The 12 Most Haunted Hotels in America to Book This Halloween

This story was originally published in October 2024. It was updated in October 2026 to incorporate current information.

From disembodied voices to apparitions wearing Victorian-era clothes, a few of the most legendary hauntings have occurred in hotels. In historic lodgings across the USA, people have reported unusual smells, just like the lingering scent of a live cigar or old-fashioned perfumes in hotel corridors, general feelings of unease accompanied by inexplicable drops in temperature, or phantom apparitions who awaken them of their rooms in the course of the night. And it’s no wonder—some individuals who have checked into hotels (cue spooky music) have allegedly never checked out.

Among the country’s most iconic haunted hotels have been immortalized in horror culture, most notably the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, where Stephen King’s 1974 stay inspired The Shining. Others include the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, whose celebrity ghosts continue to exist in popular culture legend. For those searching for spooky thrills, October is top-of-the-line times to go to a haunted hotel for history lessons through the lens of its ghostly residents, especially around Halloween, when it’s said that the veil between the world of the living and the dead is at its thinnest.

Whether it’s a spooky hot springs resort in Missouri or Latest York’s most infamous bohemian lodgings, Afar’s latest Hotels We Love list presents 12 of probably the most haunted hotels in the USA to get you within the spirit.

Biltmore Hotel

Designed by architects Schultze and Weaver, the Biltmore Hotel opened in 1926 and quickly became a glamorous destination for the elite, hosting celebrities, socialites, and even presidents. The hotel has a striking 315-foot tower inspired by the Giralda in Seville, Spain, and its expansive grounds include a swimming pool that was once the biggest on this planet.

Because of its historical significance and architectural beauty, the Biltmore was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1963, which helped spark restoration efforts. By 1987, after years of careful renovation, the Biltmore reopened its doors as a luxury hotel. But no amount of paint could stop the ghost stories that surround it.

During Prohibition, the Biltmore housed a speakeasy and attracted a number of gangsters, including the infamous mobster Thomas “Fatty” Walsh, who was shot and killed on the thirteenth floor of the hotel in 1929 during a gambling dispute. Rumor has it that Walsh’s spirit never left the hotel, with reports of unexplained noises, flickering lights, and apparitions near the spot where he died.

Moreover, during World War II, the hotel was converted right into a military hospital and later a Veterans Administration hospital, and lots of consider the spirits of former patients still roam its halls—some people have even reported seeing men in military uniform wandering about.

Related: The 16 Best Luxury Hotels and Resorts in Miami

Bourbon Orleans Hotel

Latest Orleans has long held a repute as one of the crucial haunted U.S. cities, so naturally a few of the Big Easy’s hotels have supernatural visitors.

The French Quarter property that’s now home to the Bourbon Orleans Hotel was originally a theater and ballroom, constructed within the early 1800s and destroyed by a fireplace in 1816. The stays were purchased by entrepreneur John Davis, who commissioned British-born architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe—who designed the U.S. Capitol—to rebuild each the theater and the ballroom. The newly constructed 1,300-seat theater placed Latest Orleans on the map as certainly one of the country’s major cultural centers, and it was the setting for a whole lot of Creole soirees, plays, and operas.

In 1881, the property was sold to the Sisters of the Holy Family, the primary Black American religious order within the country. While it was under the order’s care, the ballroom (the theater burned in one other fire in 1886) would function a faculty, orphanage, and makeshift hospital for youngsters sick with yellow fever. The property was sold to Bourbon Kings Hotel Corporation in 1964; after redevelopment and restoration, it reopened as a hotel in 1966 and has been welcoming overnight guests ever since.

Visitors to the Bourbon Orleans Hotel have reported experiencing several sorts of specters. Some have heard the ghostly laughter of youngsters, seen nuns who disappear into partitions, or had their personal items misplaced without explanation. Others have caught sight of a lonely dancer waltzing alone underneath the ballroom’s chandelier. Probably the most famous spirits of the Bourbon Orleans is the ghost of a Confederate soldier, who can sometimes be seen marching solemnly in his gray fatigues.

