30 Most Haunted Hotels in America: Real Places You Can Spend the Night
Some hotels sell a good night’s sleep. These sell a sleepless one.
America’s most haunted hotels are not roadside attractions. They are working hotels where you can book a room, order a drink at the bar, and lie awake listening to footsteps in an empty hallway.
We pulled this list from hundreds of documented haunted places in our directory. Each one earned its spot through a long, consistent history of guest and staff reports, not a single spooky night.
Here are 30 of the most haunted hotels in the United States, the ghosts that haunt them, and the exact rooms brave guests ask for.
What Makes a Hotel Truly Haunted?
Almost every old hotel claims a ghost. Few earn a national reputation.
The hotels on this list share three things. They have a documented tragedy in their past, decades of independent reports from different guests, and a specific room or spirit that keeps showing up in the stories.
That repetition is what separates a marketing gimmick from a genuine haunt. When a stranger describes the same woman in the same hallway that a guest described thirty years earlier, it gets hard to explain away.
1. The Stanley Hotel – Estes Park, Colorado
The Stanley Hotel is the most famous haunted hotel in America, and it earned the title twice over.
A single uneasy night here in 1974 inspired Stephen King to write The Shining. The grand white hotel in the Rocky Mountains has been a magnet for ghost hunters ever since.
Room 217 is the heart of the legend, tied to a 1911 gas explosion that injured a chambermaid named Elizabeth Wilson. Guests report their bags unpacked and the lights switched on by an unseen housekeeper.
On the fourth floor, the laughter of children echoes through the halls at night. The original owners, F.O. and Flora Stanley, are still said to greet guests in the lobby and the music room.
2. 1886 Crescent Hotel – Eureka Springs, Arkansas
The Crescent Hotel markets itself as “America’s Most Haunted Hotel,” and its history backs up the claim.
In the 1930s, a con man named Norman Baker turned the building into a fraudulent cancer hospital. Many patients died here under his fake cures, and their suffering left a deep mark.
The most beloved spirit is Michael, an Irish stonemason who fell to his death during construction. Guests in Room 218 report his presence, along with banging on the walls and the feeling of being watched.
A nurse in white is still seen pushing a gurney down the halls late at night, a leftover from the building’s darkest chapter.
3. Hotel del Coronado – Coronado, California
The Hotel del Coronado is a sprawling Victorian beach resort near San Diego, and its most famous guest never left.
In 1892, a young woman named Kate Morgan checked in alone and was found dead days later on the exterior steps. Her death was ruled a suicide, though questions linger to this day.
Guests in her old room report flickering lights, a television that turns itself on and off, and a breeze with no source. Some wake to find her standing quietly at the foot of the bed.
4. Cecil Hotel – Los Angeles, California
Few buildings carry as much dread as the Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
Opened in 1924, the Cecil became linked to a long string of deaths, suicides, and at least two suspected serial killers who stayed within its walls.
Its modern infamy came in 2013, when guest Elisa Lam vanished and was later found in a rooftop water tank. The case drew worldwide attention and a Netflix documentary.
Guests and former residents describe oppressive dread, shadow figures in the halls, and a heaviness that settles the moment the elevator doors open.
5. Congress Plaza Hotel – Chicago, Illinois
Locals call the Congress Plaza Hotel the “Hotel of Doom,” and the staff rarely argue.
This historic Chicago landmark has hosted presidents and gangsters, including Al Capone, since it opened in 1893. The years left behind plenty of restless guests.
Room 441 is the one regulars whisper about, reported as a hot spot for a shadowy female figure who shakes sleeping guests awake.
The spirit of a one-legged handyman known as Peg Leg Johnny is also said to roam the lower floors, decades after his death on the property.
6. Hotel Monteleone – New Orleans, Louisiana
The Hotel Monteleone sits in the heart of the French Quarter, and it may be the most haunted hotel in a city full of them.
Paranormal teams have catalogued more than a dozen distinct spirits inside the historic building, which has welcomed guests since 1886.
The most touching is little Maurice Begere, a boy who died here in the 1800s and is still seen looking for his parents on the upper floors.
