Luxury hotels are known for being perfectly appointed with impeccable service. In fact, some are so nice, legend has it they have ghostly guests who never want to leave. Here are six fancy hotels across America that are famous for being haunted.
1. Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans
Visitors to the Ritz Carlton New Orleans can expect luxury: The rooms are lush with "jewel-toned linens, gilt-framed mirrors, velvet settees and marble bathrooms," according to Conde Nast Traveler, and guests can enjoy services like afternoon tea offered with music by a local harpist, over 100 spa treatments to choose from and easy access to New Orleans' prominent French Quarter.
What they might not expect are the ghosts.
The hotel, which opened in 2000, is located in the historic Beaux Arts Maison Blanche building, a former department store built in 1908. Employees of the hotel have reported seeing paranormal activity.
"Over the years I have encountered the same tale from different guests and fellow employees," says Claudette Breve, who was a senior concierge in 2011. "The silhouette is that of a taller gentleman wearing what appears to be a black suit and top hat, very much like the attire that was worn in the late 1800s." Breve was also told on multiple occasions about the spirits of two children who "love to play all night jumping and bouncing on the bed. Every guest that has encountered the ghostly children mentions the bed moving and lots of laughter," she says.
A hotel spokesperson tells CNBC Make It the building isn't haunted, however.
2. The Hay-Adams, Washington, D.C.
The Hay-Adams hotel has seen a fair share of U.S. history, hosting presidents and politicians alike, including Barack and Michelle Obama in 2009. Rooms there sport custom Italian bed linens and flat-screen televisions, while the hotel's bar, Off the Record, is filled with red plush, political caricatures and old-school cocktails.
Opened in 1928, the hotel stands at the former site of the homes of John Hay (a personal secretary to President Abraham Lincoln and later Secretary of State) and Henry Adams (a family member of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams).
Marian Clover Adams, Henry Adams' wife, committed suicide in December of 1885 and her ghost allegedly still haunts the hotel, Curbed reports: "Look out for the sound of a woman crying, voices coming from the walls and doors opening and closing on their own."
3. The Stanley Hotel, Colorado
Stephen King's best selling book and classic thriller "The Shining" was inspired by the Stanley Hotel after he visited the Colorado resort with his wife in 1974.
"We were the only guests as it turned out; the following day they were going to close the place down for the winter," he says. "Wandering through its corridors, I thought that it seemed the perfect — maybe the archetypal — setting for a ghost story."
The hotel was opened in 1909, according to its website, by Freelan Oscar Stanley, inventor of steam powered cars, when his doctor prescribed fresh air to help with his tuberculosis. The hotel is rumored to have ghosts and offers "spirited" rooms with "high paranormal activity," says the site. The Stanley also offers "night spirit tours" that take you to "a few darkened spaces and introduces you to the 'active' phenomena" at the hotel.
When Syfy featured the hotel on its television show "Ghost Hunters," paranormal investigators claimed to find ghostly activity. "People could be seen in the hallways and then hiding, children could be heard running and playing on the floors above them and cupboard doors unlocked and opened while one of the ghost hunters was staying the night in a guest room," according to Atlas Obscura. "Over the years, guests have reported experiencing similar phenomena."
Today the hotel offers charming rooms in the main hotel with amenities like flat-screen TVs and custom bedding. There is also The Lodge, a newly remodeled boutique hotel; the 2016-built Aspire Residences with 360 views of the Rocky Mountains; and the private Overlook Condos.
4. The Mills House, Charleston, S.C.
The Mills House Wyndham Grand Hotel has been a fixture in Charleston since it opened in 1853. Guests can either dine at the hotel's restaurant, Barbadoes Room, which serves southern cuisine; enjoy the pool; or walk right out onto the historic streets of downtown Charleston for a stroll.
In the late hours of the night, the hotel reportedly has one extra and other-worldly guest: a woman from the 19th century who wears a purple dress. The lore is that the ghost is from a period in the 1800s when the hotel helped burn victims from a fire that engulfed the city, according to the hotel's website.
5. The Biltmore, Coral Gables, Fla.
About five miles from Miami, The Biltmore hotel is home to lavish weddings, poolside relaxation and rounds of golf on the hotel's 18-hole course. Its past was equally glamorous, "everyone from Judy Garland and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor to Al Capone has stayed at The Biltmore," according to U.S. News and World Report. And Capone allegedly operated a casino there.
Built in 1926, the hotel "became a place to host glamorous fashion shows, galas, golf tournaments and water shows in what was then the largest pool in the world," according to WLRN. Then a gangster named Thomas "Fatty" Walsh was killed, and the ghost stories began. Over its history, the hotel has also been a military hospital during World War II and eventually a medical school, providing fodder for more rumors of paranormal activity.
Every Halloween, the Biltmore hosts an over-the-top bash filled with "illusion and indulgence," according to the invite. However, a spokesperson for the hotel denies it's haunted.
6. The Hotel Del Coronado, San Diego
The beachfront view at the Hotel Del Coronado is just one of its perks; the hotel also offers private beach bonfires, surf lessons, spa services, a pool with cabana buildings — and a very famous spirit.
In 1892, the hotel had a visitor named Kate Morgan, whose ghost still haunts the place.
"Kate Morgan, age 24, arrived on Thanksgiving Day, alone and unhappy," according to the hotel's website. "According to hotel employees, she said she was waiting for a gentleman to join her. After five lonely days, Kate took her own life." The most frequently sighted oddities, like flickering lights and doors that open and close are spotted near Kate's third floor room.
Don't miss: Sleep in glass pods suspended 1,200 feet up the side of a mountain in Peru's Sacred Valley
Like this story? Like CNBC Make It on Facebook!
