With Halloween coming up, why not arrange a night full of frights for you and your buddies? We’re not talking about trick-or-treating, but rather, a night at a haunted hotel. Across the United States, historic hotels are said to hold the spirits of guests who checked in but never left. Today, we’re bringing you the 10 most haunted hotels where you get to spend the night. So, pack your bags and maybe a little courage as we begin the list.
10. The Wort Hotel
The Wort Hotel is located in Jackson, Wyoming, and is said to be haunted by a resident ghost that’s considered to be a member of their team. Robert “Bob” Tomingas was the hotel’s maintenance engineer in the 1950s. He’s one mechanical genius who built the hotel’s heating, water, and electrical systems. But after his passing, he never really left the building. Current engineers said that Bob’s spirit helped them solve complex maintenance problems. He would rearrange the maintenance shop and even guide them to fix burst pipes or faulty wiring. The guests rarely encounter him, but the staff knows that the friendly ghost is still on the job.
9. The Pfister Hotel
Milwaukee’s luxurious Pfister Hotel is haunted by the ghost of Charles Pfister. The hotel has even earned as one of the most haunted hotels for Major League Basketball players. For years, visiting teams who stayed at The Pfister reported electronics turning on and off by themselves and objects moving across the room. Some even sighted hotel founder Charles Pfister roaming the grand staircase and hallways.
8. The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa
There are whispers that the Brown Palace Hotel and Spa in Denver has a unique architecture that’s a gateway for spirits. It was built in 1892 and features a right-triangular shape, which some say is inspired by Masonic geometry. Even the 720-foot-deep artesian well is intriguing. Guests and staff even reported encountering the spirit of the founder, Henry C. Brown, making rounds near his old office. There’s also a chilling tale from Suite 904 where the spirit of a dead resident is said to be making phone calls long after her death.
7. The Queen Mary
The Queen Mary was once a world-class luxury liner that launched in 1934. Now, it’s a floating hotel located in Long Beach, California, as it holds a reputation for being one of the most haunted places in the country. There are numerous reports of apparitions, strange noises, and unexplained events. Visitors can book tours to explore the ship’s most haunted areas, like the engine room and the first-class swimming pool. Book a stay in one of their original Art Deco cabins to see if you can encounter some chilling ghosts.
6. 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa
The 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, has a dark history that explains its hauntings. In 1930, it was transformed into a hospital and health resort run by con man Norman Baker, who claimed that he could cure cancer. He was a fraud, and because of that, the patients died. One of them is a woman named Theodora, who is said to be the most active spirit. She is said to be helpful as guests would return to their rooms and find their clothes neatly folded with the closets organized. Some even reported sightings of Norman Baker himself in the lobby wearing his signature purple shirt and white linen suit.
5. Omni Parker House
In Boston’s historic Omni Parker House, guests in Room 303 complained about unsettling events. They would report the smell of wh*skey that would fill the air and strange shadows across the room. There’s also the bathtub water that would turn on by itself. These strange occurrences are so frequent that they disturb guests. Eventually, the management converted Room 303 into a storage closet to give space to the spirit. The hotel has other ghostly tales, which include a security officer seeing the shadow of a man in the oldest part of the building.
4. The Marshall House
The Marshall House in Savannah, Georgia, features a haunted history. It was opened in 1851 and was used as a hospital during the Civil War and again during the Yellow Fever epidemics. There have been stories of strange encounters, like the faucets turning on by themselves and apparitions of soldiers in hallways. Also, during the hotel’s renovation, they discovered human bones under the floorboards. They’re believed to be the amputated limbs from surgeries that were performed on soldiers during the war.
3. Hotel del Coronado
The Hotel del Conrado in beachfront San Diego is home to one of the most tragic ghost stories in America. In 1892, Kate Morgan checked into the hotel while waiting for a male companion who never arrived. After five days, she was mysteriously found dead on the exterior staircase. Since then, guests and staff report encounters with her spirit. The original third-floor guestroom is one of the most requested rooms as visitors hope to experience an encounter. In 2018, renowned psychic medium James Van Praagh conducted a séance and declared it extremely haunted due to paranormal activity throughout the building, especially the lobby.
2. The Emily Morgan Hotel
San Antonio’s Emily Morgan Hotel is known as one of the most haunted hotels in the world. But before it was a hotel, the site was actually a state-of-the-art Medical Arts Building that’s complete with a hospital, surgical floors, and a basement morgue. The most haunted floors of the hotel are said to be the 7th, 9th, and 14th, which housed the surgery, psychiatric ward, and morgue. The 7th floor has the most active spirits with reports about the elevator stopping there for no reason, even if it’s now inaccessible. There have been sightings of an apparition of a nurse in hallways and footsteps.
1. The Stanley Hotel
One of the most well-known haunted hotels would go to The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. It’s the inspiration for Stephen King’s “The Shining.” In 1974, King and his wife stayed in Room 217 as the hotel was preparing to close for winter. They were the only guests that night, as King had a nightmare about his young son getting chased through the hotel’s empty hallway by a living fire hose. He woke up and wrote the basic plot for “The Shining.” But the paranormal history has long begun. In 1911, a gas leak caused a huge explosion in Room 217, with the head chambermaid, Elizabeth Wilson, thrown from the room to the dining hall. She survived and continued to work until her death. But her spirit is said to remain. Unmarried couples who stayed in Room 217 reported a cold presence in their bed, which is said to be a sign of Wilson’s old-fashioned disapproval.