Bizarre Mysteries: America's Most Haunted Hotels

If you check into one of these, leave the lights on. It makes it easier for those who’ve never left to find you!😮👻

That’s right! In this month’s edition of all-things ghostly, we will explore (from the safety of our living rooms!) the most haunted—and sometimes least-known—hotels in America. Now, I can hear your burning question as I write this… “Quinn, is there a reason you’re doing this now instead of exploring this in the summer, when most people vacation out of state and could use the heads up?”

Yes, yes! I have a really good reason!

**Wrings hands like that mustached guy in the cartoons who snickers as he ties the damsel to the train tracks…

It’s because a visit to one of these hotels is in my immediate future!

Yes, it’s true! I just got confirmation and am so excited to investigate, photograph, and learn the history about the hotel I will be visiting in March (with my very dear friend and constant source of support, Cyndi!)

Let’s see if you can guess which one of these hotels will attempt to scare the s*%t outta us in a few short weeks!

In exploring these locations, I wanted to hit lesser-known haunts that have compelling stories. So, as we dive in, we’ll put aside the ones nearly everyone has heard about (The Stanley in Colorado, The Cecil in California, Lizzie Borden’s B&B) and look into some locations that are just as active but who, for whatever reason, get much less publicity. Ready? That’s the spirit! (See what I did there? 😉)

Let’s start in California, L.A to be specific. The Millennium Biltmore Hotel is said to house the spirits of several children (including a boy without a face seen on the roof) and the ghost of Elizabeth Short— also known as ‘The Black Dahlia,’—a woman who was murdered and dismembered and is known to have spent her last days at the Biltmore.

Fun fact…it also was the hotel Slimer was hanging out in when the snooty manager called the Ghostbusters!

“Someone saw a cockroach up on 12th.”

“Must be some cockroach.”

“Take your head off, man.”

IYKYK 😜

Staying in LA, another creepy haunting is at the Knickerbocker Hotel. This hotel was a favorite of several celebrities, including Howard Hughes, Betty Grable, and Rudy Valentino (who is said to haunt the bar.) Even Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio spent time here (and Marilyn has been said to still be hanging out in the Ladies Room, fixing her makeup ;) The Biltmore is also where Harry Houdini’s wife would hold seances, trying to connect with him. She did this for over a decade before giving up.

Harry never showed.

But, perhaps Harry found himself at the Roosevelt Hotel instead. This gem, host of the first ever Oscar awards, is said to be visited by Carole Lombard and Montgomery Clift, as well as some reported Marilyn sightings (because, even in death, Marilyn loves to make an entrance!)

Moving east, we find the Crescent Hotel and Spa in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Just the photos of this place alone make me want to visit. The hotel itself is stunning, with a pretty crazy history. A one-time women’s college, the Crescent eventually became an experimental cancer hospital run by a nutjob named Norman Baker. Baker touted to the world that he’d discovered the ‘cure’ for cancer, despite having no medical degree. Instead, a magician and radio broadcaster, Norman raged against the AMA and promised cancer patients a medicine that would stop their disease in its tracks.

Baker was a con man. He injected patients with pricey cloves and herbs and nonsense, telling them they should be cancer-free in a matter of weeks. Of course, no one’s cancer was cured and, in fact, many of his ‘patients’ died in his care. The tragic end of lives and, more importantly, the cruel realities of false hope, is said to have given rise to the current level of paranormal activity.

You can take a ghost tour, do an investigation, even read through the archives of it’s history that are kept on the fourth floor. Ghost investigations occur every January during the “Eureka Springs Paranormal weekend.’

So, all my Arkansas peeps…let’s do this next year! We can take over the hotel!

Planning a trip to Georgia? If so, don’t miss the Marshall House in Savannah. One of the oldest hotels in the city, the Marshall House was once a civil war hospital and, later, also a hospital for victims of yellow fever. So, yeah, a lot of death occurred here. Which may explain the phantom footsteps, giggling ghost children, and previous hospital patients moaning and screaming in the night.

If you stay here, keep in mind that the fourth floor is said to be particularly active!

Let’s see…what else. Oh, I know. How about the Sagamore Resort in upstate NY in the Adirondacks? The area is known for historic battles in the 1700s. Some even contend the hotel was built on a Native American burial ground (bound to piss off a spirit or two!) So what kind of activity occurs here?

Well, apparently a little boy who was killed by a car right out front in the 1950s haunts the golf course, occasionally throwing a golf ball or taking a tee from a player. There is also said to be a woman who is not a fan of people in her space and will blow cold air onto their eyelids while they are sleeping (Okay, I don’t care how tough you are…that is creepy AF😳) Also, a chef quit after a woman ‘walked right through him’ as he was cooking in the kitchen, and in the dining room, guests have reported a couple fighting where the man throws the woman on the floor, she puts out a hand, then just vanishes.

**Key previous blogs where we learned the difference between active and residual hauntings. That right there would be a residual…activity on a loop, happening almost the same time every day, and the ghostly participants have no clue you are there. See? Learning is fun!😜

Last one (and one on my bucket list) is the Lord Baltimore Hotel in Baltimore. Site of at least twenty suicides by jumping off the roof, it cements the theory for me that places of great tragedy are almost always a hotbed of paranormal activity.

The hotel, 23 stories high, was the scene of despair and self-harm during the Great Depression. One little girl named Molly is said to haunt the 19th floor, the location of the room she and her parents occupied when, distraught over the stock market crash, they flung themselves off the roof, taking Molly with them.

Hated reading that story. 😭

Image credit: Lobby in the The Lord Baltimore Hotel

There are also reports about the elevator in the hotel—child’s finger prints that cannot be wiped away and an elevator that is often called up to the 19th floor (Molly’s floor) by unseen hands.

So, where, oh where, are Cyndi and I going in March? Did you guess it? The Marshall House in Savannah! I am so psyched and have booked an actual paranormal investigation and a ghost tour there! Why, you ask? Because Book 4, Rosemear, about a haunted mansion and a mystery surrounding that haunting, takes place in Savannah! I need to research the people and her history, so what better way to do that than in person? (I may ask my high school bud (and tax guy Bill) if I can claim this trip as a work deduction lol)

There you have it. Now, your assignment is if you or someone you know has stayed at the Marshall House, drop me a line! I would love to hear if any of my peeps have some inside intel.

Until next time…later, gators!

—Q