Guests report elevators that stop on the wrong floor, a restaurant door that opens on its own, and the famous rotating Carousel Bar that seems to draw spirits in.
7. The Menger Hotel – San Antonio, Texas
Steps from the Alamo, the Menger Hotel is widely called the most haunted hotel in Texas.
Since 1859 the Menger has hosted presidents, outlaws, and Teddy Roosevelt, who recruited his Rough Riders at the hotel bar. Staff claim to count more than thirty separate ghosts.
The most famous is Sallie White, a chambermaid murdered in 1876, who is still seen carrying towels down the halls in her old uniform.
Guests also report the ghost of Captain Richard King, the founder of the King Ranch, walking into his old suite through a doorway that no longer exists.
8. The Driskill Hotel – Austin, Texas
The Driskill Hotel has anchored downtown Austin since 1886, and its grand lobby hides a long roster of spirits.
The hotel’s founder, cattle baron Jesse Driskill, is still said to roam the halls, with the smell of his cigar smoke giving him away.
The most chilling tale belongs to “the suicide brides,” two women who took their lives in the same room twenty years apart, both after failed engagements.
Guests also report a young girl who chases a ball up and down the grand staircase, a child who died in the hotel in the late 1800s.
9. Omni Parker House – Boston, Massachusetts
The Omni Parker House is the oldest continuously operating hotel in the United States, and its founder refuses to leave.
Harvey Parker opened the hotel in 1855 and loved it so deeply that guests still report his apparition checking on their comfort on the upper floors.
The third floor is the most active, where the elevator often rises to it on its own with no one aboard.
Room 303 was once sealed off after so many guest complaints, tied to reports of a businessman who died there decades ago.
10. Jerome Grand Hotel – Jerome, Arizona
Perched on a mountainside in a former mining town, the Jerome Grand Hotel spent decades as a hospital before it ever rented a room.
The building opened in 1927 as the United Verde Hospital, and many patients died within its walls before it closed in 1950.
Guests hear phantom coughing, labored breathing, and the squeak of gurney wheels on empty floors. The smell of cigar smoke and old medicine drifts through the halls.
The hotel’s signature ghost is Claude Harvey, a maintenance man found crushed beneath the elevator in 1935 under circumstances no one ever explained.
11. The Marshall House – Savannah, Georgia
The Marshall House is one of the most haunted hotels in Savannah, a city that takes its ghosts seriously.
The hotel served as a Union hospital during the Civil War and again during yellow fever outbreaks. During a 1990s renovation, workers reportedly found human bones beneath the floorboards.
Guests hear children running in the halls and report faucets that turn on by themselves in the night.
The most unsettling reports describe a man missing an arm, a tragic echo of the soldiers who lost limbs in the hotel’s hospital days.
12. The Mizpah Hotel – Tonopah, Nevada
The Mizpah Hotel rises out of a remote Nevada desert town, and its Lady in Red is one of the most famous ghosts in the West.
According to legend, a woman was murdered on the fifth floor by a jealous lover in the early 1900s.
Guests on that floor report finding pearls left on their pillows, a calling card from the Lady in Red. Others feel a soft whisper or a gentle touch in the night.
The fifth floor remains the heart of the haunting, more than a century after the crime.
13. Hawthorne Hotel – Salem, Massachusetts
It would be strange if Salem’s grand hotel were not haunted, and the Hawthorne Hotel does not disappoint.
The hotel sits near the site of the 1692 witch trials, on land once owned by a family tied to the hysteria.
Rooms 325 and 612 draw the most reports, including lights and faucets that operate on their own and the feeling of an unseen presence.
Some guests describe the sensation of the building itself moving, as if the old sea captains who once gathered here were still rocking on the waves.
14. Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel – Los Angeles, California
The Hollywood Roosevelt hosted the first Academy Awards in 1929, and some of old Hollywood never checked out.
Marilyn Monroe is said to appear in a full-length mirror once kept in her favorite suite. Guests who look into it report catching a glimpse of a blonde figure behind them.
