Nine Haunted Hotels to Book in Greater Philadelphia — If You Dare

Following his famous 1804 duel with Alexander Hamilton, vice president Aaron Burr stayed at what’s now this New Hope bed and breakfast. He reportedly still haunts it to this day, acting anxiously “as if he’s being followed peeking around corners.” Overnight guests can view antiques, including Burr’s pistols.

It’s rumored that this colonial-era Lumberville hotel played host to a bloody brawl that resulted in the death of former innkeeper Old Hans or a local lumberjack. (Some think the two were the same person.) After shooting a film in the hotel basement, author and filmmaker Regina Saint Claire claims to have felt a cold “scary and ugly” white presence that made her bolt right up from her bed. Many think Saint Claire witnessed a ghostly lady in white who has also been spotted holding a pearl-handled revolver in guests’ rooms.

First-hand reviews from guests staying in this Victorian gem claim multiple creepy incidents, especially on the third floor. One guest felt like they were “being watched the entire time by a young girl” and another guest woke up to unexplained touches from spirits floating above them who couldn’t move but felt cold and “like a weight on their chest.”

According to former staff, Lahaska Post Office’s first postmaster Thomas Betts has left clues of his presence throughout the grounds. Supernatural occurrences like “a trail of coffee stirrers meticulously arranged as a line from the coffee station across the room to the front desk,” phone calls from unoccupied rooms, flickering lights and talking televisions have all been reported. Room 202 seems to be a hotspot, playing host to loud noises while unoccupied and even sightings of a dark figure outside of the room.

Some perished souls seem to be trapped in the exact moment of their death. Down the road from the Aaron Burr House Bed & Breakfast (see above), Revolutionary War troops supposedly left their dead enemies in the cellar of the Logan Inn. (Corpses were not buried until spring.) That’s led to reports of chills and the air getting sucked out of certain rooms, as well as the sight of a tall Revolutionary soldier. Today, the team at the Logan Inn continues a legacy of “messages from beyond” by hosting spiritual dinners in their basement-turned-theater.

Angela Cicala of Cicala at The Divine Lorraine has eerie first-hand accounts from the 100-year-plus-old building on North Broad Street. Lobby doors often open and close “as if someone is walking out from one door and then into another.” Guests and tenants have also witnessed “a woman in the hallway without legs” and “a woman wearing a pink nightgown gliding down the hallway in their apartment,” music playing backward in penthouse room No. 1011 (where Father Divine used to live), and personal items moved around.

The nine-room New Hope B&B is named after the symbol of hospitality (a pineapple), but staff aren’t the only ones welcoming guests to the 1700s colonial manor. Squeaky wooden floors scare guests out of sleeping alone and video evidence seems to show on-site spirits haunting the six acres. An elderly woman is known to spin a wheel in the attic where she died, a young male ghost reportedly greets women with a kiss on the cheek and a small child had been reported playing in guest rooms.

Not only has Plumsteadville Inn seen warfare and deed battles since it opened its doors to overnight guests in 1751, but three fires have devastated the Doylestown-area property. Bucks County Paranormal Investigations recently paid a visit with spirit mediums, with multiple mysterious incidents unfolding: a camera tripod suddenly fell off a still chair, and high readings of “electronic disturbances” came from a linen closet and a basement chair.

This hotel has caught the attention of psychics, mediums, paranormal investigators, and even the Los Angeles Times. Owner Kathy Buczek notes guests’ complaints of “strange sensations” and spooky encounters. Phones ring at night, water runs in empty sinks, and colonial-dressed women pass through the bar. In room No. 5, couples have heard children giggling at night or seen a small child dressed in white by the bed. Room No. 11 is where American painter Edward Hicks took his own life in 1849, and during a tour of the room, Buczek said doors slammed shut several times.