I LOVE Memorial Day weekend! To me this three-day weekend signifies the unofficial kickoff to…
The Most Haunted Hotels in America
Ever stayed at a haunted hotel?
This time of year always gets me thinking about destinations with a bit of creepier side. It’s one thing to visit a haunted site, but another thing to sleep in one. Here’s a few purportedly haunted hotels.
Hotel La Rose – Santa Rosa, CA
Built in 1907, this Victorian-style hotel used to house railroad passengers staying in Santa Rosa overnight. It’s said that a few spirits may have never checked out. Modern day guests have reported seeing two ghostly children around the building, looking for their parents. Others claim a women dressed in a nightgown floats through closed doors. Yikes! Good news for guests who are kept awake at Hotel La Rose: There’s a Flying Goat Coffee shop just a block away. I think I might need a fancy caffeinated drink after a night here.
Casa Monica Hotel – St. Augustine, FL
As the oldest city in the United States, St. Augustine has lots of stories to tell. With that much history, you know this place has to be haunted! One of the best places to hang out with the paranormal is the Casa Monica. Built in 1888, it’s said the many guests and employees have seen and heard things that are just not right—especially on the 4th floor. From the sound of children running the halls, to guests reportedly waking up with people standing around their bed, it certainly fits the creepy bill! If staying in a haunted hotel isn’t enough, check out Ghost and Graveyards Frightseeing Tour, which hits all the paranormal hot spots in town.
The Stanley Hotel – Estes Park, CO
The Stanley is the hotel that inspired Steven King to write The Shining. While the events in the movie were all fictitious, the hotel is thought to be haunted by the original owners, F.O and Flora Stanley. Mrs. Stanley has been heard playing the piano. Mr. Stanley sometimes shows up in the Billiard Room. Harmless, really, compared to King’s version, featuring white-faced ghost children beckoning, “come play with us.” They offer ghost tours, including a night tour into a underground tunnel, as well as the most haunted room in the hotel, the Concert Hall. There are ghost hunts for anyone 18 and older, and ghost stories for the kids (and ‘fraidy cats!).
1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa – Eureka Springs, AR
Some hotels shy away from promoting their haunted history. Not the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, AK. Dubbed “America’s Most Haunted Hotel,” this accommodation plays up the creepy factor by offering ghost tour packages. During the month of October, they guarantee guests can sleep with a ghost. Relax, it’s not as weird as it sounds—each room comes with a stuffed ghost on the bed. Just a little paranormal humor for ya! But in all seriousness, there’s apparently no shortage of extra hotel guests lingering, the most famous being Michael, an Irish stonemason who fell to his death while building the hotel in 1885. He likes to hang out in room 218… would you be brave enough to spend the night there? I’m not so sure I would.
Omni Mount Washington Resort – Bretton Woods, NH
Located in Bretton Woods, NH, the Omni Mount Washington Resort offers stunning mountain views, an incredible golf course and one guest who’s never checked out. Legend has it that Carolyn Stickney, the wife of the hotel’s original owner, still keeps an eye on the place… even though she died in 1936. Guests staying in her former suite claim to have seen the Princess (as she’s called by hotel employees) sitting at the end of the bed, brushing her hair. Others have taken photos outside of the hotel, later discovering they could see a woman in the window of the Princess’s room.
Would you be brave enough to stay in a haunted hotel? Any paranormal hotel experiences? Share in the comments!
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Crescent Hotel is in Arkansas (AR) not AK which is Alaska.
There are more haunted hotels, Samantha. For instance, the Hotel del Coronado near San Diego. We have stayed there, but didn’t experience anything scary.
The Cosmopolitan hotel in old town San Diego
Yes, many, many years ago we stayed one night at Casa Monica Hotel, St. Augustine, Florida on our way to New Smyrna Beach (25 miles south of Daytona) for our annual three month winter get-away from NYC’s cold winter months, freezing rain & snow. We were in a room on the third floor but we didn’t see any ghosts – – we did hear what we thought were pipes rattling from above our room not once but twice in the early morning hours. I called the reception desk to ask if there was work being done above us. The answer was “no sir maybe the guests above were using their bathroom. Hmm…
The Historic Argo Hotel B and B in Crofton, Nebraska. Ghost Hunters Season 14 Episode 2. “Bones of the Argo”.
Kahn Hotel in Jefferson, TX
Menger Hotel in San Antonio, TX
That’s a very short list. The Old No. 77 Hotel in New Orleans is pretty creepy. It used to be called The Ambassador Hotel. I’ve stayed there before and after the name change. It’s a very nice hotel (much nicer than it was when it was called The Ambassador), but each time I stayed there, my experiences were very strange every single time.
The Queen Mary in Long Beach Harbor
Del Coranado in San Diego
Yes, Manresa’s Castle in Port Townsend, WA
I felt the presence of someone in our room in the middle of the night, not sure I would stay again. 🙂 Well maybe!
Big fan, Miss Sam, for years…love your style and the wonderful, informative shows you deliver. The Crescent in lovely little Eureka is a beautiful stay, ghosties or not…but the haunted old wild west era Alex Johnson Hotel in Rapid City not only offers tours and staff with personal sightings, they include flashlight size “energy meters” for paranormal detection! Oooooo scary!
The Myrtles Plantation and B & B in St. Francisville , LA is the most haunted place in the US!
I stayed at the Stanley Hotel in 1993 and had a kind of strange thing happen. Mind you, we had no idea of the history of the place while we were there (no internet back then to learn things!). We went out and came back later and our room was locked from the inside. Housekeeping had to come and take the door jamb off to get in. No idea why no extra key. Our two year old was sleeping in the room they had to break into (it was a two room suite). I’m glad I didn’t know of the creepy side of the hotel.
Clarification: our son was not left alone in the room while we went out. We left the suite vacant and came back and it was locked.
Stayed at the Stanley and about to visit again. I got a perfect picture of a beautiful little girl looking straight at me, I want to help her. I also got a recording of a woman and another person laughing at my mother inlaw and I on the steps, where we stopped to look at a picture I got going “boo ghost” (I actually want to confront the woman). She may laugh at me, but she got caught on a recording.
People used to ask (a lot!) if our Plaza Hotel was haunted. It dated back to the 1860’s in an earlier form. It was an old Spanish soldiers quarters converted into the Hotel (now a museum) that one sees today. It was a difficult question to answer considering how seriously some people take their belief in ghosts. Never wanting to insult anyone as a tour guide I would always say that if I knew it was haunted I’d probably not have been working there. That seems to be the best response. I can tell you that there was a staff member that would spook other staff members, which definitely encouraged the idea that the place was haunted. HAHAHA