So, you're the type who thinks dressing up in clever costumes and hosting classy Halloween dinner parties is for rookies, eh? Well then, why not up the ante with a stay in one of these eight eerie haunted hotels? Test your courage against a spirit with a tendency to lock you out at night, a laughing little girl whose earthly body is long gone or an army of Civil War soldiers.
8 Spooktacular Haunted Hotels You Can Still Book for Halloween
•
Published Sep 28, 2018
Marrero's
Marrero's Guest Mansion In Key West, Florida
Legend has it the original lady of the house moved in in 1889…and never left. Don’t worry though, she’s apparently a benevolent spirit who’s been spotted in room 18 looking for her hairbrush or sitting at the foot of the bed. There’s also the lingering scent of her signature lavender perfume
If you’re looking for more spooky activities, we suggest signing up for Sloan’s Key West Ghost Hunt. The 90-minute walking tour includes stops at some of Key West’s most haunted locations, led by a real ghost hunter. You’ll walk with an EMF meter in hand to measure the disturbances of other worldly spirits, and of course down a glass of liquid courage to get you started.
Halloween rates start at $240
traveler1116/Getty images
The Marshall House In Savannah, Georgia
Fun fact: Savannah has the honor of being named America’s most haunted city. So with Marshall House being one of the oldest hotels in the city, it should come as no surprise that there have been numerous reports of strange noises, flickering lights and unexplained events there. It was once the site of a Civil War hospital and many guests are convinced that the soldiers cared for there have been overstaying their welcome for more than 155 years.
Continue your Halloween adventure with one of 40-plus ghost tours offered throughout the city, like the Evening Trolley and Walking Ghost Tour, which takes you through the famously haunted Bonaventure Cemetery to visit little Gracie Watson, the Eloise of the Pulaski Hotel, who entertained guests until her untimely death in 1889.
Halloween rates start at $115
The Meeting Street Inn In Charleston, South Carolina
Two ghosts are said to inhabit this charming Southern inn, though both have proven to be totally harmless. The first is a friendly female apparition who inhabits room 107, while the other likes to maintain their privacy in room 303 by occasionally locking the door behind guests from the inside. So you might want to triple check you have your room key in hand before you leave for the day.
Another haunted must-see is the Old City Jail, which operated from 1802 until 1939 and housed some of the most infamous criminals from the Civil War era, including Lavinia Fisher, the country’s first female serial killer.
Halloween rates start at $185
Expedia
The Driskill In Austin, Texas
Wealthy cattle baron Jesse Driskill opened his namesake hotel in 1887 and has apparently been hanging out there ever since. Guests report smelling Driskill’s beloved cigar smoke (despite the hotel’s no-smoking policy) as well as hearing the sounds of a little girl laughing and playing on the staircase. If you’re really feeling bold, request a stay in room 525, where two brides each committed suicide 20 years apart.
Halloween rates start at $315
Expedia
Bally's In Las Vegas, Nevada
Just seven years after the hotel’s opening in 1973, a wild and deadly fire tore through one of the towers of the original Bally’s hotel, killing 87 guests and employees. It took only eight months for the hotel to rebuild the damaged and destroyed property, but even now, 38 years later, more than a few guests have reported seeing unusual shadows and hearing unsettling noises in the tower where the fire occurred.
Halloween rates start at $225
Fort Magruder Hotel In Williamsburg, Virginia
As the birthplace of the American Revolution, it should come as no surprise that Williamsburg is home to several legends of paranormal activity. Take for instance, the Fort Magruder Hotel, which may have been built a little too close to the site of the bloody Battle of Williamsburg; Civil War era soldiers have been known to appear at the foots of beds there. If you’re interested in seeing even more spirits, there’s always the Nighttime Ghost Walking Tour that includes a visit to the nation’s very first mental institution and the site of a cursed Revolutionary War hospital.
Halloween rates start at $70
Hotel Monteleone
Hotel Monteleone In New Orleans, Louisiana
Over the years, Hotel Monteleone has played host to a whole cast of supernatural characters, including a moody jazz singer, a lost little boy in search of his parents and a masked naked man who streaks through the halls.
The gorgeous hotel is located in the historic French Quarter and is coincidentally right near the start of multiple guided ghost tours. The Guided Ghost Tour of the French Quarter’s West Side in particular includes a visit to the Old Parish Prison, the Hermann-Grima House, which plays host to some of the South’s most friendly spirits and the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, which earned its own place in history as being the location of a series of shocking deaths and subsequent hauntings.
Halloween rates start at $280
Dean_Fikar/Getty Images
Menger Hotel In San Antonio, Texas
What better place to celebrate All Hallows Eve than the Alamo? The Menger Hotel is located right next to the historic monument and it appears some of the Alamo's lost souls have migrated over to the comfy accommodations. Menger boast not just one or two ghosts, or even 10 or 15 for that matter. In fact, the Texas hotel is supposedly home to at least thirty-two different spirits meaning your chances of having a truly haunted Halloween here are really very good.
Of course, you can always up your chances at an otherworldly encounter with a tour of San Antonio's most haunted locations and an eerie history lesson on the Ghost and Legends Tour.
Halloween rates start at $170
