7 of the Most Haunted Hotels in the U.S., And the Ghost Stories Guests Still Tell
By John Alexander - Ext. 89162
Estimated Read Time: 8 Minutes
Key Takeaways
- Some of America's grandest historic hotels are also its most famous haunted ones, and you can book a room at every hotel on this list.
- St. Petersburg's Vinoy has become a favorite ghost story among Major League Baseball players, who stay there when they visit the Tampa Bay Rays.
- The Stanley Hotel inspired Stephen King's The Shining, but its ghost stories, like the chambermaid of Room 217, began long before he arrived.
- Whatever you believe, a haunted hotel deserves respect. Go with curiosity, set a clear intention, and leave fear at home.
Every old hotel has a hallway that feels a little longer at night. Guests have checked in and checked out for a hundred years or more, carrying their joys and their sorrows through the same doors. Some people believe a little of that stays behind.
My grandmother was a curandera, a folk healer, in Panama, and she taught me as a boy that the spirit world isn't something to fear. It's something to respect. I've carried that lesson for more than thirty years, and I still believe it: whatever you send out comes back to you, multiplied. That includes the energy you bring into a room where someone else's story may still be unfolding.
So let's take a trip together, from the Florida coast to the Colorado mountains and the shores of California. Here are seven hotels where guests and staff say the past still walks the halls, and what I'd tell you before you book a night in any of them.
Not every presence we feel is in a hotel hallway. If a question about love, work, family, or someone you've lost is lingering with you, our compassionate psychic advisors can help you find honest answers.
Why Some Places Hold On
In my experience, places hold energy the way an old coat holds the shape of the person who wore it. Big hotels see everything: honeymoons and farewells, celebrations and grief. When emotion runs that deep for that long, many people believe it leaves an imprint.
Not every strange experience is a spirit, of course. Old buildings creak, settle, and whistle. And part of the fun of a haunted hotel is the story itself. But when guests who've never heard the legends describe the same figure in the same hallway, it's worth listening.
The Vinoy - St. Petersburg, Florida
The pink Mediterranean-style Vinoy opened on New Year's Eve 1925 as the Vinoy Park Hotel, built by developer Aymer Vinoy Laughner. It hosted presidents, Babe Ruth, and Jimmy Stewart. Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio stopped by in the 1950s and '60s. The hotel served the military during World War II, then fell on hard times, closed, and sat empty for nearly two decades before a full restoration brought it back in 1992.
Today the Vinoy is where visiting baseball teams stay when they play the Tampa Bay Rays, and that's how its ghosts became famous. In 2003, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Scott Williamson described waking with the feeling that someone was watching him, then a heavy pressure on his chest, as if someone were sitting on him. Players from the Pirates and Blue Jays have shared their own stories, and the hotel earned an entire chapter in the book Haunted Baseball.
Staff and guests talk about a woman in a white gown, and players have described a gentleman dressed in clothes from the hotel's 1920s heyday. The stories grew so well known that the team from TV's Ghost Hunters spent a night at the Vinoy for an episode called "Ghosts of the Sunshine State."
The show noted that visiting ballplayers seemed to have the most encounters of all. The team set up cameras and recorders overnight, and the episode paired the Vinoy with another Florida stop: a pair of Victorian inns in Ocala. Whatever you make of the results, the visit sealed the Vinoy's place on America's haunted map.
The Stanley Hotel - Estes Park, Colorado
On October 30, 1974, a young writer named Stephen King and his wife checked into Room 217 as the Stanley was closing for winter. They were nearly alone in the huge hotel, and that night planted the seed for The Shining. The Overlook Hotel in the book is fictional, and Stanley Kubrick filmed his movie's exteriors at Oregon's Timberline Lodge. But Stanley's own stories are very real to its guests.
Room 217 has its own history. In the early 1900s, a gas leak caused an explosion there that injured the head chambermaid, Elizabeth Wilson. She survived and kept working at the hotel for years. Guests say she still tidies up, and some report finding their bags neatly packed. The Stanley leans into its reputation with nightly ghost tours, and Room 217 is its most-requested room.
The Hollywood Roosevelt - Los Angeles, California
If you're looking for Marilyn Monroe, this is where her legend lives. The Roosevelt, home of the very first Academy Awards in 1929, was a frequent stop for Marilyn early in her career. A full-length mirror from her suite now hangs in the hotel, and guests say they've glimpsed a blonde reflection standing behind them.
