Step into the shadows of America’s most spine-chilling accommodations, where the past refuses to rest in peace.
The floorboards creak in the dead of night. Elevator doors open to empty hallways. Phantom figures drift through corridors where countless souls have walked before. Across America, historic hotels harbor more than just memories—they’re home to restless spirits who never quite checked out.
These aren’t just places to rest your head; they’re portals to another realm where the living and the dead share the same space. From coast to coast, these ten haunted hotels offer guests an experience they’ll never forget—assuming they survive the night.
#10: The Crescent Hotel – Eureka Springs, Arkansas
The Ghost Story: Known as “America’s Most Haunted Hotel,” the Crescent Hotel‘s dark history began in 1937 when it became a fraudulent cancer hospital under the notorious “Dr.” Norman Baker.
Built in 1886 as a luxury resort, this Victorian masterpiece transformed into a house of horrors when Baker, a former radio host with no medical training, promised miracle cancer cures. Patients died in agony, their bodies allegedly dumped in the hotel’s basement and surrounding areas.
The Hauntings: Room 218 hosts the spirit of a young cancer patient who appears as a translucent figure in a white nightgown. The basement morgue, now part of ghost tours, echoes with unexplained footsteps and phantom voices. Guests report elevator buttons being pressed by invisible hands, leading them to floors they never intended to visit.
“The energy here is unlike anywhere else I’ve investigated,” says paranormal researcher Amy Bruni. “The combination of hope and desperation from the cancer patients creates an incredibly active environment.”
Stay if you dare: The hotel embraces its haunted reputation with nightly ghost tours and paranormal investigation packages.
#9: The Omni Homestead Resort – Hot Springs, Virginia
The Ghost Story: This grand resort, dating back to 1766, has welcomed presidents and celebrities—some of whom apparently never left.
The most famous permanent resident is a Confederate soldier who died in the resort’s makeshift Civil War hospital. Guests and staff have spotted him wandering the halls in his gray uniform, still standing guard over the property he once protected.
The Hauntings: The Tower Room experiences frequent temperature drops and the scent of gunpowder. Phantom piano music drifts from the ballroom after hours, playing melancholy Civil War-era tunes. The resort’s historic cemetery, visible from many guest rooms, becomes a hotbed of activity during full moons.
Children’s laughter echoes through empty corridors, believed to be the spirits of young guests who succumbed to illness during the resort’s early days as a healing destination.
Historical Significance: Thomas Jefferson, several U.S. presidents, and countless dignitaries have stayed here, adding layers of history to its haunted reputation.
#8: The Pfister Hotel – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The Ghost Story: Since opening in 1893, this opulent hotel has been home to the spirit of founder Charles Pfister, who died just months after his dream hotel opened.
Pfister’s ghost is particularly active around visiting baseball teams, with numerous MLB players reporting encounters with the well-dressed specter who seems to critique their performance.
The Hauntings: Players have reported phantom knocks on doors, elevators stopping at floors with no one waiting, and the distinct feeling of being watched during team meetings. The hotel’s Victorian artwork seems to follow guests with their eyes, and some pieces have been found mysteriously rearranged overnight.
Room 424 experiences the most activity, with guests reporting a gentleman in period clothing sitting in the room’s chair, only to vanish when approached.
The Experience: The hotel offers “Haunted History” packages, complete with ghost tours and paranormal investigation equipment.
#7: The Bourbon Orleans Hotel – New Orleans, Louisiana
The Ghost Story: Built on the site of the historic Orleans Ballroom and Theater, this French Quarter hotel carries the spirits of its colorful past, including Confederate soldiers, Creole socialites, and yellow fever victims.
The Orleans Ballroom once hosted elaborate quadroon balls where wealthy white men would meet their mixed-race mistresses. The theater welcomed both the living and the dead to its performances, as yellow fever epidemics swept through New Orleans in the 1800s.
The Hauntings: The sixth floor, once a convent and orphanage, echoes with children’s voices and the rustle of nun’s habits. Guests report seeing a Confederate soldier in the lobby, still waiting for orders that will never come. The ballroom’s mirrors reflect figures that aren’t there, and phantom waltzes play in empty spaces.