Chateau Marmont

Chateau Marmont has long held a repute because the place where stars go in Los Angeles to misbehave. During Hollywood’s Golden Age (1930–1945), cofounder of the film studio Columbia Pictures Harry Cohn famously told two of his hottest leading men on the time, William Holden and Glenn Ford, “If you will need to get into trouble, do it on the Chateau Marmont.”

In recent history, the Chateau Marmont has seen its justifiable share of celebrities behaving badly: Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham rode a Harley Davidson motorcycle through the lobby within the ’60s; Britney Spears was temporarily banned from the hotel for smearing food on her face in a dining area during her (tragically and unfairly) public mental health crisis in 2007; and Lindsay Lohan was permanently banned from the property in 2012 after racking up a delinquent $46,350.04 bill. The hotel has a castle-like appearance, and it’s said that the staff guards its high-profile guests’ secrets as they might a fortress.

Nonetheless, the hotel has also seen its justifiable share of tragedy. On February 28, 1982, actor and comedian John Belushi checked right into a bungalow on the property and was found unresponsive five days later by his personal trainer, in line with The Hollywood Reporter. EMTs who arrived shortly afterward declared him dead on the scene—he had suffered a drug overdose. Then, in 2004, fashion photographer Helmut Newton lost control of his automobile on Sunset Boulevard and fatally crashed into the Chateau Marmont.

Guests have since reported seeing apparitions across the property; some claim they’ve heard the faint click of a ghostly camera. Most famously, Al Franken claims he saw Belushi’s ghost, which appeared to him within the room he was staying in, per week after the comedian’s death. Others have heard an exuberant party and the tinkling of glasses, only to show the corner and find an empty room.

Crescent Hotel and Spa

Constructed in 1886 by the Eureka Springs Improvement Company in partnership with the Frisco Railroad, the Crescent Hotel and Spa soon garnered a repute as an opulent hotel, with people traveling from everywhere in the country to experience the town’s 60 mineral springs. It earned the nickname of the “Grand Old Lady of the Ozarks” and was advertised because the “the best hotel west of the Mississippi.” Sadly, the unique hotel owners weren’t in a position to turn much of a profit, and in 1901, the constructing became a girls’ school.

In 1937, the constructing was sold to radio personality and (soon to be revealed) charlatan Norman G. Baker, who claimed he’d found a cure for cancer that didn’t require surgery or radiation. The hotel, which is a component of Historic Hotels of America, became the Baker Hospital, and he sent flyers to people across the nation promoting the clinic as a spot “where sick folks get better.” His cure? A combination of chemicals and substances that included carbolic acid, ground watermelon seeds, corn silk, and alcohol, injected into patients as much as seven times a day. In the course of the 20 months that the Baker Hospital was in operation, 44 people died there. (After cooking up other frauds and money schemes, Baker would serve time in prison, and eventually, in an act of poetic justice, he died in 1958 of liver cancer.)

Afterward, the constructing would go through the hands of varied owners who would sink money into renovating the constructing, lose their steam, and sell it once more. In 1997, preservationists Marty and Elise Roenigk purchased the Crescent and reconstructed it back right into a hotel.

Since its reopening, guests have reported strange phenomena. Some say they’ve seen a sad-looking young girl drift through the corridors. She’s believed to be the spirit of a student who once attended school there and died by suicide after she discovered she had gotten pregnant out of wedlock. Others have spotted a specter of a nurse pushing a gurney down a hall, only to see her disappear into thin air. Probably the most famous ghosts of the hotel is a young woman named Theodora, who resides in Room 419; she introduces herself to guests as a patient of Dr. Baker, then vanishes before their eyes.

The Elms Hotel & Spa

The Elms Hotel and Spa, in Excelsior Springs, is a couple of half-hour drive northeast from Kansas City. The town is thought for its ferro-manganese mineral water hot springs, Siloam Spring, the one certainly one of its kind within the country. In the course of the late 1800s, Excelsior Springs became a wellness destination, with people traveling to soak in its therapeutic waters, which were said to have curative properties and even the ability to heal tuberculosis.

