3 Favorite Haunted Hotels in New Orleans

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Courtyard of the Place D’Armes Hotel. Photo by Lauren Bates

Which hotel do you stay at when visiting New Orleans? Depending on my itinerary, I’m always in one of these 3 hotels…. and they are all haunted.

Place D’Armes Hotel

I’m often at the Place D’Armes Hotel because it’s a fantastic location in the French Quarter (on St. Anne and Chartres, right at Jackson Square), but I especially love its charm and the haunted aspect.

Did I say ‘haunted?’ You bet! Although I’ll admit to never having a ghostly encounter there, I do know of some stories. The best-known story involves a lady relaxing on one of the balconies and striking up a conversation with the bearded gentleman on the next balcony. She assumed he was in the next room and had to excuse herself for a bit. When she returned to the balcony, he was gone. She went to the front desk and inquired about who was staying in that room. The clerk told her the room wasn’t occupied and she explained why she was asking. “Oh, that’s our ghost!” was the answer she received.

One of the buildings of the hotel was the site of the first school in New Orleans and it burned during the fire of 1788. The bearded gentleman is thought to be the headmaster of the school.

Dauphine Orleans Hotel

I had my own strange event happen at the Dauphine Orleans Hotel. There were three of us in the room and I was to participate in the New Orleans Rock and Roll marathon early the next morning after checking in. At exactly 4:23am, the television came on. I was the only one to awaken and fumbled for the remote to turn in off. I clicked the power button and went back to bed. Not five minutes later, the TV lit up again. I repeated my action to turn it off with the remote and thought “if this is a ghost, DO NOT mess with me…I have a marathon to do in just a few hours!” I was able to go back to sleep without further interruptions.

The next night, however, it happened again. I was too tired to hear the television, after covering 13.1 miles earlier that day, but my former husband got up to turn the TV off. Upon checkout, I suggested that they might want to check the television in that room…maybe the remote alarm had been set? The young man at the front desk told me it was likely the ghost that liked to fool with televisions on that floor!

Bourbon Orleans

An event I attend annually is hosted at the Bourbon Orleans and there have been several ghostly incidents reported there for years. A confederate soldier has been reported on the top floor and many people have seen a little blonde girl rolling a ball on the 5th floor, then say she just disappears.

I intend to visit the ballroom on the second floor myself in a few days. Supposedly there is a male spirit there who likes to tease the ladies with a soft whisper in the ear. I’ll let you know what happens!

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