9 Haunted California Hotels
Pictured are five California hotels we’ve visited that are reportedly haunted. Bottom left clockwise: Queen Mary, Hotel Jeffery, Cary House, Hotel del Coronado and Murphys Hotel.
There’s no definitive answer to explain ghosts, and some would argue that an active imagination creates them out of thin air. You can partially blame the media that sensationalize and Hollywood-ize ghosts. But people working in hotels and staying as guests don’t care what doubters may say, as they KNOW what they’ve seen, felt and smelled. Those sensory experiences corroborated by more than one individual make hiding the hauntings challenging for hoteliers who think their customers will shy away once the news it out. Some may, but there’s a huge audience of folks fascinated by the paranormal, just “dying” for a brush with the other side! Some brave souls make a pact with a friend or loved one about signs they will use to communicate after passing over.
Haunted Hotels in California include but are not limited to:
- Hotel Jeffery in Coulterville is an 1850s gold rush era hotel where ghosts play pranks.
- Hotel del Coronado in Coronado ghosts include young Kate Morgan, who stayed there in 1892 and was found dead in an apparent suicide.
- Georgian Hotel in Santa Monica ghosts stir the guests.
- Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel has long been reported to be haunted and some believe that celebrity ghosts are the culprits-Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift are several.
- Queen Mary Ship Hotel in Long Beach transported many soldiers during WWII and filled with apparitions.
- Holbrooke Hotel in Grass Valley built in 1851 hosts the spirits of an old cowboy and Victorian lady.
- The Monterey Hotel in Monterey has a playful custodian named Fred who never left, even after he died. He pulls funny tricks.
- Bella Maggiore Inn in Ventura contains reports from guests of a flirtatious, invisible woman (you can smell her sweet cologne) rubbing men’s legs while in bed or similar attempts to stir the living.
- Cary Hotel in Placerville Cary House in Placerville has several ghosts who jiggle the handles on doors and are involved in maintenance.
