5 Most Haunted Hotels in Massachusetts: Rooms You Can Book
One of these buildings has been taking in travellers since 1716. It was already sixty years old when the Revolution started down the road.
Massachusetts does not have the oldest ghost stories in America by accident. It has the oldest buildings still operating as hotels, which is a different and rarer thing.
We pulled this list from our directory of haunted places across Massachusetts. All five are working hotels and inns, and each has a specific room that carries the reputation.
Here are the 5 most haunted hotels in Massachusetts, the spirits attached to them, and how to book the rooms in question.
Why Massachusetts Hotels Are So Haunted
Massachusetts has continuity that almost nowhere else in the country can match.
A stagecoach tavern here can pass through three centuries of owners and still be pouring drinks in the same room. The stories never get interrupted by demolition.
Add the specific history layered on top, colonial medicine practised in bedrooms, the Revolution, the sea trade, and the long shadow of Salem, and the result is buildings where the past was never cleared out.
1. Hawthorne Hotel, Salem
The Hawthorne Hotel opened in 1925 on Salem Common and is named for Nathaniel Hawthorne, whose own ancestor sat as a judge in the witch trials.
It is the anchor hotel of the most visited haunted town in America, and in October it is effectively the centre of Salem.
Room 325 holds the reputation. Guests report cold spots, objects moving, the sense of being watched from a corner, and a woman standing at the window. Elsewhere in the building staff describe knocking from inside walls, crying in empty corridors, and old perfume with no source.
2. Longfellow’s Wayside Inn, Sudbury
Longfellow’s Wayside Inn has operated since 1716 and is generally recognised as the oldest working inn in the United States.
It began as a stagecoach tavern and took its current name from the Longfellow poem cycle set inside it. Henry Ford later bought and restored the property.
Room 9 is known as Jerusha’s Room, after Jerusha Howe, sister of an early innkeeper, said to have died waiting for a lover who never returned from overseas. Guests describe a light touch on the shoulder, hair being stroked, perfume, and someone brushing past in empty hallways.
3. Concord’s Colonial Inn, Concord
Concord’s Colonial Inn dates to 1716 and sits on Monument Square, a short walk from the North Bridge where the Revolution began.
Part of the building served as a field hospital during the fighting in April 1775. That section is now guest rooms.
Room 24 is the room, and the story attached to it is a patient who died during an amputation there. Guests report phantom footsteps, sharp cold near the window, flickering lights, whispers, and an unaccountable heaviness.
4. Omni Parker House, Boston
The Omni Parker House has run on School Street in downtown Boston since 1855, making it the longest continuously operating hotel in the country.
Dickens and Emerson met in its dining rooms. Its kitchen produced the Boston cream pie and the Parker House roll, and both Ho Chi Minh and Malcolm X worked there before they were known.
Founder Harvey Parker is reported near guest rooms on the upper floors, apparently still checking on guests. The former Room 303 has been sealed off, and people staying near where it was describe sobbing, scratching, and being watched.
5. Orleans Waterfront Inn, Orleans
The Orleans Waterfront Inn was built in 1875 on Town Cove and is the most reported haunted lodging on Cape Cod.
It worked as a hotel and tavern for sea travellers, which on this stretch of coast meant a constant traffic of crews from wrecked and salvaged ships.
Room 5 is the focus, tied to a woman guests know as Hannah. The common report is waking to the weight of someone sitting on the bed. Cold spots and flickering lights are described throughout the building.
How to Visit Massachusetts Haunted Hotels Safely
All five take ordinary bookings and none of them hide the history, which makes this an easy state to do properly.
Request the specific room at the time of booking rather than on arrival. Room 325, Room 9, Room 24 and Room 5 are all asked for constantly and go early.
Salem in October is the one real trap. The Hawthorne can be sold out most of a year ahead for that month, and the whole town is at capacity. Visit off season if you want the building rather than the crowd.
If you plan 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 Massachusetts?
The Hawthorne Hotel in Salem gets the most attention and the most reports, helped by its location. Longfellow’s Wayside Inn has the older and more consistent single story in Jerusha Howe.
Which is the oldest haunted inn in Massachusetts?
Longfellow’s Wayside Inn and Concord’s Colonial Inn both date to 1716. The Wayside is generally credited as the oldest operating inn in the country.
Can you still book Room 303 at the Parker House?
No. Room 303 was sealed off and is no longer available. Guests in nearby rooms on that floor still report activity.
Plan Your Massachusetts Haunted Hotel Trip
Four of the five sit within about an hour of Boston, which makes this the tightest cluster of haunted hotels in the country.
Base yourself at the Parker House, then run out to Concord and Sudbury in a single day and up to Salem on another. The Orleans Waterfront Inn is the outlier and belongs to a Cape Cod trip instead.
For everything beyond the hotels, browse our full directory of haunted places in Massachusetts or read our roundup of the most haunted places in Massachusetts.
