The Most Haunted Hotels in the U.S.
I never need an excuse to go stay at a beautiful hotel, but in honor of the spooky Halloween season, how fun would it be to go stay in a hotel that is rumored to be haunted?! Whether you are a believer or not, it’s usually the history of these beautiful buildings that inspire such eerie tales, which turns them into a “place to see”, and not just a place to lay your head at night.
So for your ghost-story-telling pleasure, here are 10 of America’s most “haunted” hotels that you can stay in today. In the light of Covid, and most Americans not yet able to travel abroad, I kept it to just hotels in the U.S. this time. Maybe next year we’ll dive in to all those hotels that once were castles. I’ll bet those have some tales!
#1 - Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado
Opened 1909
All sorts of spooky occurrences have been reported in almost every room of this hotel. Sounds of footsteps and eerie laughter, furniture and items moving around, closet doors opening and closing, and the sound of children running and playing.
This was actually the hotel that Stephen King and his wife stayed at, the last guests left before the hotel closed for the season, that inspired him to write The Shining.
#2 - 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa, Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Opened May 20, 1886
Over the years, guests have reported many paranormal experiences and ghost sightings, both on the hotel’s ghost tours, and in their rooms or halls.
Many believe that all the activity is due to the portion of time that the hotel was turned into a hospital for cancer patients, complete with morgue, run by a charlatan that knew nothing of medicine. Needless to say, many died there.
#3 - The Queen Mary, Long Beach, California
Maiden Voyage May 27, 1936
Known by many to be one of the most haunted places in the world, The RMS Queen Mary is home to as many as 150 known spirits. With a history that includes being turned into a troop ship during World War II, and being the site of at least 49 reported deaths in the last 60 years, it’s really no surprise that there’s an abundant amount of paranormal activity being reported.
#4 - Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood, California
Opened May 15, 1927
Los Angeles’ longest operating hotel, the Hollywood Roosevelt has had many famous guests over the years, as well as 2 that apparently never checked out. It is said that Marilyn Monroe still haunts her suite #1200 and has appeared to guests who stay there. And Montgomery Clift resides in room #928, brushing up against people and practicing his trumpet. Other not so famous spirits are known to hang around as well, including a young girl that is eternally looking for her mother.
#5 - La Fonda on the Plaza, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Current structure opened 1922
The beautiful La Fonda Hotel sits on the site of the town’s first inn, established in 1607. Over the 400 years the hotel has been destroyed and rebuilt many times over, but apparently it has kept its haunted past. Gunfights, public hangings, and suicides plague the site’s history, so today, it is not uncommon to see apparitions roaming the hallways and lobby.
#6 - Congress Plaza Hotel, Chicago, Illinois
Opened 1893
This hotel, at one time owned by Al Capone, seems to have paranormal activity all over the place! The ballroom has lots of reports of unexplained noises. On the 4th floor, a ghost the staff calls “Peg Leg Johnny” apparently likes to prank guests. On the 12th floor, ghostly children can be found, rumored to be there after their mother went mad and threw them off the building. There’s even one room that is so spooky, that it has been completely locked off and none of the staff go near it. There have been many more sightings and experiences, but naming them all would make this a very long post.
#7 - The Equinox, Manchester Village, Vermont
Opened 1769
Though Presidents Taft, Grant, Roosevelt and Harrison all stayed here, the ghost rumored to roam the halls of The Equinox is former First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. Mrs. Lincoln and her sons spent a couple summers here, and now both workers and guests alike have claimed to have seen her and a small boy floating down the halls. In addition to the sightings, people have experienced unexplainable cold spots, items being moved around, and lights turning on by themselves.
#8 - Hotel Provincial, New Orleans, Louisiana
Opened 1961
Though the hotel itself is relatively new compared to the others in this list, the land it’s on and the buildings that came before it had a rich history. The one that seems to “inspire” the hauntings experienced here is the time that it was a Military Hospital. Apparitions of confederate soldiers and surgeons have been seen. Pools of blood have appeared and then disappeared on sheets and the floor. Whole scenes of wounded soldiers and the hospital surrounds have appeared to guests as well.
#9 - The Emily Morgan Hotel, San Antonio, Texas
Opened 1984 (building completed 1924)
Originally built as a Medical Arts Building, the Emily Morgan Hotel, looking over The Alamo, is known as the most haunted hotel in Texas. The 3rd, 7th, 9th, 11th, and 12th floor seem to have the most activity, from hearing weeping and singing, and seeing apparitions walking the hallways, to having objects slide off tables and toilet seats slamming open and shut. The elevator also likes to pass the floor you wish to stop at, and take you down to the basement where the morgue used to be. In addition to all this, if you gaze out the windows to The Alamo below, you may also catch a glimpse of one of the hundreds of soldiers that lost their life in the battle.
#10 - Hotel del Coronado, San Diego, California
Opened 1888
This hotel is said to have been haunted since 1892, when the lovely young woman, Kate Morgan, took her own life here. Many guests that have stayed in her room have experienced all kinds of phenomena, such as flickering lights, items moving by themselves, abrupt changes in temperature, and the television turning on and off by itself. There are a few other “active” areas, one of which being the gift shop where people have witnessed items flying off shelves.
