New Orleans Most Haunted Hotels

Posted: 11.15.2024 | Updated: 11.15.2024

The spirits of New Orleans Most haunted hotels are abundant and tied to the antiquated architecture still found throughout the city. The French Quarter is a gold mine of ghostly activity, with visitors touting frequent strange occurrences and apparition sightings. Down in New Orleans, you have the unique opportunity to sleep among the dead in the hotels.

While many travelers seek the intoxicating liveliness of The Big Easy, others are there to embrace the death and trauma the city has witnessed over the years. The most haunted hotels in New Orleans offer it to them with joy. 

Before you finalize those travel plans, familiarize yourself with the most haunted hotels in New Orleans, where you’re more likely to have a run-in with a restless soul than anywhere else. Book a ghost tour with NOLA Ghosts to experience haunted New Orleans for yourself!

Most Haunted Hotels In New Orleans

• Bourbon Orleans
• Dauphine Orleans Hotel
• Hotel Monteleone
• Hotel Provincial
• Le Pavilion Hotel
• Omni Royal Orleans Hotel

Bourbon Orleans

Often, haunted hotels have a stale air, as if they haven’t been renovated or refurbished in decades. The Bourbon Orleans received a pretty extensive overhaul in 2012, which upgraded its guestrooms. Despite the change, the hotel still exudes an eeriness. This is likely attributed to the many specters that remained with the property through its robust history.

Which spirit you encounter during your stay varies depending on where in the hotel you are. Whispers of Confederate soldiers patrolling the third and sixth floors are aplenty, but it’s the laughter of children and the spectral presence of nuns that will surely cause a fright. During the mid-to late-19th century, an epidemic of yellow fever devastated New Orleans. 

At the time, the hotel’s Orleans Ballroom had been converted into an orphanage and St. Mary’s Academy, a school for African American girls. The disease ravaged the population, killing many and leaving a negative mark on the hotel’s history. Some accounts say a little girl plays on the sixth floor, though it’s unknown if she’s tied to the orphanage’s history. 

Several guests have had unexplainable run-ins with a presence from the other side in room 644. It’s not the only room on site where guests have witnessed signs of a haunting, though. Disembodied voices, faulty lighting, and even phenomena as impossible-sounding as dresser drawers opening on their own have kept some guests connected to the ghosts of the Bourbon.

Dauphine Orleans Hotel

It’s not every day that a haunted establishment receives national coverage in a popular publication. So, when the Dauphine Orleans Hotel just outside the historic French Quarters popped up on Buzzfeed more than seven years ago, it garnered a bit of attention. It has also been a destination for Zak Bagans and the “Ghost Adventures” crew.

The Buzzfeed crew maneuvered through May Bailey’s, eventually hearing footsteps overhead in the empty space where the Bordello once operated. Amidst a lone bed and simple furnishings, the air grew uncomfortable. The trio possibly communicated with May Baily herself. Or perhaps it was Millie, the madam’s heartbroken sister. She is forever waiting for the Confederate soldier she intended to marry to return from a deadly game of cards. 

The encounters with the ethereal aren’t only reserved in the room above May Baily’s Place, though. Heavy footsteps are a common occurrence for many guests of the Dauphine, and some say it’s an angered spirit of a Confederate soldier. When the Buzzfeed crew approached other guests about the constant thumping, they confirmed the suspicion that something unseen was pacing through the property.

The Dauphine is quite unique. It’s comprised of two- and three-story sections spanning centuries of New Orleans history. One of its finest features is the courtyard, which sits at the center of the property’s amassing otherworldly energy. Here, you may spot a General of the Civil War or the War of 1812 who’s been known to guide guests around the pool area.

Hotel Monteleone

Is it possible for the living to be possessed by the departed? If one guest’s experience at New Orleans’ Hotel Monteleone is any indication, that’s a curiosity better left unanswered. This stately hotel sits along Royal Street in the French Quarter, New Orleans’ most historic stretch of buildings. While the luxuries of the Monteleone are inviting, one lingering presence seems to work against the fine accommodations offered by the 19th-century establishment.

During a Halloween outing to The Big Easy in 2018, one spiritually sensitive traveler and their parents stayed at the Hotel Monteleone. Days into their stay, their mother started to experience a horrifying impulse to jump from her room’s balcony. She spoke of a young woman who entered her body and plagued her with such thoughts. 