Upstairs, Room 928 is linked to actor Montgomery Clift, who stayed there while preparing for From Here to Eternity. Guests have reported footsteps pacing the room and the faint sound of a bugle he practiced for the film.
Hotel del Coronado - Coronado, California
This grand Victorian beach resort near San Diego has one of the West's most famous ghost stories. In November 1892, a young woman named Kate Morgan checked in alone. A few days later, she was found dead on the hotel's outdoor staircase leading down to the beach, from a gunshot wound.
A coroner's inquest ruled that she had taken her own life, though over the years some writers have questioned that verdict, and her death remains one of the hotel's lasting mysteries. Her old room remains the most requested in the hotel, and guests describe flickering lights, sudden breezes, and a woman in a dark dress walking the grounds. Her story is sad, and I think she deserves to be remembered gently.
1886 Crescent Hotel - Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Perched on a mountain in the Ozarks, the Crescent bills itself as one of America's most haunted hotels, and its history backs that up. From 1937 to about 1940, a man named Norman Baker ran it as a "cancer hospital," despite having no medical training. His so-called cure was a fraud, and many patients died.
Today guests share stories of Theodora, said to be a former patient, in Room 419, and of Michael, a stonemason who, according to legend, fell to his death while the hotel was being built, landing where Room 218 now stands. The hotel offers nightly ghost tours that include the old basement morgue.
Hawthorne Hotel - Salem, Massachusetts
No list of haunted places would be complete without Salem. The Hawthorne opened in 1925 on the site of the Salem Marine Society, an organization of sea captains. Legend says it was built on Bridget Bishop's apple orchard, the first woman hanged in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Most historians place her orchard nearby rather than under the hotel, but guests still report the sweet smell of apples where none grow.
Room 612 is linked to a woman seen standing outside the door, and in Room 325, guests describe faucets turning on by themselves and the sense of not being alone.
17Hundred90 Inn - Savannah, Georgia
Savannah may be America's most haunted city, and this small inn on East President Street appears on nearly every ghost tour. It's really three buildings in one: the first two went up in the early 1820s, and a third section was added in 1888.
Its best-known spirit is Anne, and her story is a heartbreaker. As the legend goes, Anne was a young woman deeply in love, some say with a sailor or a husband who left for the sea and never returned. Overcome by grief, she is said to have fallen from her second-floor balcony to the brick courtyard below. Tellers disagree on the details, but they always agree on the sorrow.
In Room 204, people report belongings moving, sheets being tugged, soft crying after the lights go out, and a deep sadness that settles over the room. Staff also tell of clattering pots and pans in the kitchen when no one is there.
Before You Check In
If you decide to spend a night in one of these hotels, here's what I'd tell you as someone who has worked with spirit for most of my life.
Go with curiosity, not fear. Fear tends to color everything you notice. Set a simple intention before you sleep, such as, "I welcome only peaceful, loving energy." Many people picture a circle of white light around themselves, and some say a short prayer.
Be respectful. These were real people with real lives, and some of their stories end in sorrow. Speak kindly, don't taunt, and if you feel a presence, a simple "I mean you no harm" is enough.
Keep an open, honest mind. Sleep researchers recognize that heavy pressure, which Scott Williamson described as sleep paralysis, is a common, harmless moment between sleep and waking. Knowing that doesn't make every experience ordinary. It simply helps you meet whatever you feel with a calm heart.
If you ever feel uneasy, trust that feeling. Ask for another room, turn on the lights, or step outside for some air. No haunted stay is worth your peace of mind.
A Final Word
Haunted hotels remind us that every building holds stories, and that the past is never as far away as we think. Whether you believe in ghosts or simply love a good tale, a night in one of these grand old places can be an unforgettable adventure.
So book the room, pack your curiosity, and bring your respect. And if something taps you on the shoulder in the middle of the night, take a breath and say good evening. Your hotel review may just be the most interesting one you ever write.
Sensing a presence you can't explain, or longing to hear from someone who has passed? Let me help you understand what you're feeling. Reach me, John Alexander, at Ext. 891621.
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I'm John Alexander, and for more than thirty years, it's been my life's work to help people find truth and a clear path forward. I was trained young, first by my grandmother, and later by the astrologer Dame Sybil Leek, and I bring that whole lifetime to every person I read for. Tools like these oils are small helpers. The real work is knowing what you need and having the courage to tend to it.
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