Room 644 is particularly active, with reports of a young girl who died during a yellow fever outbreak. She’s known to rearrange guests’ belongings and leave small handprints on bathroom mirrors.
The Atmosphere: The hotel’s ornate ironwork balconies and gas-lit courtyards create the perfect backdrop for supernatural encounters in America’s most haunted city.
#6: The Driskill Hotel – Austin, Texas
The Ghost Story: Colonel Jesse Driskill’s 1886 masterpiece was built to be the finest hotel in Texas. The Colonel’s spirit ensures it maintains that reputation, even in death.
Driskill lost the hotel in a poker game just four years after opening, dying shortly after in 1890. His ghost, recognizable by his distinctive handlebar mustache and period clothing, roams the halls ensuring guests receive proper hospitality.
The Hauntings: The most famous resident spirit is a young girl who fell down the hotel’s grand staircase while chasing a ball during her father’s inaugural celebration as Texas governor. Guests report seeing her bouncing a ball in the hallways and hear her giggling in empty corridors.
The Driskill Bar experiences phantom cigar smoke and the sound of poker chips, while elevators operate on their own, stopping at floors where no one waits. Room 525 is known for its supernatural activity, with guests reporting furniture moving and bathroom faucets turning on by themselves.
Presidential Connections: The hotel has hosted numerous political figures, and some say their spirits linger in the halls of power.
#5: The Emily Morgan Hotel – San Antonio, Texas
The Ghost Story: This Gothic Revival skyscraper, built in 1924 as a medical arts building, transformed into a hotel carrying the spiritual residue of its hospital past.
Named after the “Yellow Rose of Texas,” Emily Morgan, the hotel’s upper floors once housed medical offices and a psychiatric ward. The building’s history of human suffering has created a supernatural hotspot in the heart of San Antonio.
The Hauntings: Floors 12 and 14 experience the most activity, with guests reporting phantom medical equipment sounds and the feeling of being examined by invisible hands. Elevator buttons light up in sequence, as if following a doctor’s rounds.
The hotel’s most famous ghost is a nurse in a white uniform who appears in guest rooms, checking on patients who are no longer there. Guests have awakened to find their blankets tucked in more tightly and water glasses refilled.
The Medical Connection: Former patients and medical staff seem drawn to return, with witnesses reporting figures in hospital gowns wandering the halls and the scent of antiseptic in rooms that haven’t been cleaned with medical supplies in decades.
#4: The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel – Los Angeles, California
The Ghost Story: Since 1927, this Golden Age Hollywood landmark has been the eternal home of Tinseltown’s biggest stars—some of whom refuse to leave the spotlight, even in death.
The hotel hosted the first Academy Awards ceremony and became a playground for Hollywood royalty. When the stars’ earthly performances ended, some chose to continue their eternal encore at the Roosevelt.
The Hauntings: Marilyn Monroe’s spirit haunts Suite 1200, where she lived for two years early in her career. Guests report seeing her reflection in the bathroom mirror, applying lipstick with ghostly precision. The mirror has been moved multiple times but continues to show her image.
Montgomery Clift’s ghost plays his trumpet in Room 928, where he stayed while filming “From Here to Eternity.” Hotel staff and guests hear melancholy jazz melodies drifting through the walls at all hours.
The Blossom Ballroom hosts phantom parties, with witnesses reporting the sound of 1940s big band music and the rustle of evening gowns on the dance floor.
#3: The Queen Mary – Long Beach, California
The Ghost Story: This retired ocean liner, permanently docked and converted into a hotel, carries the souls of passengers who never disembarked from their final voyage.
Launched in 1936, the Queen Mary served as a luxury liner before becoming a World War II troop transport. The ship witnessed births, deaths, romances, and tragedies across the Atlantic, creating a floating repository of human emotion and supernatural energy.
The Hauntings: The ship’s most active area is the engine room, where 18-year-old John Pedder was crushed by a watertight door in 1966. His spirit, wearing blue coveralls, still tends to the engines and has been photographed by numerous guests.
