10 best haunted hotels in the world

Looking to celebrate Halloween in a truly spooky fashion? Why not try and brave a night at one of the most haunted hotels in the world?

From glamorous Hollywood high-rises to Dublin’s stately “Grand Dame,” there’s no shortage of haunted hotels you can book — in some cases, with points — to get into the All Hallows’ Eve spirit.

We’ve selected our favorites — a mix of urban towers, historic mansions and more — that are rumored to have some supernatural guests. Here are 10 of the best, most haunted hotels in the world.

• Location: 333 East Wonderview Ave., Estes Park, Colorado
• How to book: Cash rates start at $229 a night. But for $25, you can embark on a day tour of the hotel without needing to check in.

The Stanley Hotel is the iconic, sinister property that inspired Stephen King’s “The Shining.”

Located in Estes Park, Colorado (which is an hour and 30 minutes northwest of Denver), the hotel opened in 1909 and was intended to be a posh getaway for America’s upper crust that could rival the grand hotels found on the East Coast — and it reigned supreme in Colorado for quite a few decades. However, by the 1970s, The Stanley Hotel had fallen into a state of disrepair. It might have even been demolished had King not stumbled in during a winter storm in 1974.

There’s a grand total of 140 rooms at The Stanley Hotel, though rooms 217 and 413 — as well as the entire fourth floor — are considered the most haunted. And the Stanley isn’t home to just one ghost, but several. There’s Elizabeth Wilson, the head chambermaid who survived a large gas explosion at the hotel and would work at the property until the ’50s. An unknown child can sometimes be spotted playing with guests’ hair, while the ghost of a pastry chef is said to walk the staff tunnels beneath the hotel, filling the space with the scent of freshly baked treats wherever he goes. The property is also believed to be haunted by Freelan Oscar Stanley himself, as well as his wife Flora, who can sometimes be heard tinkling the keys of the lobby piano.

The Stanley’s public areas often see the most paranormal action — especially the concert hall, where Harry Houdini once performed. The ghost of Mrs. Smith, another former housekeeper, is more of a friendly apparition — she tidies up rooms and organizes guests’ suitcases. However, ladies should beware of the spirit of the schmoozing businessman Lord Dunraven, who allegedly steals jewelry, hides it in the closet and likes to breathe down the back of guests’ necks.

Related: 6 things I saw during my stay at the ‘haunted’ Stanley Hotel

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The Equinox Golf Resort & Spa

• Location: 3567 Main St., Manchester, Vermont
• How to book: Cash rates start at $149 per night.

The Equinox Golf Resort & Spa dates back to 1769, and over the years, it has welcomed a variety of high-wattage guests such as former presidents William Howard Taft, Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt. It also has more than a few phantoms in residence, including a celebrity phantom. The ghost of Abraham Lincoln’s melancholy wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, has been spotted wandering the property with one of her sons — and occasionally, she’s been known to move rocking chairs and household items.

Bourbon Orleans Hotel

• Location: 717 Orleans St., New Orleans
• How to book: Cash rates start at $150 per night.

New Orleans is considered one of the most haunted cities in America, so it’s not surprising that uninvited guests can be found in many of the city’s hotels.

One of the most notorious hotels for ghost sightings is the Bourbon Orleans Hotel. The building that now houses the hotel was built in 1815 and was initially intended to be a ballroom and theater. After being devastated by fires in 1816 and 1866, it was purchased by the Sisters of the Holy Family (the first Black American religious order in the United States) in 1866, who converted the property into a school for Black American girls, an orphanage and a convent. Just before the Sisters purchased it, it also briefly operated as a hospital during the Civil War.

Ghosts from the hotel’s many eras have been spotted throughout the property. Some of the most common sightings are the young children who died from yellow fever when the property was an orphanage, a Confederate soldier who paces the hallways and a phantom who hides behind the drapes in the ballroom.

The Hollywood Roosevelt

• Location: 7000 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles
• How to book: Cash rates start at $249 a night.

Constructed in 1926 and located off of LA’s famed Hollywood Boulevard, The Hollywood Roosevelt has long been a favorite destination among the stars. Marilyn Monroe lived in a room above the Tropicana Pool for two years; Shirley Temple took her first tap-dancing lessons with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson here; and Clark Gable and Carole Lombard used to meet in the penthouse of the hotel while they were having an affair (Gable was married to actress and socialite Maria Langham at the time).

Rumor has it that a few of the hotel’s most illustrious clients are simply uninterested in checking out, and celebrity spirits are regularly spotted around the hotel. Marilyn Monroe’s spirit, for example, has appeared in the mirror of many guest rooms. Some visitors also report seeing a little girl in a blue dress playing around the hotel — could it be Shirley Temple?

The Marshall House

• Location: 123 East Broughton St., Savannah, Georgia
• How to book: Cash rates start at around $182 a night.

With a history of piracy, a legacy as a hub for the trade of enslaved African people and a site of yellow fever epidemics, it’s no wonder that Savannah, Georgia, is regularly ranked as one of the most paranormally active cities in America — and The Marshall House is one of the city’s most well-known haunts. Built in 1851, the hotel was twice used as a hospital, once during a yellow fever epidemic and again as a Union hospital toward the end of the Civil War.

The hotel is said to be inhabited by several ghosts, including soldiers with missing limbs, children who play marbles in the hallways and the spirit of Joel Chandler Harris, a Southern journalist and folklorist who lived at The Marshall House for a short period — his typewriter keys can sometimes be heard clacking away in his favorite room. Guests have even complained of hearing and seeing a phantom cat and smelling a terrible odor on haunted floors.