The unique Elms Hotel and Spa was inbuilt 1888, just down the road from its present location, to accommodate travelers and visitors like President Harry S. Truman coming to Excelsior Springs. The unique hotel burned down in a fireplace in 1898 but was rebuilt at its current location in 1909. Mockingly, the Elms burned down again in 1910 but was restored three months later with salvaged limestone and constructing materials from its second incarnation. The third rebuild, which underwent a $20 million renovation in 2012, is what stands today; it’s now a part of Hyatt’s Destination by Hyatt portfolio.

The hotel hit its stride through the Nineteen Twenties, when it gained a repute as a bootleg speakeasy during Prohibition and have become a playground for the wealthy and famous. Gangsters Al Capone and Bugsy Moran frequented the resort, in addition to bank robber “Pretty Boy” Floyd. They’re said to have held illegal gambling and gin parties on the premises. There’s even a Capone Suite on the second floor; the legendary mob boss liked having the ability to easily see who was arriving on the property and duck out the back door if he needed to.

Said to be haunted by several different ghosts, the Elms Hotel has such a spooky repute that it was featured on the Syfy show Ghost Hunters in 2013. The entire spirits on the property, nonetheless, are friendly—for probably the most part. Rumor has it that one ghost began the fires that destroyed the Elms in 1898 and 1910.

Among the most continuously spotted apparitions include a gambler wearing Prohibition-era–style clothing (he hangs out near the lap pool) and a housekeeper wearing an old-fashioned uniform. The hotel offers a Paranormal Tour, which incorporates a stay and two tickets to its nightly ghost tour, for those keen on a deep dive into the hotel’s haunted history; tickets start at $25 per person.

The Emily Morgan Hotel

San Antonio is legendary for the Alamo, but Alamo City can be home to one of the crucial haunted hotels on this planet: the Emily Morgan Hotel.

The Gothic Revival–style constructing is positioned inside shouting distance of the Alamo and was constructed on what was the fort’s long barracks, where Texan defenders battled against Mexican forces over 13 days. Nearly 600 men would die within the fight for the Alamo. The constructing that the hotel now occupies was constructed in 1924 by architect Ralph Cameron to accommodate the town’s Medical Arts Constructing, a hospital with greater than 100 doctors and dentists.

First-time visitors to the Emily Morgan are sometimes struck by the constructing’s intricate exterior, with its cast-iron embellishments, a copper roof with wood ribs, and an assemblage of gargoyles that portray various medical ailments. After functioning as a hospital for greater than 50 years, the constructing became a hotel in 1984.

Essentially the most haunted levels of the Emily Morgan are said to be the basement and the seventh and 14th floors. The basement served because the hospital’s morgue and crematorium, and visitors have reported that the elevators will sometimes take them to the underside level even in the event that they’ve chosen a distinct floor. The 14th floor—which is definitely the thirteenth—was the hospital’s surgical ward, and a few people have said they will still smell the faint odor of disinfectant there.

The seventh floor, the hospital’s former psychiatric unit, is rumored to be the hotel’s most haunted, in line with multiple theories: One story says it’s haunted by the ghost of a jilted bride. Some hotel guests on the seventh floor have experienced unexplained phenomena, corresponding to ghoulish shrieks within the night, misplaced belongings, and phone calls with nobody on the opposite end. Consider booking a room yourself to search out out if the hype is real.

The Hawthorne Hotel

Although the Hawthorne Hotel was built greater than 230 years after Salem’s infamous witch trials, the grand hotel, which is a component of Historic Hotels of America, wasn’t in a position to dodge the spooky vibes related to the town.

Essentially the most well-known and continuously discussed space inside the hotel for paranormal moments is Room 325. Over time, some visitors have claimed to have seen apparitions standing on the foot of their bed or within the corners of the room, while others describe objects inexplicably moving or vanishing only to reappear later in a distinct spot. Cold drafts, sudden temperature drops, and feelings of being watched are commonly noted, even when the windows are closed and the room must be warm and secure. One other haunted area is Room 612, where the spirit of a lady has been reported standing within the corner.

