Rooms with a boo: New Hampshire’s 9 most haunted hotels

New Hampshire is one of the oldest U.S. states, and with that title comes plenty of ghostly ground, including these nine bone-chilling haunted hotels.

Spooky season calls for spooky adventures, and New Hampshire has plenty of access to scream-worthy outings (maybe more than we’d like to admit). No, we’re not talking about haunted houses or other scary pop-up events around Halloween. Rather, New Hampshire has its fair share of naturally—er, preternaturally—haunted attractions, including hotels rumored to be filled with ghostly occurrences.

Don’t believe us? “Ghost Hunters” stars Grant Wilson and Jason Hawes even owned a haunted hotel in Whitefield. The hotel is no longer open, but if that’s not a testament to what New Hampshire has to offer, we don’t know what is. 

Now that we’ve got you on the edge of your seat, check out these nine hotels that ring the “scare” alarm more than any others in the state.

1. Christmas Farm Inn & Spa

Address: 3 Blitzen Way, Jackson, NH 03846

Description: Its name might vaguely evoke Taylor Swift’s cheery 2019 song “Christmas Tree Farm,” but your experience at the Christmas Farm Inn & Spa might be a little less upbeat than the holiday track.

This hotel has a seasoned history that dates back a couple hundred years, with the premises being a jail, a church, and a hotel at different points in time. That said, a great fire washed over the property in the 1880s, leading many records to be destroyed. Sadly, no internet at the time meant no backing up this information, but that hasn’t stopped the hotel’s workers and guests from being visited by unnamed ghosts over the years.

Christmas Farm Inn & Spa is known in the area to be haunted—so much so that the hotel was visited by the hit paranormal TV series “Ghost Hunters” in 2010. But what put this hotel on the map? Well, mostly loose visuals and sounds that didn’t align with concrete happenings in the vicinity, but one apparition, in particular, has been clearer than the rest: a woman dressed in old garb—unsurprising given the hotel’s long history—who appeared to ascend a set of stairs that aren’t really there, according to the Conway Daily Sun.

Important to note is that a previous innkeeper, Doris Welch, died at the hotel, but she passed in the 1970s. Given the apparition’s seemingly older style of clothing, it’s probably safe to assume it wasn’t her. But that doesn’t mean you might not catch Welch roaming the halls if you stay here.

Photo courtesy of Harvey Barrison/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

2. Omni Mount Washington Resort

Address: 310 Mount Washington Hotel Rd, Bretton Woods, NH 03575

Description: Omni Mount Washington Resort isn’t just one of New Hampshire’s most-haunted hotels; it might also hold that title for the entire U.S., or at least that’s how travel writer Kate Toll describes it on her blog, Two Sisters Abroad, following more than 50 visits to the hotel.

What makes this hotel so interesting is that the premises’ lead ghost has been identified: Her name’s “Princess” Carolyn Stickney, and her husband, Joseph Stickney, was the resort’s original builder in 1902. The long-story-short version of the tale is that Joseph died, Carolyn remarried, and the latter never stopped spending time at Omni Mount Washington Resort—including after death.

The hotel’s most haunted room is undoubtedly room 314, also known as The Princess Room, which was none other than Carolyn’s room prior to her death. The more unsettling part is that the bed in the room is the room’s OG bed—the very one Carolyn slept on for so many years. Workers and guests alike have experienced no shortage of ghostly happenings throughout the hotel, not just in her room.

For example, one Reddit user posted in the r/Ghoststories Subreddit that they and their wife noticed unused silverware had moved at dinner one night, and when they told an employee, she mentioned that she actually saw the fork and knife move. One employee even explained to Paste Magazine that he’s seen the TV in Carolyn’s room turn on by itself, as well as drawers repeatedly open, even after closing them several times. That said, the Paste Magazine interview described the hotel’s overall environment as “warm and welcoming,” so staying there might be worth it.

3. Tilton Inn

Address: 255 Main St, Tilton, NH 03276

Description: The Tilton Inn offers a perfect quaint experience to its guests, boasting easy access to downtown Tilton, an on-site restaurant, and more. Oh, and did we forget to mention ghost stories? The Tilton is so known for its hauntings that the Rooms & Rates page on its website mentions that one room—the Lawrence—is “one of the Inn’s less haunted rooms.” Other rooms, like the Sanborn, are beloved because of “the paranormal activity that occurs in these rooms.”

