Haunted Hotels of the South: Where the Past Never Checked Out

For those drawn to ghosts and ghouls, the South is a treasure trove of haunted adventures waiting to be explored. The true haunted nature of the South can best be seen in its haunted hotels, where guests from the past remain perpetually in the halls and rooms. This article explores four haunted hotels in the South, from spooky Savannah to eerie Annapolis. 

The Marshall House – Savannah, Georgia

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The Marshall House in Savannah has been listed as one of the best haunted hotels in the US for six years in a row by USA Today. This haunted hotel has it all – from strange footsteps to the unsettling sound of children playing in the halls, even when none of the guests have children with them. 

But what makes the Marshall House so haunted? Where do these phantom guests come from? 

During the Civil War, the Marshall House became a temporary medical facility for wounded soldiers. However, it accepted injured soldiers and those suffering from yellow fever and other diseases. Yellow fever was a huge problem back then, and Savannah dealt with several yellow fever epidemics. 

Hospitals are often haunted by the ghosts of those who died there, and buildings that were former hospitals are no different. Many of the patients at the Marshall House, unfortunately, passed away – but that doesn’t mean they left for good. 

On the contrary, the ghosts of the dead are alive and well in the Marshall House. Perhaps the children who are heard playing marbles in the halls were victims of yellow fever when the Marshall House was a medical facility. Perhaps they are the ghosts of children who once stayed at the hotel – nobody really knows. 

Room 414 is the creepiest room in the hotel, where guests report faucets turning on by themselves and hearing the laughter of phantom children. The Marshall House is open for booking, but if spending the night there is a bit too much for you to stomach, you can always learn about it on a Savannah ghost tour. 

The Andrew Jackson Hotel – New Orleans, Louisiana

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The French Quarter of New Orleans is alive with music, art, culture, and ghosts. Numerous historic buildings dot the landscape, including the famed Andrew Jackson Hotel, which has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1965. 

The history of the Andrew Jackson Hotel starts in 1792, when the Spanish Colonial Government established a boarding school on the plot of land where the hotel now stands. Just a couple of years later, though, the building was ravaged by one of New Orleans’ great fires, and several boys lost their lives. 

Some hotel guests swear of the presence of phantom boys running down the halls, laughing, and playing pranks on unsuspecting guests. From opening faucets to turning off the TV, these childish antics constantly unsettle and disturb the guests. 

Room 208 is the most haunted spot in the hotel, spooked by the ghost of one of the orphan boys, Armand. Guests report someone pulling on the bedsheets at night and feeling chilling air on their skin, even in the summer. 

Even creepier is the spirit of a young woman, who is often seen tidying up the beds before vanishing. It’s not exactly clear why she is there, but some believe she was a caretaker for the boys and continues to look after the building after their deaths. 

However, the Andrew Jackson Hotel is far from the only haunted hotel in New Orleans. The Bourbon Orleans, Hotel Monteleone, Hotel Provincial, and Omni Royal Orleans Hotel are among New Orleans’ most haunted hotels as well. 

The Angebilt Hotel – Orlando, Florida

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The Angebilt Hotel, now called the Angebilt Building, no longer operates as a hotel. However, it is still teeming with paranormal activity, including in the tunnels under the hotel, which are quite creepy in and of themselves!

The hotel opened in 1923 and briefly closed just a year later when the owner declared bankruptcy. It was soon reopened after another owner purchased it, but suffered devastating fires in the 80s, demolishing the top two floors, forcing it to close. 

The 250-room hotel, though, had already been experiencing severe decline since the 1960s. The top floor and ballroom were converted into storage areas, and the rooms were often occupied by transients, drifters, and prostitutes who offered services in the hotel. 

Urban decline had hit the hotel hard. Until then, though, it had managed to stay open, surviving the Great Depression, which many other hotels of its era did not. 

In the late 1980s, after the building had already ceased to be a hotel, some courtrooms were temporarily moved to the building due to the Orange County Courthouse Annex being deemed unsafe due to the high presence of asbestos.

Nowadays, the building contains offices and businesses. Employees at these offices still report strange occurrences – cold spots moving around in the hallways, bathroom stalls shaking violently or refusing to lock, and strange voices and sounds. The distant voices of a woman screaming and the sounds of parties happening after hours, when the offices are closed, echo through the halls. 

Who exactly haunts the Angebilt Building? Are they former guests of the hotel? Ladies of the night and their clients? Criminals tried in the building when it served as a courthouse, or their victims? 

Nobody really knows, but there’s no denying that the Angebilt Building, once an Orlando icon and jewel, is now one of the city’s creepiest places. Take an Orlando ghost tour to learn about Orlando’s other haunted spots! 

The Maryland Inn – Annapolis, Maryland

The Maryland Inn – Credit and Copyright Annapolis Ghosts

The Maryland Inn is Annapolis’s only surviving 18th-century inn still in operation. One of the historic inns of Annapolis, this hotel has survived some of the country’s most iconic events, including George Washington’s resignation speech, in which he resigned from his military commission, which took place mere steps from the hotel. 

Recall, too, that Annapolis briefly served as America’s peacetime capital. Many of the Founding Fathers spent time in Annapolis, and numerous politicians and dignitaries passed through the Maryland Inn or spent a night there. 

At times, the smell of pipe tobacco wafts through the lobby, despite the fact that nobody can be seen with a cigarette, let alone a tobacco pipe. 

However, the most macabre legend of the Maryland Inn is that of The Bride, a ghostly apparition that is routinely seen pacing back and forth near a window on the fourth floor. 

This young woman, whose name is unknown, met the love of her life, sailor Charles Campbell, in Annapolis. The two, madly in love, decided to marry – but Charles had to first set out to sea to earn some much-needed cash. She waited patiently for him in the Maryland Inn of Annapolis, having rented a room on the fourth floor. 

She anxiously peered out the window on the day of his scheduled return, awaiting his return. She saw him approaching the inn and her heart leaped – only for tragedy to strike. A horse and carriage came tumbling down the hill, and the driver couldn’t stop it in time. It hit and crushed Mr. Campbell, killing him instantly. 

Seeing that, the bride jumped from the window, joining her fiancé in death. To this day, her ghostly presence still haunts the fourth floor.