Various popular culture moments have magnified the haunted lore. Within the Sixties, the hotel was the filming location of some episodes of Bewitched, a TV series a couple of witch married to a mortal man. Similarly, in 1990, the hotel held a séance within the Grand Ballroom to attempt to contact Harry Houdini on the sixty fourth anniversary of his death (they did not contact the legendary magician). And in 2007, the paranormal show Ghost Hunters visited the hotel in a Salem-focused episode; it claimed certainly one of the ladies killed within the witch trials owned an apple orchard where the hotel is now (something local historians have denied).

Hotel Alex Johnson, Curio Collection by Hilton

Conceived by Alex Carlton Johnson, a Chicago & North Western Railroad executive, the Hotel Alex Johnson opened its doors in 1928. The late Johnson aimed to reflect the unique heritage of the Black Hills, mixing the architectural and cultural types of the region’s local Lakota Sioux and Germanic settlers. This vision shaped the hotel’s distinctive Tudor revival design, with Native American art and symbolism integrated throughout the constructing, attracting several U.S. presidents, including Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.

Johnson was dedicated to his work—a lot in order that many say he never left the hotel, even after his death in 1938. His ghost is claimed to have stuck around to be certain all the things was running easily.

It’s just certainly one of the various supernatural stories in regards to the hotel reported by guests and staff members over the 12 months. One other famous legend is a couple of “Lady in White,” believed to be a bride who tragically died by falling from the window of room 812 within the Nineteen Seventies. Some claim she jumped; others say she was pushed. If it was the latter, she could also be in search of those chargeable for her death. There’s also the ghost of a young girl who is claimed to knock on guest room doors and run giggling down the hallway.

The hotel leans into its haunted repute with a Ghost Adventure package, which incorporates a stay in certainly one of the haunted rooms and a handheld electromagnetic field detector for ghost hunting. For many who do see or hear something spooky, the hotel has a form on its website where people can report paranormal activity.

Hotel Chelsea

Manhattan’s Hotel Chelsea is the stuff of American literary and popular culture legend—it also happens to be haunted. The constructing was constructed within the late 1800s as certainly one of the primary private cooperative apartments in the town. It became a hotel in 1905 that also accepted long-term tenants, a lot of whom were the glamorous, popular culture–icon kind. Arthur Miller moved into the constructing after his divorce from Marilyn Monroe. Bob Dylan wrote “Sara” from his Desire album there in Room 211.

Jack Kerouac had a one-night stand with Gore Vidal within the hotel, and Janis Joplin and Leonard Cohen connected here, too. It was where Arthur C. Clarke wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey. Perhaps most tragically, it was also where groupie Nancy Spungen would die after she was stabbed within the abdomen in her room’s bathroom—her boyfriend, Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious, was charged together with her murder but died of a heroin overdose before he could possibly be delivered to trial.

As well as, several notable figures have died on the hotel by suicide, and their ghosts are said to haunt the hotel’s halls. Probably the most commonly seen apparitions is a young woman named Mary, who was a survivor of the Titanic. Mary’s husband perished through the ship’s sinking, and she or he was later so overcome by grief that she killed herself on the Chelsea. (The Sopranos actor Michael Imperioli reported that he saw Mary on the hotel during a stay in 1996.)

One other ghost, a tortured artist known only as Nadia, also died by suicide on the hotel (and first cut off her hand in creative frustration), and so did Charles R. Jackson, writer of The Lost Weekend. Along with glimpses of apparitions, guests of the Chelsea Hotel have experienced a big selection of phenomena, from hearing ghostly whispers and having chills to feeling uneasy on the premises.

Related: Ghosts, Celebs, and Rock ’n’ Roll: A History of NYC’s Hotel Chelsea

RMS Queen Mary

Long before it became a floating hotel in Long Beach, the RMS Queen Mary carried passengers across the Atlantic, making her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to Latest York in 1936 and ushering in a recent era of glamorous transatlantic travel. The art deco ocean liner carried renowned passengers, from Hollywood stars to European royalty, before being pressed into service during World War II, when she was painted gray, nicknamed the “Grey Ghost,” and used to move Allied troops. The Queen Mary returned to passenger service after the war before retiring in 1967, when it sailed to Long Beach and have become a permanently docked hotel and attraction.

