This spooky season, ignite your sense of adventure and delve into the world of California’s most haunted hotels! I’m talking about REAL haunted hotels with reported paranormal activity and a haunted backstory that’ll keep you up at night.
California may seem like your state of beautiful weather and sunny exposition, but it is also the home to some of the most infamous haunted hotels in the nation. This post will be your essential travel guide to experiencing the chills and thrills of a paranormal staycation. But be warned… some of these get real freaky.
1. Queen Anne Hotel in San Francisco
Queen Anne Hotel may look like your typical Victorian-style hotel, but it’s rumored to be haunted with ghosts.
Located on Sutter Street, the hotel was originally a girl’s boarding school in 1890. The headmistress, Miss Mary Lake, is the rumored ghost that haunts the hotel. Guests have reported strange activity, particularly in Room 410, which was her former office.
Unlike other haunted hotels that may have evil spirits haunting the hallways, Queen Anne is known for its benevolent spirit, Mary. That’s right, Mary’s ghost has been reported to make guests feel more welcome by tucking them into bed, unpacking their suitcases, and singing them to sleep. There’s also your typical ghost sightings like strange reflections in the mirror and cold spots in the hotel that give you the chills.
It’s not just Mary’s ghost that gives the hotel its rep. Queen Anne wasn’t always a boarding school and went on to have other owners–including a secret society. This secret society’s meetings reportedly involved astrology, which could def contribute to the hotel’s strange energy.
The voodoo queen of San Francisco, Mary Ellen Pleasant also lived right across the street back in the 1800s–a strange coincidence? Perhaps not…
2. The Queen Mary in Long Beach
Perhaps the most famous haunted hotel in California, The Queen Mary has some of the creepiest ghost stories I have ever heard. There are all sorts of ghosts here from creepy little girls, a woman in an old wedding dress, and various children running around the swimming pool.
Named after King George’s wife, Queen Mary departed for her first journey on May 27, 1936 from the ports of Southampton, England. She would continue having many impressive voyages carrying famous personnel like Hollywood celebrities and the royal family.
After WWII begun, Queen Mary was transformed from an ocean liner into a troopship where she was stripped of her royal colors and painted a camouflage grey, dubbing her the “Grey Ghost.” After the war ended, Queen Mary continued her passenger service for two more decades and was finally retired in 1967.
It seems like Queen Mary had a long and impressive career, right? Where do all the ghost stories come from? There have been said to be at least 49 deaths since Queen Mary’s maiden journey and that there have been sightings of apparitions as well. Some rooms are especially haunted and should be on your watch if you decide to visit the hotel.
In 1948 Stateroom B340 a British passenger named Walter J. Adamson passed away under unknown conditions. Since then, there have been reportings of bed sheets being pulled off, strange knocking on the door, and water running when there were no guests staying there. The room was closed for many years but has been reopened for anyone daring enough to venture inside.
Other deaths include one that happened behind Hatch Door #3 where a young crewman was crushed to death behind the door. His ghost has regularly been seen, as well as reportings of people even coming into contact with the ghost. They claim to have had grease marks in the shape of fingerprints on their faces.
Other haunted rooms include the Mauretania Room, the Mayfair Room, the First Class Swimming Pool, and Boiler Room #4, which have all had reportings of apparitions and even people brushing against the ghosts themselves.
Queen Mary fully embraces their status as a “Top 10 Most Haunted Places in America” by Time magazine and now offers ghost tours of the ship.
3. Mission Inn in Riverside
Mission Inn is a beautiful Spanish Mission-style hotel with a well-established haunted reputation. Out of all the haunted hotels in California, this is perhaps the most unexpected because Riverside is not a city that normally comes to mind when you think of haunted cities.
It is immediately clear that the Mission Inn is an architectural masterpiece, even earning itself the title as a National Historic Landmark. So is the Mission Inn a “haunted” hotel because of its gothic architecture, or is there truly something haunting the rooms?
Mission Inn opened in 1876 and has since been reported to have mysterious deaths throughout the 1800s. The hotel was first owned by C.C. Miller, who then sold it to his son Frank right before the start of the 1900s. The first ghosts were reported to be seen on July 19, 1908, a coincidence? Seems likely that they are the ghosts of those who had died there only years before.
Visitors have claimed to see these ghosts in their rooms, and while I’m not keen on having ghosts watch me while I sleep, this would be a ghost hunter’s favorite amusement. The resident ghosts of the hotel are supposedly Frank and his sister Alice, both of whom have rooms in the hotel. There have been reports of cold spots, touches, and Alice singing in her room. You can even stay in Alice’s room for the night, if you’re brave enough.
Other haunted rooms include the Bridal Honeymoon Suite where a paranormal activity occurred in 1993 when a newlywed couple left the hotel in a frenzy after they claim to have been pushed on the stairwell. Since then, people have claimed to have been pushed on the stairwell and in the halls even though no one is there.
Other haunted rooms include Room 215 where floating blue lights have been seen, as well as the Spanish Dining Room where there have been sightings of a ghostly apparition.
The creepiest rumor about Mission Inn has to be the suspected catacombs that run beneath the hotel that go all the way to Mt.Rubidoux. The catacombs were once used to smuggle booze during the Prohibition era and have been proven to exist, but you may get a few weird looks from the workers if you ask where the location to the tunnels are.
4. Hotel Normandie in Los Angeles
The Normandie, a boutique hotel in Koreatown, has been around for nearly a century and is one the most haunted hotels in California. Although the hotel was restored to elevate the property into modern Hollywood luxury, you can’t fix away the ghosts that linger in this hotel.
The Normandie was built in 1926 as a residential hotel and since then has seen a steady decline. In 2010, the Normandie was bought by Jingbo Lou, an architect and preservationist who had a vision to restore the hotel to its former glory.
