Top 10 Most Haunted Hotels in California: Chilling Tales and Ghostly Encounters
As Halloween approaches, the supernatural seems closer than ever. Drawing from historical records, guest testimonies, staff accounts, and paranormal investigations, we've curated California's top 10 haunted hotels. Whether you're a skeptic or a believer, these legendary properties with eerie histories offer spine-tingling experiences.
10. Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Los Angeles
This iconic Hollywood landmark is haunted by past celebrity residents, including Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift. Monroe lived in Suite 1200 during her modeling rise in the 1950s; her reflection reportedly appears in a lobby mirror originally from that suite.
Clift haunts Room 928, where guests hear him rehearsing lines aloud. Other phenomena include sightings of a girl named Caroline, who drowned in the pool with her brother. She calls from the lobby phone and appears in the Blossom Ballroom. Ouija sessions here have yielded terrifying results—proceed with caution.
9. Napa River Inn, Napa
Nestled in wine country, this inn hosts spirits from its past, including Captain Albert Hatt Jr., son of the original owner, dating back to the early 1900s. A prominent "woman in white" is the resident ghost.
Guests report cold spots in warm weather, unprompted elevator movement, doors opening and closing, and encounters with Robert Keig, the second owner. Rooms 207 and 208—above Hatt's death site—are the most active. Staff openly acknowledge these presences.
8. Madrona Manor, Healdsburg
In Sonoma County, peaceful spirits roam this elegant manor. Hannah Paxton, wife of original owner John Paxton, has been seen by paranormal experts and guests alike.
Room 101 is notorious for guests' items vanishing and reappearing oddly, with activity also in the dining room.
7. Glen Tavern Inn, Santa Paula
Once a brothel and gambling den, this inn echoes with children's laughter on the second floor. Room 307 features Calvin and a Prohibition-era prostitute found decapitated in the closet.
Cold spots, shadows, and voices have drawn Travel Channel investigations and paranormal experts, ensuring authentic thrills.
6. Union Hotel, Benicia
Apparitions of a man and a woman—who legend says hanged herself—appear here. She cries, murmurs, and gazes from empty room windows.
Annual October "Ghost Walks" by experts highlight the hotel as Benicia's premier haunted site.
5. Zaballa House, Half Moon Bay
Half Moon Bay's oldest standing house, Room 6 experiences alarms, jingling keys, and rattling windows at night. Despite staff denials, a former guest book logged ghostly encounters.
4. Queen Mary Hotel, Long Beach
This retired ocean liner, a WWII troop ship docked since 1967, hosts up to 150 spirits from 49 documented deaths. Women and children haunt the pool rooms; infant cries echo from the third-class playroom.
The most famous tale: an 18-year-old sailor crushed in engine room Door 13 during a fire. Its tragic history makes it one of America's most haunted sites.
3. Chateau Marmont, West Hollywood
A celebrity haven for stars like Humphrey Bogart and John Lennon, it's haunted by John Belushi, who overdosed in Bungalow 3 in 1982. Guests feel watched in mirrors there.
A boy in 1999 identified Belushi as the "funny man" he saw. Photographer Helmut Newton died in a 2004 crash leaving the hotel.
2. Grande Colonial, La Jolla
Frequented by Groucho Marx, it's haunted by him and Abigail, plus party-loving spirits from former apartments near the bakery.
Our investigation in Marx's room: Lights flickered upon entry; EMF spiked at the bathroom mirror. Staff report unoccupied calls from the room and late-night noises.
1. Hotel del Coronado, Coronado
Room 3327's ghost is Kate Morgan, who arrived in 1892 after a marital spat, waited five days, then died by suicide on the beach.
Staff and guests report her presence: flickering lights, moving items, scents. A manager saw her figure vanish on the beach; elevator doors rattle unseen. Gift shop items fly off shelves—except Kate memorabilia.
Our stay: A distinct perfume scent (not ours) matched documented reports. Unaware guests' accounts lend credibility.
Share your eerie experiences at these hotels below!
