You Can Actually Spend The Night In These Haunted Hotels And Houses

When booking a hotel, there's quite a bit to consider: location, charm, quality of service, amenities and price, for instance. If you're someone who really enjoys a bit of excitement, you may also consider another factor in your accommodations — whether or not they're haunted.

Hotels are some of the most haunted dwellings, especially if they have a sordid past. While some spirits can be quite menacing or aim to give you a scare, you'll find that many apparitions are actually quite friendly and hospitable to guests. If you're looking for fascinating history and heart-pounding supernatural encounters, consider staying a night or two in one of these haunted hotels and houses.

The accommodations at Deetjen's Big Sur Inn have a romantic and rustic cabin vibe with a European flair, and the apparent presence of its resident ghost is what caused the set decorator of the hit TV show "American Horror Story" to believe in ghosts. Believed to be the ghost of the hotel's founder, known as Grandpa Deetjen, the presence is said to be the cause of the sound of footsteps and doors slamming.

On the property of what is now La Posada Resort and Spa, there used to be a family home known as The Staab House. According to legend, the seventh child of the residing family died soon after being born, leading the mother into a serious state of depression in which she refused to leave her room until she also passed away in 1896. Resort guests claim to have seen her and also reported random chills.

A restored 1892 Renaissance Revival mansion located in the romantic yet haunted city of Savannah, the Kehoe House is named for the Kehoe family. Of the 10 Kehoe children, two died in the house, which also later served as a funeral home. Many visitors have reported seeing ghosts of children playing and laughing or feeling someone unseen touching them while they sleep.

Once home to the Lemp family who owned and operated the Lemp Brewing Company, the Lemp Mansion was the site of many tragedies, starting with the 1901 death of Frederick Lemp, son of William J. Lemp. Just three years later, William Lemp lost his best friend Frederick Pabst (of Pabst Brewing Company), contributing to his own suicide the same year. Furthering the tragedy of the home, three other Lemp children died by suicide inside it over the next 45 years. Owned by another family today, the mansion is now an inn and restaurant that offers tours about the history and hauntings of the house as well as murder mystery dinners and Halloween parties.

Known for its dark history and fascinating cemeteries, New Orleans is reportedly one of the most haunted cities in America. If you're looking for a super spooky time in the Big Easy, the perfect place to stay is the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, which originally opened as a ballroom in 1827 before becoming a convent and orphanage. A yellow fever epidemic in the late 1800s resulted in the deaths of many nuns and children, and the present-day hotel has had many reports of ghostly children laughing and playing at night as well as ghostly dancers in the ballroom.

One of the oldest hotels in America, the Seelbach Hilton was built in 1903, but it wasn't until 1987 when a hotel chef spotted a woman with long, dark hair in a blue dress walk into the elevator — despite its doors being closed. Not long after, a housekeeper witnessed the same apparition leave the closed elevator doors on the eight floor. Later, someone discovered a 1936 newspaper article that reported the death of a woman who had been at the hotel waiting to reconcile with her ex-husband. After her ex-husband was killed in an accident on his way to the hotel, her body was found at the bottom of the elevator shaft. In the years since, the woman's ghost has been seen by multiple people, a fact made even scarier when you consider that no one knows if the death was a suicide, accident or perhaps even a murder.

The historic Malaga Inn is one of the most charming hotels in the country, but it's also apparently one of the most haunted buildings in Alabama. Guests have reported seeing chandeliers swing without any wind, lights turn on and off by themselves and furniture move around with no one visible moving it. A woman in white has also reportedly been seen pacing the balcony of Room 007.

Battery Carriage House has been called "Charleston's most haunted inn." Both employees and guests have reported odd occurrences that some believe to be the presence of the paranormal, and the inn offers a ghost adventure package for guests. One sighting was of a man with no limbs and no face standing in doorways or watching over sleeping guests in Room 8. Another spirit known as the "Gentleman Ghost" has been reported to snuggle up with guests in Room 10.

Deerfield's entire Main Street is believed to be haunted, but the Deerfield Inn is especially known for the presence of two spirits in particular. The ghost of a previous owner, Cora Carlisle, has reportedly been seen in her dressing gown with a chain of keys at her waist. She will supposedly knock on doors and gently push people to get them to go to bed. Another spirit, known as Hershel, is said to haunt Room 148. Those who have encountered him say he appears as a box of bright light and causes mischief, such as tugging at pillows and moving objects.

A historic hotel dating back to the 1920s in Virginia Beach, the Cavalier Hotel has had reportings of many different apparitions such as a ghost cat, a strange woman with her dog, a black man in military clothing warning guests of ghosts and even tales of towels mysteriously changing color. Having hosted famous people such as Judy Garland, Bette Davis and F. Scott Fitzgerald in life, the Cavalier Hotel also has a famous ghost: Adolph Coors, founder of Coors Brewery, who is said to have jumped out a window to his death while staying at the hotel with his wife and daughter.

A four-story, red brick hotel built in the late 1880s, the Strater Hotel is on a rail line, making it a popular place to stay for those who have booked a scenic train ride on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. According to local alt-weekly DGO Mag, many apparitions have appeared with some sort of relation to the railroad, such as a man in a white shirt who's been seen standing on the tracks before vanishing and a railway engineer in Victorian-era clothing seen walking through the lobby. The paranormal is such an accepted part of the hotel that each room even has its own "ghost diary" detailing past encounters.

The first iteration of the Admiral Fell Inn was an early 1900s boarding house and recreational center for sailors known as "The Anchorage," a spot for quite a bit of partying before it was renovated and reopened as the current hotel in 1985. In 2003, when the hotel had to be evacuated because of a storm, a manager that was boarding up windows claimed to hear a party upstairs despite the building being completely empty. The inn holds ghost tours and the most actively haunted room is supposedly Room 413, where a guest is said to have mysteriously died. Housekeepers have even been known to refuse to enter due to a chilling presence inside.

While it is a lovely and historic place to stay today, the Emily Morgan Hotel was first known as the Medical Arts Building, with doctors' offices, a hospital, a morgue and a crematorium. As a result, many people had died or been cremated on the property, and guests of the present-day hotel have been known to report ghost sightings, unexplained sounds and even the sensation of being touched by someone or something they can't see. Other spooky occurrences also include phones ringing in the middle of the night of their own accord, flickering lights, a bathtub filling up by itself and the sight of a woman in a white dress.

The best hotel in Washington, D.C., the Hay-Adams is popular with locals, tourists and politicians — the Obamas stayed there for two weeks prior to the 2009 inauguration — and it serves as a popular wedding venue as well. A simple and elegant spot, it's also said to be haunted by the wife of Henry Adams, grandson of President John Quincy Adams, whose home once stood on the land where the hotel stands today. Marion Hooper Adams, or Clover as she was better known, apparently took her life in 1885 by taking potassium cyanide and is said to continue to haunt the halls of the hotel, particularly around the anniversary of her death. Guests have reported seeing the entryway chandelier swinging on its own as well as the inexplicable smell of almonds — which is similar to the smell of the potassium cyanide with which Clover took her life.

The Stanley Hotel is most famous as the inspiration for Stephen King's "The Shining" and continues to serve as a popular place to stay in Estes Park. If you're eager for a stay at the 100-plus-year-old hotel, rooms 401, 407 and 428 are said to be particularly haunted, and some have also reported hearing the sounds of a party emanating from the ballroom despite finding it empty. If you're not sure you can brave a whole night, you can also join a tour in order to learn about the current active phenomena and folklore surrounding the spirits that are said to haunt one of the most terrifying places in the world.