Fairmont Banff Springs

• Location: 405 Spray Ave., Banff, Alberta
• How to book: Rates at this Fairmont property vary wildly throughout the year depending on the season but can be found as low as $330 per night. You can also redeem Accor Live Limitless points here. Points are worth a fixed value, and you can redeem them in increments of 2,000 points for about $40 off your stay.

It’s only natural that a hotel over 130 years old would surely have a few ghostly visitors, right? The Fairmont Banff Springs is home to several frightening (but benevolent) specters.

One of them is a bride who died falling down the Fairmont’s marble staircase before she could say “I do” — guests have reported seeing a veiled woman swaying in the grand ballroom and around the hotel. The spirit of the hotel’s former head bellman has also been known to wander the hotel’s halls, ensuring everything runs as it should.

Certain rooms at the Fairmont Banff Springs are said to have particularly strange activity. Complaints include pillows being pulled out from beneath guests’ heads, bloody handprints appearing on the bathroom mirror and even sleeping patrons getting shoved out of bed.

Related: Why you should absolutely visit the Fairmont Banff Springs — but maybe not spend the night

The Shelbourne

• Location: 27 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin
• How to book: Cash rates start at around $389 a night.

In 2013, actor Lily Collins told Jimmy Fallon the ghost of a young girl haunted her during her stay at The Shelbourne, an Autograph Collection property in Dublin — and she’s not alone.

Many visitors have reported mysterious occurrences, like the taps turning on, strange giggling, doors slamming and a shadow of a girl roaming aimlessly through the building, especially on the sixth floor.

In fact, so many guests complained about paranormal activity that the hotel eventually insisted a staff member stay in the supposedly haunted room. The “lucky” employee reportedly ran out of the room terrified after the rumors proved true. The ghost at fault is thought to be Mary Masters, a 7-year-old girl who died of cholera in the building hundreds of years ago.

The Langham, London

• Location: 1C Portland Place, London
• How to book: Cash rates start at $586 a night.

Dating back to 1865, The Langham, London is known for having several shadowy residents — England’s cricket team even reported being spooked at the luxury hotel. One of the ghosts was a doctor who murdered his wife before dying by suicide during their honeymoon. Now, he’s most frequently spotted during the month of October, walking through the hotel still dressed in Victorian-era clothing.

Napoleon III has also reportedly been spotted roaming around the basement, which was one of his favorite hangouts when he was alive. There was also a German prince who died by suicide before World War I by jumping out a window — he’s said to be the most active ghost at the hotel. He’s often seen in the mornings and appears and disappears while wearing a military jacket. And one particularly mischievous ghost likes to toss guests in Room 333 (the most haunted of all the rooms at The Langham) out of bed.

The Emily Morgan Hotel

• Location: 705 East Houston St., San Antonio
• How to book: Rates start at $236 or 50,000 Hilton Honors points a night.

San Antonio is perhaps best known for the Alamo, but just across the street from the historic mission, visitors can find one of the most haunted locales in the Lone Star State: The Emily Morgan Hotel. Fun fact: the hotel is named after Emily Morgan, the Yellow Rose of Texas.

The building that now holds The Emily Morgan initially operated as the city’s Medical Arts Building from 1924 to 1976 and housed multiple doctor’s and dentist’s offices, all while also serving as a hospital. It stands an ominous 13 stories tall and features distinct, slightly severe Gothic Revival architecture — it’s embellished with things like cast iron ornamentation, intricately carved motifs and a series of gargoyles, each of which represents a different illness.

The basement, seventh and 14th floors (which is really the 13th floor — it’s common for older buildings to “skip” the 13th floor) are said to be the hotel’s most haunted areas. The 13th floor previously served as an operating theater, the seventh was the hospital’s psychiatric unit, and the basement was used as the building’s morgue and crematorium. Guests at The Emily Morgan have reported smelling the faint scent of disinfectant on the 14th floor and ghoulish shrieks and screams on the seventh. Perhaps most terrifyingly, the elevator has even been known to drop down to the basement even when it wasn’t selected.

The Emily Morgan Hotel became a DoubleTree property in 2012 and is one of the official hotels of the Alamo. Plus, if you’re feeling brave enough, you could book a seasonal “Room With a Boo” package, which gets you a standard guest room, a complimentary cocktail and breakfast for two with “boo-berry” pancakes.

Lizzie Borden House

• Location: 230 Second St., Fall River, Massachusetts
• How to book: Cash rates start at $258 per night. Day tours start at $30 per person.

This inconspicuous home in Fall River’s historic district was the site of one of America’s most infamous crimes. On the morning of Aug. 4, 1892, wealthy local investor Andrew Borden and his wife Abby were found dead of multiple hatchet wounds to their face and head.

And though she was acquitted at trial, the prime suspect in the case was one of Andrew’s daughters from his first marriage, Lizzie. There are numerous theories as to why Lizzie may have wanted to murder her father and her stepmother. Andrew was notoriously shrewd with money whereas Lizzie wanted to live more extravagantly. There were also more salacious rumors, such as Lizzie having an affair with her maid, Bridget Sullivan, or that Lizzie was being abused by her father. No one was ever held responsible for the murders, but shortly after Lizzie was acquitted, she moved to a large, modern house in a more fashionable part of town.

Despite being the scene of one of American history’s grisliest and most shocking murders, the Lizzie Borden House has operated as a bed-and-breakfast since 1996. (It was initially operated by Martha McGinn and Ronald Evans, who inherited the property and then sold it in 2021 to ghost tour mogul Lance Zaal.) During their stay at the hotel, guests can enjoy original furnishings and period-correct details. However, if you don’t want to commit to staying in the house overnight, the property does offer 90-minute day tours as well.