Actor Montgomery Clift haunts Room 928, where he stayed while filming. Staff hear a trumpet and feel a cold presence pacing the hall outside.
15. Bourbon Orleans Hotel – New Orleans, Louisiana
The Bourbon Orleans Hotel stands on ground that was once a ballroom, a convent, and an orphanage.
Guests on the upper floors report the ghosts of children who died in a yellow fever epidemic, seen playing in the halls.
In the grand ballroom, a lonely dancer in a gown is said to twirl beneath the chandelier. A Confederate soldier also lingers near the sixth floor.
16. La Fonda on the Plaza – Santa Fe, New Mexico
A hotel has stood on the corner of La Fonda on the Plaza since Santa Fe was a frontier outpost.
The most repeated story is of a heartbroken salesman who lost his fortune and threw himself into the lobby well, which still sits beneath the hotel.
Guests and staff see him walk to the center of the lobby and vanish into the floor. A judge hanged nearby is also said to wander the halls.
17. Hotel Galvez – Galveston, Texas
The grand Hotel Galvez has watched over the Galveston seafront since 1911, and its most famous ghost died for love.
The Lovelorn Lady waited in Room 501 for her fiancé, a sailor lost at sea. Believing he had drowned, she hanged herself, only for him to return alive.
Guests near Room 501 report flickering lights and the scent of her perfume. Brides who ask the ghost for a blessing are said to have happy marriages.
18. The Pfister Hotel – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The Pfister Hotel is famous for one strange reason. It terrifies professional baseball players.
Visiting Major League teams stay here, and players regularly report TVs turning on, lights flickering, banging on doors, and voices in empty rooms.
Many believe the kindly ghost of founder Charles Pfister, who died in 1927, still walks his beloved hotel and keeps an eye on the guests.
19. Skirvin Hotel – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
The Skirvin Hotel is haunted by a maid known as Effie, and even NBA players have felt her.
Legend says Effie had an affair with the owner and fell to her death from an upper window in the 1930s. She is said to haunt the upper floors ever since.
Visiting basketball teams have reported a crying baby, flickering lights, and a woman’s voice. Several players have asked to switch hotels after a single night.
20. Brown Palace Hotel – Denver, Colorado
The Brown Palace Hotel has hosted presidents and royalty since 1892, and a few guests stayed forever.
Socialite Louise Crawford Hill lived in the hotel for years and is said to still ring the front desk from a room that sits empty.
Staff also hear a phantom string quartet and see a uniformed train conductor walking the dining room, decades after the rail line shut down.
21. Geiser Grand Hotel – Baker City, Oregon
The Geiser Grand Hotel was the jewel of the Oregon gold country when it opened in 1889.
Its best-known spirit is the Lady in Blue, an elegant woman in a flowing gown seen drifting down the grand staircase.
Staff also report a cowboy at the bar, laughter in the empty dining room, and glasses that slide across tables on their own.
22. Old Talbott Tavern – Bardstown, Kentucky
The Old Talbott Tavern is one of the oldest stagecoach stops in America, dating to the late 1700s.
Outlaw Jesse James stayed here and, legend says, fired his pistol at painted figures on the wall during a fever. The bullet holes are still pointed out today.
Guests report a lady in a period dress, a young girl, and the sound of boots on the stairs after the tavern has closed.
23. The Read House – Chattanooga, Tennessee
The Read House guards one famous room that the hotel keeps exactly as it was: Room 311.
The room is said to be haunted by Annalisa Netherly, a woman who met a violent end there in the 1920s. She reportedly hated cigarette smoke.
Guests who light up in Room 311 report cold spots, slamming doors, and a furious presence. The hotel leans into the legend and books the room year round.
24. Bullock Hotel – Deadwood, South Dakota
The Bullock Hotel was built by Seth Bullock, the legendary first sheriff of Deadwood, and he never truly left.
Bullock died in 1919, and staff still feel his stern presence keeping order in the halls. Guests who misbehave report a sudden chill or a sharp tap on the shoulder.
His tall figure in old Western dress is seen on the staircase and in the upstairs rooms, often followed by the smell of cigar smoke.