The first-class swimming pool, now empty and closed, echoes with phantom splashes and children’s laughter. Two spirits, known as the “Ladies in White,” glide through the pool area in 1930s evening wear.
Room B340, once the ship’s most haunted cabin, was closed to guests for years due to extreme paranormal activity. Visitors reported being tucked into bed by invisible hands, faucets turning on by themselves, and the sensation of someone sitting on the bed.
The War Years: During WWII service, the ship accidentally rammed and sank a British cruiser, killing 300 sailors. Their spirits are said to knock on cabin doors, seeking passage to safety that never comes.
#2: The Stanley Hotel – Estes Park, Colorado
The Ghost Story: F.O. Stanley’s 1909 masterpiece inspired Stephen King’s “The Shining” and remains one of America’s most actively haunted hotels, where the boundary between fiction and supernatural reality blurs.
Stanley built this Georgian Colonial Revival hotel as a health retreat in the Colorado Rockies. The thin mountain air that once healed tuberculosis patients now seems to thin the veil between worlds, allowing spirits to move freely through the property.
The Hauntings: Room 217, where Stephen King stayed and conceived “The Shining,” experiences the most activity. Guests report lights turning on and off, luggage being unpacked by invisible hands, and the sensation of someone sitting on the bed. The room’s bathroom faucets turn on by themselves, and some guests have reported being tucked into bed by ghostly hands.
The hotel’s original owners, F.O. and Flora Stanley, still roam their creation. F.O. appears in the Billiards Room, while Flora plays piano in the Concert Hall. Their music has been recorded by numerous paranormal investigators, with melodies that don’t match any known compositions.
The fourth floor, once servants’ quarters, echoes with phantom footsteps and children’s voices. Room 401 is particularly active, with reports of ghostly parties that continue long into the night.
Book Your Supernatural Stay – Experience the inspiration behind horror’s greatest novel.
#1: The Myrtles Plantation – St. Francisville, Louisiana
The Ghost Story: Built in 1796, this antebellum mansion turned bed-and-breakfast is considered America’s most haunted hotel, with a history steeped in slavery, murder, and unresolved tragedy.
The plantation’s dark past includes the deaths of multiple family members under mysterious circumstances, creating a supernatural perfect storm. The most famous ghost is Chloe, a slave who was allegedly hanged for poisoning the plantation owner’s family—though historical records suggest the story may be more legend than fact.
The Hauntings: Chloe appears throughout the property wearing a green turban, her head tilted at an unnatural angle. Guests report seeing her in photographs, standing behind family groups with a sorrowful expression. She’s known to tuck children into bed and has been spotted caring for young guests.
The plantation’s mirror is said to contain the handprints of Sara Woodruff and her children, who died from yellow fever. The prints appear and disappear, and some guests report seeing faces in the reflection that aren’t their own.
Room 14 experiences the most intense activity, with reports of phantom footsteps, doors opening and closing, and the sensation of invisible hands touching guests. The room’s temperature drops dramatically without explanation, and some visitors report being gently shaken awake by unseen presences.
The Staircase: The plantation’s grand staircase is a hotspot for paranormal photography, with numerous visitors capturing unexplained figures, orbs, and shadows. Footsteps echo on the stairs at all hours, following a pattern that suggests someone ascending and descending repeatedly.
Historical Significance: The plantation represents the complex and tragic history of the American South, where the spirits of enslaved people and plantation families seem trapped together in an eternal dance of unresolved conflict and sorrow.
When the Living Meet the Dead
These ten haunted hotels offer more than just a place to rest—they provide a gateway to America’s supernatural past. Whether you’re a skeptic seeking thrills or a believer looking for proof, these properties deliver experiences that challenge our understanding of life, death, and what lies between.
From the opulent corridors of the Hollywood Roosevelt to the tragic halls of the Myrtles Plantation, each hotel tells a story that transcends the grave. The spirits who inhabit these spaces aren’t just remnants of the past—they’re active participants in an ongoing narrative that includes every guest brave enough to spend the night.
Ready to check in where others never checked out? These haunted hotels await your arrival, promising a stay you’ll remember for the rest of your life—and perhaps beyond.
Sweet dreams… if you can manage them.