With that much history packed into one ship, it was perhaps inevitable that ghost stories would follow. Certainly one of the Queen Mary’s most notorious spaces is Stateroom B340. A 1949 ship log records that a passenger was found dead within the cabin, and guests staying within the room since have reported knocks on the door, lights and taps turning on by themselves, and loo doors opening and shutting without explanation. The previous first-class swimming pool has its own resident ghost story: Visitors and paranormal investigators have reported hearing the laughter of a bit girl. Elsewhere, guests have reported footsteps in empty corridors, unexplained voices, and strange noises near the engine room and the ship’s watertight Door 13, where a crew member was killed in an accident.

Unlike some historic hotels that will reasonably their ghosts keep a low profile, the Queen Mary embraces its paranormal repute. Travelers can explore the ship’s darker history on haunted and paranormal tours, while particularly committed ghost hunters can book B340 itself.

The Stanley Hotel

The famously haunted Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, opened its doors in 1909 and was owned by inventor Freelan Stanley, who fell in love with the realm after he traveled to Colorado in hopes that the dry mountain air would help ease his tuberculosis symptoms. The hotel quickly garnered a repute as a luxury wilderness retreat, and other people like socialite Molly Brown (famous for surviving the sinking of the Titanic), President Theodore Roosevelt, and the Emperor and Empress of Japan would all stay on the Stanley.

The hotel, one other Historic Hotel of America, is best known for uplifting what many critics consider certainly one of the best American horror classics: The Shining, the best-selling novel by Stephen King. After staying one night on the Stanley, King was so creeped out by his experience that he was inspired to jot down what would turn into his third major work, which was adapted for film by director Stanley Kubrick (who famously took a couple of liberties with the source material).

Several ghosts supposedly haunt the Stanley, including the specters of the unique owner, his wife, and the spirit of a mysterious child. Probably the most requested rooms within the hotel is number 217, where King stayed. The space is claimed to be haunted by the spirit of a maid named Mrs. Wilson. While lighting a lantern in it, she was blasted out of the room, which had a gas leak. Though she lived, the powerful explosion sent her tumbling into the MacGregor Dining Room below, and she or he broke her ankles.

Apparently, Wilson wasn’t a fan of single couples sleeping together, and any unwed lovebirds who try sleeping in Room 217 will sometimes feel a chilly presence push them apart at night. Famously, Jim Carrey stayed in Room 217 while filming Dumb and Dumber (1994) and was so unnerved by the hotel that he left the Stanley in the course of the night. If you happen to’re hoping to ascertain into Room 217 through the Halloween season, prepare to attend; the space is booked solid for spooky season years upfront.

Tarrytown House Estate

Tarrytown House Estate is right for travelers seeking to get into the spooky spirit—not only since it’s a couple of miles from Sleepy Hole, but additionally since the 26-acre Hudson Valley property has a supernatural story of its own. Its history dates to 1840, when the white Georgian mansion now generally known as King Mansion was built.

Over the next many years, the encompassing land was divided into neighboring estates owned by a series of rich Latest York families, including railroad executive Thomas M. King and tobacco executive William R. Harris. The 2 families eventually became connected when King’s son Frederick married Harris’s daughter, Sybil. The estate modified hands several more times before eventually becoming a full-service hotel in 1994.

It’s Sybil who is claimed to have stuck around. Guests and staff have reported hearing footsteps pacing the second-floor hallways of King Mansion, and seeing faint shadows, unexplained orbs, and an apparition of a lady wearing white. Much of the activity supposedly centers around Room 293.

Today, the King Mansion is a component of Latest York State’s Haunted History Trail, and travelers can spend the night within the 10 guest rooms contained in the historic house. Those that don’t need to sleep with a possible ghost can still visit the mansion for dinner at Goosefeather, chef Dale Talde’s Cantonese restaurant, where staff have been known to share stories about Sybil with curious diners.