Management later validated the mother’s experience. They stated that other guests have complained of a loss of control. A young lady who killed herself in the wake of a devastating heartbreak is believed to be the cause. 

Other guests have written of their haunting encounters at the Hotel Monteleone, some growing so agitated by the ongoing activity of opening doors and physical touch that they’ve written the hotel off entirely. Another recounted their time at the hotel and the disembodied female voice that disturbed them one night. 

Though a troubling experience, what bothered them most was the management's reaction. When told of the unnatural activity on the 14th floor, the staff paused before inquiring about whether anyone had been injured– a testament to the physicality of the hauntings at the Hotel Monteleone.

Hotel Provincial

New Orleans’ Hotel Provincial sits on the grounds of a former hospital, which more than explains the jarring experiences of many guests throughout the years.

Though an eerie air circulates through much of the property, it’s Building #5 where most guests tend to have their most memorable haunting encounters. One unfortunate soul relayed their multi-night episode. Their early mornings were marked by a shaking bed accompanied by no other external factors. 

As their stay continued, the presence took on many forms, from a physical rocking of the bed to a cool air that followed them throughout the room. According to other guests and hotel staff, the shaking bed is a common occurrence at Hotel Provincial. 

But no one knows who’s behind the physical interaction or why they’re vehemently against a restful night's sleep. Knowing the property’s history, it’s not unfathomable to think restless Confederate soldiers who succumbed to the wounds of war have claimed Building #5 as theirs.

Le Pavilion Hotel

There’s no known reason why Le Pavilion Hotel is rampant with spectral activity, but The Belle of New Orleans is estimated to have over 100 guests from beyond. Does it sit on a vortex connected to the other side? Or is it merely New Orleans’ sordid history that has imbued the 20th-century property with a veritable river of ghostly energy? 

From furniture moving in the middle of the night to guest clothing being tossed about, the haunts of Le Pavilion Hotel seem to get enjoyment out of teasing mortals. One guest of room 225 confirmed these antics in their brief but positive review of their stay. Most striking of their experience is the chair that found itself moved from a nearby desk to up against the bed overnight.

Along with the ghost who’s become known as the Prankster, Le Pavilion is said to also house a young girl. She specifically haunts room 930 and a couple from the 1920s. The identity of the young girl’s name is assumed to be Ava; who was killed on Poydras Street when a carriage hit her. As for the couple, their focus is room 221, though no one has ever been able to place how or why they may have passed away.

Omni Royal Orleans Hotel

The Omni Royal Orleans Hotel has the distinction of being the location of the final standoff between local law enforcement and killer Zack Browne. 

Two weeks after drunkenly slaying his lover, Addie Hall, and dismembering her in a most grizzly way, Zack was approached by detectives at the rooftop bar of the Omni where he worked. Not wanting to face the gavel for his crime, Zack lept from the roof, a note in his pocket leading police to Addie’s remains at her apartment. 

The tragedy of Addie Hall has become part of Omni’s legacy, especially since Zack is still believed to haunt the hotel, making him one of several ghosts that disturb guests.

Another spirit guests often encounter is a maid obsessed with keeping the room clean and tidy. Almost polar opposite to Zack’s unsettled spirit, the maid is welcoming to guests. She spends most of her time on the second floor keeping toilets clean, flattening sheets and sometimes even tucking in guests.

 It’s not the horror story you expect from a hotel that houses the negative energy of a murderer, but the maid’s dedication to the perfect turndown service balances an otherwise negative mark on the hotel’s timeline.

Exploring New Orleans’ Most Haunted Hotels

The many ghosts of The Big Easy help lay out the city’s long and often sordid history, from the perils of war to the brutality of Mother Nature. While any visitor is sure to have a run-in with an apparition when staying in any of the above most haunted hotels in New Orleans, the city is ripe with stories of encounters from beyond. 

Join New Orleans Ghosts on an extensive tour of the city’s most notably haunted location! You’ll hear frightening tales from the infamous LaLaurie Mansion and learn about the city’s best-haunted restaurants. 

Book your New Orleans ghost tour today, and brush up on the Big Easy specters you’re bound to meet by reading more of our blog and following us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.