The Sanborn room, in particular, is said to host the ghost of a 12-year-old girl named Laura, who died in the room when a fire blazed through the inn in the 1800s. She doesn’t just bide her time there, of course—she’s also been known to wander around the hotel’s entrance and restaurant, greeting guests as they arrive, leave, and dine. How does she manifest? Mostly through tinkering with glasses and throttling objects off their shelves and tables.

Her fire wasn’t the only one in the inn’s past, though. The Tilton Inn has experienced a whopping three fires since it was built in 1875, and while Laura appears to be the only publicly known victim of the fires, it’s no wonder how this hotel has become so haunted. Still, Laura is said to be a “happy, friendly spirit,” according to Seacoastonline.

Photo courtesy of AlexiusHoratius/CC BY-SA 3.0.

4. The Hotel Portsmouth

Address: 40 Court St, Portsmouth, NH 03801

Description: Renovated in 2014 and then again in 2024, The Hotel Portsmouth is a Victorian-era hotel first built in 1881 that serves old-school glamor with modern accommodations—and all in an astoundingly beautiful area. It just also happens to come with extra friends to keep you company during your stay there. Unlike other hotels on this list, The Hotel Portsmouth doesn’t discuss paranormal activity outright on its website; instead, the site focuses on the luxury experience that guests receive when booking there.

However, this doesn’t mean the hotel isn’t haunted, and reports actually indicate that the hauntings date back to at least the mid-1980s, when its previous iteration, The Sise Inn, expanded and opened its now-bigger property back to the public.

The hauntings at The Hotel Portsmouth don’t seem to manifest in full-body apparitions or even as super-playful acts like at some other hotels on this list. Yet the paranormal activity is indisputable. You might hear your door repeatedly lock and unlock, or the ice machine might go on the fritz and spill out ice all over the hallway floor. Some guests have even reported getting ice tossed at them, though this appears to be less common than the other activities.

If you stay here and are seeking out a haunted experience, request room 204. It’s supposedly the hotel’s most haunted room, and you might see objects take flight or even feel a presence in bed, with some guests swearing that someone crawled into bed next to them. Just take it from this user who commented on a thread about whether The Hotel Portsmouth is haunted in the r/PortsmouthNH Subreddit: “Oh yeah definitely- been in the basement a few times late night. She’s haunted.”

Photo courtesy of Michael Stokes/CC BY 2.0.

5. Three Chimneys Inn

Address: 17 Newmarket Rd, Durham, NH 03824

Description: The Three Chimneys Inn is one of those New Hampshire hotels with well-established hauntings. Similar to Laura at the Tilton Inn, the predominant ghost at the Three Chimneys Inn is named, and she’s been around for a long time. More specifically, her name is Hannah, and she’s walked the halls of this hotel for many, many years.

Yes, you read that right: According to The New Hampshire, the University of New Hampshire’s newspaper, this hotel dates back to the 1600s, so it’s seen a lot of death, including the Native American Massacre of 1604. With so much history, it stands to reason that not all of those who have passed on or around the property have peacefully moved on, and that’s apparently precisely what happened to a woman named Hannah, who died in a river near the premises and is said to have been haunting it ever since.

That said, Hannah isn’t the only ghost haunting the Three Chimneys Inn’s halls—she just appears to be the only one who’s named, though there are more ghosts said to be active around the hotel. Notably, electronics around the hotel often experience issues, including lights turning on and off. Some guests have even heard faint talking. So, if you ever stay at the Three Chimneys Inn, be on the lookout for anything strange—you might experience Hannah or another amicable spirit.

Photo courtesy of AcrossTheAtlantic/CC BY-SA 4.0.

6. The Nutmeg Inn

Address: 80 Pease Rd, Meredith, NH 03253

Description: Surely, a hotel with as comforting of a name as The Nutmeg Inn couldn’t be haunted, right? As history’s proven, that’s inextricably wrong.

Like other hotels on this list, this one was first built a few hundred years ago, with its official website denoting a construction date range of 1748 to 1768. Naturally, with this long history, many deaths have occurred in the immediate vicinity of The Nutmeg Inn, including a few family members who owned the property in the mid-1800s. 

According to New England Living, the resident’s hot-shot ghost, Charlie, didn’t start rearing his head until a century later in the 1970s. “Once when a guest mentioned Charlie’s name, the lights went out,” the inn’s owner, Lynne Rainen, told the outlet.