25. Copper Queen Hotel – Bisbee, Arizona
The Copper Queen Hotel has anchored the old mining town of Bisbee since 1902.
Its most famous spirit is Julia Lowell, a woman who took her own life after a failed romance. She favors Room 315 and is said to whisper to male guests.
The hotel logs guest ghost reports in a public journal, filled with accounts of a laughing boy, an older man, and Julia herself.
26. The Farnsworth House Inn – Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
The Farnsworth House Inn still wears the scars of the Battle of Gettysburg in its bullet-pocked brick wall.
Confederate sharpshooters fired from the attic during the battle, and the building is now considered one of the most haunted in Gettysburg.
Guests report a midwife named Mary, a soldier, and the sound of a music box. The attic and the basement are the most active spots in the inn.
27. The Seelbach Hotel – Louisville, Kentucky
The grand Seelbach Hotel inspired a scene in The Great Gatsby, and it carries a tragic ghost of its own.
The Lady in Blue is said to be Patricia Wilson, who died after a fall in an elevator shaft in the 1930s while waiting for a husband who never arrived.
Guests see her in a blue dress near the elevators and at the end of long hallways, fading away as they approach.
28. St. James Hotel – Cimarron, New Mexico
The St. James Hotel was a violent Old West stop where dozens of men died in gunfights.
Room 18 is kept permanently locked. It belongs to the angry spirit of T.J. Wright, a gambler shot dead after winning the hotel in a card game.
Guests report a small spirit nicknamed the Imp, the scent of a woman’s perfume, and a sense of being watched throughout the historic rooms.
29. Sorrento Hotel – Seattle, Washington
The elegant Sorrento Hotel has welcomed Seattle’s writers and artists since 1909.
The fourth floor is tied to author Alice B. Toklas, who was born in Seattle and is said to appear near Room 408.
Guests and staff report flickering lights, the scent of perfume, and a refined woman who steps out of the elevator and disappears down the hall.
30. The Cavalier Hotel – Virginia Beach, Virginia
The historic Cavalier Hotel opened in 1927 and hosted ten presidents along with the biggest stars of its age.
Guests report a well-dressed man believed to be the hotel’s troubled founder, seen on the upper floors and near his old office.
A woman in 1920s clothing drifts through the halls, and the sounds of a long-ago party still echo from the empty ballroom at night.
How to Plan a Haunted Hotel Stay
A haunted hotel stay is part travel and part investigation. A little planning makes both better.
Book the famous room early. The Stanley’s Room 217 and the Crescent’s Room 218 sell out months ahead, especially around Halloween.
Visit in the off season if you want quiet. Fall brings the biggest crowds and the most events, but a cold weekday night gives you the hotel almost to yourself.
If you want to document your stay, bring the right tools. Our ghost hunting equipment guide walks through the EMF meters, recorders, and cameras that actually capture evidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most haunted hotel in America?
The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, is the most famous, thanks to its link to The Shining. The 1886 Crescent Hotel in Arkansas openly bills itself as “America’s Most Haunted Hotel” based on its dark history as a fake cancer hospital.
Can you actually stay overnight in these hotels?
Yes. Every hotel on this list is a fully operating business where you can book a room. Many offer ghost tours and special paranormal packages on top of a normal stay.
Which haunted hotel rooms are the most requested?
Room 217 at the Stanley, Room 218 at the Crescent, Room 311 at the Read House, and Room 501 at Hotel Galvez are among the most requested haunted rooms in the country. Book them far in advance.
Are haunted hotels safe to visit?
They are as safe as any historic hotel. The reported activity is almost always harmless, and these are licensed, inspected, and very popular places to stay.
Ready to Check In?
America’s most haunted hotels offer something a normal vacation cannot. You get real history, a comfortable bed, and the very real chance of a story you will tell for years.
Pick the hotel that calls to you, request the famous room, and pack a little courage. The spirits, it seems, are happy to keep you company.
Want more by location? Explore our full directory of haunted places across all 50 states and find the haunts near you.