1. The Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado
The Stanley Hotel, made famous by 1980's terrifying The Shining, has a haunted history all its own: It's said that the hotel's former housekeeper keeps special watch over guests of room 217. Other reports include the sounds of ghost children running in the fourth-floor hallways, lights turning on and off, and mysterious piano music played late at night.
2. Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast, Fall River, Massachusetts
This bed & breakfast in Fall River, Massachusetts, is the site of the famous Borden axe murders of 1892, for which Lizzie Borden was tried for (and ultimately acquitted of) killing her parents in a violent rage. Overnight guests can sleep in any of the several largely intact bedrooms, but daily tours are offered as well. Ghost cams run throughout the building, as many guests and employees have suggested that Lizzie never really left.
3. The Roosevelt Hotel, Los Angeles
This hotel is said to be home to a number of very big-name ghosts, including Marilyn Monroe (she appears in the ballroom as well as the mirror in room 229) and Montgomery Clift (room 928). Guests have also reported mysterious touches, cold spots, doors locked from the inside, and self-playing pianos.
4. 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa, Eureka Springs, Arkansas
This Arkansan Victorian-style hotel has been called America's Most Haunted and offers nightly ghost tours. The hotel also hosts an annual Eureka Springs Paranormal (ESP) Weekend each January.
5. The Myrtles Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana
The antebellum Myrtles Plantation (called one of America's most haunted homes) is said to be home to a number of ghosts, most famously "Chloe," thought to be one of the slaves who once lived there. The Caretaker's Quarters once appeared on an episode of Ghost Hunters.
6. La Fonda on the Plaza, Santa Fe
This Santa Fe hotel, destroyed and rebuilt several times over many decades, is said to be home to several distressed spirits, including Judge Slough, shot to death in the hotel's lobby in 1867, and a salesman who jumped in a well formerly on the site after losing his company's money in a card game.
7. Ahwahnee Hotel, Yosemite National Park, California
The Ahwahnee Hotel, located in the midst of Yosemite National Park, is said to be haunted by its former operator, Mary Curry Tresidder — who, it seems, has never really been able to quit. Guests see her wandering the halls and checking on guests; others have reported a rocking chair in a fourth-floor suite — but that room doesn't have a rocking chair.
8. The Equinox, Manchester, Vermont
This massive hotel, one of Vermont's first lodging houses, is home to the "1811 House" once lived in by Abraham Lincoln's granddaughter; Mary Todd Lincoln once stayed on-site as well, and many claim to have seen her ghost there. Others have heard strange whispers, seen shadowy figures, and had items moved around in their rooms.
9. Logan Inn, New Hope, Pennsylvania
10. The Chelsea, New York
The Chelsea Hotel (currently under renovation) is another great site for famous ghosts, including Sid Vicious, Dylan Thomas, Mark Twain, and Janis Joplin. Guests have reported sudden, unexplained temperature changes, ghostly orbs, and the sounds of loud arguments coming from rooms known to be unoccupied.
11. Queen Mary Hotel, Long Beach, California
The Queen Mary Hotel, aboard the now stationary ocean liner in Long Beach, California, offers "Haunted Encounters" that cover just some of the ship's many legends, including "a sailor who died in the ship's engine room, a 'lady in white,' and children who drowned in the ship's pool." The hotel also offers nighttime paranormal investigations, tours, and themed dinners.
12. Le Pavillon, New Orleans
New Orleans' Le Pavillon Hotel is often counted among the most haunted sites in New Orleans — no small feat. Guests report a young girl ghost named "Adda" or "Eva" who resides in the hotel's lobby, a ghostly couple holding hands while walking the hotel grounds, and a shoeless prankster ghost.
13. The Alaskan Hotel, Juneau, Alaska
Juneau's Alaskan Hotel is the city's oldest continuously operating hotel, first established in 1913. The hotel is said to be haunted by a prostitute from one of the many nearby brothels that sprung up during the gold rush. Room 219 is thought to be especially troubled; several guests have asked to change rooms after staying there just one night. (The "Ghosts" section of their website is "coming soon.")
14. Carolina Inn, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill's historic Carolina Inn is reportedly home to many spirits, including Dr. William Jacocks, who lived there for 20 years and is said to play pranks on current guests: Guests who've stayed in his room (256) have "reported curtains opening of their own accord, and the shower mat becoming crumpled as if someone is getting out of the shower." Other guests have seen the ghost of a "portly old man" wandering the hallways, jiggling all the doorknobs until he finds one that opens.
15. The Heathman Hotel, Portland, Oregon
Portland's grand Italian Renaissance-style Heathman Hotel is said to host a trio of haunted rooms that end in three: 703, 803, and 1003. Guests there have seen a "hazy face" staring at them from the corners of the room, felt cold spots, and experienced strange poltergeist-like activity. Some have said they felt as though a ghostly presence was in bed with them. A psychic who visited the hotel said she believed the haunted rooms reflected those passed as a former guest jumped to his death from 1003.
16. Horton Grand Hotel, San Diego
Part of the Horton Grand Hotel was allegedly once used as a brothel, which no doubt lends an air of intrigue to the building's reported hauntings. Among them, a man who haunts room 309 (guests have reported the bed shaking and the doors of the armoire thrown open) and the hallway outside it, and a bevy of "friendly" ghosts who welcome guests to the building — only to then disappear.
17. Sagamore Hotel, Bolton Landing, New York
The Sagamore Hotel is frequently counted among the nation's most haunted; guests report seeing a little boy wandering the golf course grounds late at night, and a woman in a white dress entering rooms from the wall. Many who've stayed here have been unable to sleep, reporting feeling as though they were being watched all night.
18. Hotel Galvez, Galveston, Texas
Galveston's Galvez Hotel is commonly thought to be haunted; one of the the city's paranormal teams counts it among the most haunted places they've ever investigated. The haunting is thought to be primarily confined to the fifth floor (especially room 505), where a guest called "The Lovelorn Lady" hanged herself after hearing her fiancé's ship had sunk at sea.