8 Most Haunted Hotels in California: Gold Rush Inns to Old Hollywood
In 1892 a young woman checked into a San Diego beach resort under a false name, stayed five days alone, and was found dead on the steps down to the beach.
The hotel is still there, still one of the most photographed buildings in California, and you can still book the room she stayed in.
We pulled this list from our directory of haunted places across California. It runs from Gold Rush saloons in the Sierra foothills to Hollywood Boulevard, which is a wider range than any other state can offer.
Here are the 8 most haunted hotels in California, the spirits attached to them, and which ones you can actually stay in.
Why California Hotels Are So Haunted
California’s haunted hotels come from three completely separate waves, which is why they have so little in common with each other.
The Gold Rush came first, throwing up saloons and hotels in foothill towns in the 1850s, most with a jail in the basement and a violent decade behind them. Several of those towns then shrank to almost nothing.
Then came the grand resorts of the 1880s, and after them Hollywood, which built glamorous hotels in the 1920s that absorbed an enormous amount of private misery behind the publicity.
1. Hotel del Coronado, Coronado
The Hotel del Coronado opened in 1888 as a Victorian beachfront resort and is one of the largest wooden buildings in the United States.
Its ghost story is unusually well documented. Kate Morgan checked in alone in November 1892 and was found dead on the exterior staircase leading to the beach days later.
Room 3327 was hers and is the focus of the reports. Guests describe breezes with no source, flickering lights, objects moving, and a misty figure at the window. Staff also report luggage rolling along corridors on its own.
2. Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Los Angeles
The Hollywood Roosevelt opened in 1927 on Hollywood Boulevard and hosted the first Academy Awards ceremony two years later.
It is the surviving centre of Old Hollywood, and almost every famous name of the studio era passed through it at some point.
The reports match the building’s history: figures in period dress in corridors and the ballroom, a reflection reported in an old mirror on the property, and sounds from empty rooms. It is fully operational, so you can book a night.
3. Hotel Leger, Mokelumne Hill
Hotel Leger dates to 1851 in Mokelumne Hill, one of the roughest towns of the Gold Rush, and it has survived multiple fires.
Part of the building served as the county courthouse and jail. It is one of the oldest continuously operating hotels in the state.
Room 7 is the most active, where guests report a shadowed man at the foot of the bed, often identified as George Leger himself. In the saloon, staff and patrons describe glasses moving, taps on the shoulder, and cigar smoke with nobody smoking. The old jail basement carries the heaviest atmosphere.
4. Brookdale Lodge, Brookdale
The Brookdale Lodge began in the 1870s as a logging resort in the Santa Cruz Mountains and became a glamorous retreat in the 1920s.
Its most striking feature is the Brook Room, a dining room with a natural creek running straight through the middle of it.
The lodge’s ghost is a girl called Sarah, said to have drowned in that creek. Guests report laughter and whispering through the dining areas and figures at the edges of the Brook Room. The basement is the other reported hotspot.
5. Cary House Hotel, Placerville
The Cary House Hotel was built in 1857 in Placerville, a Gold Rush town whose original nickname was Hangtown.
Millions of dollars in bullion passed across its floor, and the guest list ran from miners and outlaws to Mark Twain and Ulysses S. Grant.
The third floor gets the most reports, along with Room 212. Staff describe a former desk clerk remembered as Stan near the front desk, and guests report a woman in nineteenth century dress in the upper corridors.
6. Glen Tavern Inn, Santa Paula
The Glen Tavern Inn opened in 1911 in Santa Paula, built for oil industry travellers and later used by film crews working in the area.
Its third floor was reportedly used during Prohibition for gambling and drinking, which is where most of the stories originate.
Room 307 is the room. Guests describe a shadowed figure in cowboy dress nearby, along with whispers, footsteps, and doors that open on their own. A woman in white is reported throughout the building.
7. Amargosa Opera House and Hotel, Death Valley Junction
The Amargosa Opera House and Hotel was built in 1923 by the Pacific Coast Borax Company as part of a company town on the edge of Death Valley.
The town emptied out, and the complex survived largely because dancer Marta Becket took it over in the 1960s and performed there for decades, sometimes to an empty house.
Room 32 has the strongest reputation, with guests reporting an oppressive presence, sudden cold, and a figure at the edge of the bed. A child is reported running the aisles of the opera house itself.
8. Cecil Hotel, Los Angeles
The Cecil Hotel opened in downtown Los Angeles in 1927 as a grand hotel, and declined along with the neighbourhood around it.
It has the darkest documented record of any building on this list, spanning decades of deaths and criminal association. Much of that history involves real and recent victims, and it is worth treating with restraint rather than as entertainment.
It is also the one property here you cannot simply book. The building has been converted largely to residential use and does not operate as a tourist hotel. View it from the street and leave the residents alone.
How to Visit California Haunted Hotels Safely
Seven of the eight take normal bookings. The Cecil is the exception and should be treated as a private residential building.
Prices spread enormously. The Hotel del Coronado and the Hollywood Roosevelt are premium properties, while Hotel Leger and the Cary House are small town rates.
Death Valley Junction needs real planning. It is remote, summer temperatures are genuinely dangerous, and services are minimal. Carry water and fuel and do not rely on phone signal.
If you want to record anything, our ghost hunting equipment guide covers the EMF meters, recorders, and cameras that actually capture evidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most haunted hotel in California?
The Hotel del Coronado, because its story rests on a documented 1892 death rather than folklore, and the reports have stayed attached to one specific room for over a century.
Can you stay at the Cecil Hotel?
No. It no longer operates as a tourist hotel and has been converted largely to residential housing. Do not attempt to book or enter it.
Which is the oldest haunted hotel in California?
Hotel Leger in Mokelumne Hill, dating to 1851, with the Cary House in Placerville close behind at 1857. Both are Gold Rush buildings still taking guests.
Plan Your California Haunted Hotel Trip
California is too long to do in one run, so pick a region.
The Gold Country pairing of Hotel Leger and the Cary House is the strongest short trip, with both within an hour of each other east of Sacramento. Southern California links the Hollywood Roosevelt, Glen Tavern and Hotel del Coronado down the coast, and Amargosa belongs to a Death Valley trip on its own.
For everything beyond the hotels, browse our full directory of haunted places in California or read our roundup of the most haunted places in California.
