spain
• The Russel Hotel in Sydney, Australia
• Toftaholm Herrgård Hotel in Lagan, Sweden
• Tulloch Castle in Dingwall, Scotland

Are you brave enough to stay in these haunted hotels? Whether you want to ghost hunt or not, our Travel Experts can help you find your ideal accommodations around the world. Get in touch today or subscribe to our newsletter for travel inspo, irresistible deals and more.