That’s not all he’s done, though. He first appeared in a photograph, joining a few folks on stage at one point when the property was a dinner theater. Now, he continues to tinker with lights and even move things, such as bath mats, according to Rainen, who established the inn in 2003. Outside of Charlie’s antics, The Nutmeg Inn is a beautiful and charming inn that is sure to satisfy any traveler’s desires. Just be extra careful when exiting the shower.

7. The Notchland Inn

Address: 2 Morey Rd, Hart’s Location, NH 03812

Description: The Notchland Inn brings classy, old-school elegance to its guests—oh, and an abundance of nature, including thousands of feet of river and stunning woods and mountains. The scenery here makes any trip extra special, but that’s not the only thing that will make your time at The Notchland Inn unique.

This hotel is another one where a restless spirit keeps everyone company. Her name is Nancy Barton, and she’s well-known in the area as a lover who tragically died of bitter cold in a snowstorm while searching for “her faithless lover,” according to AllStays. The Notchland Inn doesn’t appear to advertise her as being part of its history, but folks do mention seeing a gravestone with her name and story on it in the hotel’s front parlor.

Nancy was just 16 years old when she met “her faithless lover,” and to this day, it’s said that her screams and laughter alike haunt the area, including the inn and the surrounding forests. A nearby pond—Nancy Pond—is even named after her, which is slightly bleak, as she froze to death after her outfit got wet from crossing a brook on her journey.

Worth noting is that all experiences with Nancy at The Notchland Inn have been “friendly,” per AllStays. Some say they feel like someone’s in their room with them, while others have seen words written in lipstick and steam on their bathroom mirrors. In any case, staying here could be a good tale to recount at your next family reunion.

8. Hanover Inn Dartmouth

Address: 2 E Wheelock St, Hanover, NH 03755

Description: Situated at Dartmouth College, the Hanover Inn Dartmouth is a ghoulishly good time, no matter if you’re a student or a guest who’s simply come to ghost-hunt. Similar to The Hotel Portsmouth, this inn doesn’t note any paranormal activity on its website, but that hasn’t stopped people from talking about it online.

This hotel dates back to 1813, though the grounds it sits on were occupied for many decades before that, giving the area a much longer history—and more opportunity for ghostly activity. It was ultimately renovated and renamed in 1901, and the paranormal experiences on its grounds have only increased since. 

As you’d expect to see on college grounds, many Hanover Inn guests have run into students while staying there. However, they were deceased students in the form of apparitions decked out in prom-like garb, including ballgowns and full suits.

According to WMUR9, situations like this aren’t too shocking, as nine students died on campus in 1934 due to an incident involving carbon monoxide. These deaths didn’t occur in the hotel—rather, the students passed in the attic of a fraternity house—but with deaths like this happening over the years at long-standing institutions, ghosts are bound to remain and roam the grounds. ABC News even reported that a student “has spoken of finding a room that doesn’t exist, filled with a party of those young men and their dates.” While this room wasn’t at the hotel, it was still on the campus grounds, lending to the overall haunted narrative of Dartmouth College.

Photo courtesy of Adam Riggall/CC BY 2.0.

9. The Beal House Inn

Address: 2 W Main St, Littleton, NH 03561

Description: The Beal House Inn is only open four days a week, but testing out its scrumptious-looking cuisine and staying in one of its luxurious rooms might be extra worth it if you’re interested in paranormal activity.

Since 1933—though the building was first constructed in the 1800s—this inn has been welcoming guests into its halls, but little did they know that they might experience doors loudly shutting by themselves and other, similar manifestations of unrestful spirits. These pale in comparison to the more serious claims people have made. Over the years, many folks have heard men speaking in the hotel’s common room despite it being empty. Then, there’s the case of the housekeeper who claimed to be trapped in place by a spirit despite no one else being in the room. 

Despite The Beal House Inn’s extensive history, the hotel’s ghosts didn’t begin making themselves known until around 2001—or at least that’s how the legend goes. Ultimately, the ghosts here might not have specific names or stories attached to them, but they seem to be quite active, with The Beal House Inn becoming known as one of New Hampshire’s most haunted establishments. And that’s on top of the hotel having a three-star restaurant on-site—and, hey, that’s nothing to scoff at.

So, if you’re in the area or want to travel somewhere truly spooky, give this hotel a shot. You may just hear something good through the lifeline—er, grapevine. 

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.