By 2011, the hotel was barely functioning and the site of many illegal activities until Lou began work on the hotel in May of that year. The project accumulated $5 million, mostly by crowdfunding. The hotel was gutted from the inside out and decades of deterioration was reversed to become the modern, yet vintage hotel it is today.
At least, that’s what the hotel wants you to focus on–how much improvement they have had in restoring the hotel. However, that doesn’t erase the fact that people reported seeing strange shadows in the hallways and felt that people were watching them while they were asleep.
A popular destination for Youtubers and ghost hunters, perhaps these sleuths are onto something here.
5. Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles
Located on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel embodies the Golden Era of Hollywood and the dark truths that surround it.
Built in 1927, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel was in the middle of a booming industry. As the name suggests, the hotel was popular amongst celebrities, even housing stars like Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin. The hotel was so popular that in 1929, the first Academy Awards were held in the Roosevelt.
Guests believe that the hotel is haunted with the ghosts of past celebrities that have stayed there, namely Marilyn Monroe, Errol Flynn, and Montogomary Clift. Monroe is thought to haunt Room 1200 and has been seen appearing in the mirror.
Another resident ghost who haunts Room 928 is Clift who has been heard playing his trumpet and even brushing up against guests. On a darker note, guests have reported his ghost holding them down in bed, which doesn’t sound quite as fun to me.
Clift seems to be more active than Monroe, said to wander the halls and even tap guests on their shoulder while they’re in bed–no thanks! With such a long and thrilling history as Roosevelt’s it’s no surprise that the hotel picked up a few ghostly entities along the way.
6. Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego
This one definitely surprised me because it’s a property I’ve visited a few times and never got “ghost” vibes, but maybe I just got lucky. I certainly knew the hotel was quite old and had a long history, but because it was so popular, it never occurred to me that this hotel had its very own resident ghost.
Hotel Del Coronado was established in 1888 and is a beloved landmark of San Diego and Coronado Island. The hotel has seen booming success since then and is a popular staycation spot in San Diego for its vintage coastal aesthetic, however, now knowing it’s paranormal history, I can’t help but be skeptical of this hotel’s charming exterior.
The story goes that in 1892 a woman named Kate Morgan checked in under the fake name “Lottie A Bernard” and waited for a man who never arrived. Five days later on November 29, Kate Morgan was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Kate is now rumored to haunt her former room in the hotel and generally pulls harmless pranks like flashing lights, moving books, pulling linens, and turning the television on and off.
The hotel’s paranormal activity has been well known and in 1992, the hotel even contacted a parapsychologist and anomalist, Christopher Chacon, to conduct a paranormal investigation. This took 12 months and 24-hour surveillance where the hotel was extensively monitored from temperature, electrostatic, air movement, and more.
Over a thousand guests and workers were also anonymously interviewed and many of them claimed to have experienced unexplainable events. The investigation concluded that there were a myriad of strange activity in the hotel from furniture moving, faucets turning on and off, cold air, and disembodied sounds. Many of the activities occurred on the third and fifth floors, two of the busiest floors of the hotel.
A harmless ghost honestly sounds pretty fun to me and isn’t stopping my visits to Coronado anytime soon.
7. Pioneertown Motel in Pioneertown (Near Palm Springs)
Pioneertown Motel located in the ghost town of Pioneertown, is one of our fav spooky stays!
Before Pioneertown was abandoned, it was used many times as a movie set. Constructed in 1946 by Dick Curtis, Pioneertown was conceived as a functional film set, meant to authentically replicate an 1880s western town. It was envisioned as a haven for those in the entertainment industry, ranchers, and desert enthusiasts alike, as essentially an escape from the real world.
It seemed like an idyllic community, yet unforeseen challenges arose. The town’s development was hindered by a lack of access to safe water, which stunted its growth. Unfortunately, as the popularity of western films waned, so too did the fortunes of Pioneertown.
While I never saw any ghosts during my stay at Pioneertown, I love the old Western ambiance of the town and being in the middle of the desert with the stars shining clearly overhead. This def isn’t your typical “scary” haunted hotel, so it’d be more family friendly, while still having those classic spooky ghost town vibes.
Just researching about these hotels gives me the creeps. While some of these are well known, like the Queen Mary, others are more unexpected like Mission Inn and Hotel Del Coronado–both of which are located in unassuming cities.
8. Cary House in Placerville
This historic hotel on Main Street in downtown Placerville is beautiful and quaint. The town was bustling back in the Gold Rush days, but now makes a quintessential small town getaway, especially in the fall.
Cary House guests have heard phantom piano music in the lobby plus stories about the ghost of Stan. He was a front desk clerk at the hotel who died after insulting a fiesty guest. Rumor is rooms 208 or 406 are the best for a haunted experience.
BONUS: Hearst Castle and Madonna Inn in SLO County
While the Madonna Inn isn’t a haunted hotel, it’s old, quirky and definitely a fun place to stay when you visit Hearst Castle just up the coast. You can’t stay at the Hearst Castle, but it’s had its fair share of spooky sightings and paranormal activities over the years.
We definitely recommend you read up on Hearst Castle before you visit so you can get the full haunted experience. If you don’t get your fill at the big house, you can visit the spot James Dean died in a car crash not far away at the intersection of State Route 46 and State Route 41.
Will I be avoiding some of these hotels now because I know they’re potentially haunted? Maybe. But these historic hotels are also full of rich culture that reflect the changes of the city they’re in that they’d still be worth a visit.
If you’re looking for a good fright with your friends, or hoping to spot one of these reported ghost sightings yourself, make sure to pack a flashlight (just in case) and have a good fright.
