Water faucets turning on and off, door handles that rattle, icy touches on the back: All spectral business as usual at these nine haunted hotels, where unexplained noises and shadowy apparitions are part of the experience.
Hotel Alex Johnson, Rapid City, South Dakota
Hotel Alex Johnson could be the most haunted hotel in South Dakota
(Image credit: Travel South Dakota)
While some hotels might shy away from a haunted reputation, Hotel Alex Johnson “fully embraces its spine-chilling notoriety,” said Condé Nast Traveler. There are so many spirits here that the show “Ghost Hunters” filmed an episode in the hotel, and perhaps the most famous visage is the Lady in White, a phantom bride said to live in Room 812. Spend the night with her by booking the Ghost Adventure package, which includes accommodations known for paranormal activity and use of a K2 meter for ghost detecting.
Congress Plaza Hotel, Chicago
The Congress Hotel is also known for being a favorite hotel of presidents like FDR and Teddy Roosevelt
(Image credit: Raymond Boyd / Getty Images)
There are many areas where ghosts can roam in the “stately” Congress Plaza Hotel, including the “cavernous ballrooms” and “grand restaurants,” said Vogue. One of the legendary property’s most famous spirits is Capt. Louis Ostheim, a Spanish-American war veteran who shot himself in 1900, right before his wedding; today, his specter is known as the Shadow Man of the Congress. If you’re feeling really brave, book Room 441 in the south tower. Hotel security routinely takes calls from guests who say they wake up to find a “woman standing or hovering over the bed,” often “pushing or tugging on the covers,” said CBS News Chicago.
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Rendezvous with some ghosts at this French Quarter property
(Image credit: Ron Buskirk / UCG / Universal Images Group / Getty Images)
Built in 1886, the “opulent” Hotel Monteleone acts “almost as a time capsule for the Victorian era,” said the Shreveport Times. It also seems to be a hotbed of paranormal activity, as apparitions are often spotted in the hallways and lobby. One of those haunts is hotel founder Antonio Monteleone, who wanders around “donned in Victorian-style attire,” and another is a boy named Maurice Begere, who died on the 14th floor in 1890. You can conjure up more spirits at the hotel’s famous Carousel Bar, the first — and only — rotating bar in New Orleans.
Jailhouse Inn, Newport, Rhode Island
Several ghosts are said to still be doing time at the Jailhouse Inn
(Image credit: Jailhouse Inn)
Built in 1772, the Jailhouse Inn was Newport’s jail and police station for more than 200 years. There were several escapes over that time, but rumor has it some souls never tried to leave, haunting the rooms that were once cells. The accommodations today are spacious and several nod to the building’s past, like Solitary Confinement, where the original gun safe has been converted into a closet with iron door.
The Marshall House, Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, home of the famous Bonaventure Cemetery, draws visitors seeking paranormal activity
(Image credit: Marje / Getty Images)
The elegant Marshall House is one of Savannah’s oldest hotels, and in a city known for its “haunted history,” this 1851 property stands out as a “hotspot,” said Condé Nast Traveler. At the end of the Civil War, it was turned into a Union hospital and “many believe that soldiers’ ghosts still roam the halls.” They aren’t the only spirits here, either — guests have reported hearing crying babies and laughing children when no one else was around.
The Monterey Hotel, Monterey, California
Spirits have been haunting this property for more than a century
(Image credit: The Monterey Hotel)
This cozy boutique hotel on California's central coast, open since 1904 and still featuring antique furnishings and woodwork, embraces its Victorian vibes — and its ghostly guests. You just might run into Fred, a maintenance worker who died on the job in the 1950s and now messes with the TV in Room 217, or The Architect, an apparition nattily dressed in Edwardian garb who appears in the mirror near the front desk.
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Omni Grove Park Inn, Asheville, North Carolina
The Pink Lady is Omni Grove Park Inn's most famous ghost
(Image credit: Travel NC)
If you see an ethereal woman in pink here, fear not — it’s just the Omni Grove Park Inn’s resident ghost. As legend has it, the Pink Lady fell from a hotel balcony in the 1920s and now haunts Room 545, but her spirit can be felt across the vast property. This is a resort that “continues to balance a rich history with modern amenities and features,” said Travel and Leisure, like six tennis courts and an 18-hole golf course designed by Donald Ross.
Read House, Chattanooga, Tennessee
An apparition might make your acquaintance in the lobby of Read House Hotel
(Image credit: The Read House)
The Read House is “one of the most historic properties” in Chattanooga, filled with “gorgeous 1920s details,” said Southern Living. According to lore, it also has a resident ghost, Annalisa Netherly, who was killed in Room 311’s bathtub by a jealous lover. Since then, this room has become a hub of paranormal activity, with lights flickering and shadowy figures moving around. This space is usually only open for guest tours, but for a few days in October it will be open for reservations through the Haunted Room 311 Experience, which also includes an in-room decanter of “bathtub gin” and two Annalisa Cocktails in the bar.
The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado
The Stanley Hotel relishes its history as the inspiration for Stephen King’s “The Shining”
(Image credit: Helen H. Richardson / The Denver Post / Getty Images)
Spend the night at The Stanley Hotel, and you might end up writing a frightening tale — that’s what happened to Stephen King, whose visit inspired him to write “The Shining.” Guests have reported hearing children’s laughter in the hallways and eerie piano music coming from the ballroom, and The Stanley “leans into” its ghostly reputation “quite cleverly,” Condé Nast Traveler said. Learn more about the hotel’s otherworldly residents on the Spirited Night Tour, or take The Shining Tour for a behind-the-scenes look at the book’s connection to the property.
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
