Haunted hotels are a booming business. But for travelers not content with a simple ghost, there’s always lodging with a darker past. In the era of restoration and renovation, defunct buildings have seen new life all over the world, from an old post office-turned-food hall to churches reborn as breweries. Hotels, too, have emerged in places you might not expect, including in buildings that once imprisoned criminals and experimented with psychiatric therapies. For travelers guided by morbid curiosity, these boutique hotels afford the unique opportunity to sleep in former jail cells or hospital rooms — but, you know, with amenities. From a castle-like property in Buffalo, New York, to a Colonial-era Bostonian prison, here are eight hotels with haunting histories.
The Richardson Hotel
Buffalo, New York
With an ornate Romanesque facade reminiscent of something out of a Disney fable, The Richardson Hotel in Buffalo looks a lot more imposing than it really is. Much like Casper, it’s a friendly ghost. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Henry Hobson Richardson, the sprawling campus first opened as the Buffalo State Asylum in 1880, admitting patients in what was the longest building in the world when it was built. For almost a century, it operated as such, housing thousands of patients by the time it closed in 1974. Unlike the ickier asylums you read about in the annals of history that are marked by horrific abuse and torturous treatments, the M.O. at the Buffalo State Asylum was “moral management,” which emphasized fresh air, exercise and kindness as therapies — instead of, you know, lobotomies. That might explain why, upon its opening as a hotel in 2023, The Richardson Hotel feels entirely serene. After lying dormant for decades, The National Historic Landmark was reborn as a gorgeous boutique abode on 40 manicured acres of park land, complete with a ballroom, wine vault, bar and historic guided tours of the immense property.
The Liberty Hotel
Boston, Massachusetts
At The Liberty Hotel in Boston, guests can literally shut themselves behind a heavy wrought iron gate and sip a cocktail at ground-level bar Alibi, tuck into a bowl of chowder at Clink and sleep in a former cell that once held the likes of Bartolomeo Vanzetti. It’s all part of the singular charm of The Liberty, a granite-clad sentinel housed in the former Charles Street Jail dating back to 1851. At times, it contained some of Boston’s most notorious rabble-rousers. It operated as a jail until 1973 and transformed into a hotel in 2007 after the adjacent Massachusetts General Hospital bought the property and sought proposals for redevelopment. Today, the building — whose restoration was jointly managed by the Boston Landmarks Commission, the National Park Service and the Boston Redevelopment Authority — toes the line between modern and historic, with its soaring exposed-brick atrium and rooms divvied between the main building and a 16-story adjoining tower. The rooms in the main building are the only ones in former cells, in case you’d like the bragging rights to say you slept in the same room as “Whitey” Bulger.
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At these spooky inns, strange apparitions in the halls, weird sounds in the night and doors opening and closing at will are more common than turn-down serviceFour Seasons Hotel Istanbul At Sultanahmet
Istanbul, Turkey
Based on the sheer opulence today, with balcony views of the Hagia Sophia, private helicopter tours and a lush courtyard fragrant with fresh herbs, you’d never guess you were sleeping in an old prison. But there’s history buried in the foundation of the palatial Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul At Sultanahmet, built in 1918 to punish serious crimes, like penning defiant poetry. Replete with bright colors, lavish arches and intricate tile work, the hotel is a decadent rendition of its former self, when its rooms were cells used to imprison writers like Orhan Kemal and Nazım Hikmet and political criminals in the late 20th century. Upon its conversion into a hotel in 1996, the Turkish Neoclassical beauty has undergone a substantive glow-up, replacing its prison chambers with Bosphorus-viewing suites, a Turkish hammam spa and a lounge that pairs Turkish wines with temple views.
The Village
Traverse City, Michigan
A room that once contained patients in the “most disturbed” ward is now a condo going for $800,000. In one of the largest historic preservation projects in the country, the multiple buildings that once comprised the Traverse City State Hospital are now The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, featuring a mix of Airbnb-style rentals, residential condos, retail stores, restaurants and entertainment. Set on 480 forested acres, the hospital was initially built in 1885, featuring looming towers and wings, and operated accordingly for more than a century before closing in 1989. Similar to the Buffalo State Asylum, moral management was the focal point here, featuring rooms designed to maximize fresh air and sunlight — which, naturally, lends itself well to present-day vacation rentals.
Hotel Parq Central
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Among the hospitals-turned-hotels, Albuquerque’s Hotel Parq Central may very well be the most haunted. Constructed in the 1920s near the foothills of the Sandias, the ironically majestic Italianate property first served as a hospital for railway workers and subsequently a psychiatric facility for children. It wasn’t until 2010 that the deserted building finally saw new life as a boutique hotel, harkening to its past with artifacts and antiques — like historic medical equipment in hallway displays — that have stood the test of time. While nothing atrocious is known to have happened here, that apparently hasn’t stopped ghosts from lingering, as some guests report hearing unexplained voices or feeling eerily watched. But for whatever ails you, the rooftop Apothecary Lounge has a strong cocktail that should do the trick.
Långholmen Hotel Stockholm
Stockholm, Sweden
If you’ve ever wanted to stay in an Alcatraz-style island prison, Sweden’s Långholmen Hotel Stockholm should scratch that morbid curiosity. Located on the island of Långholmen, which thankfully looks a lot more peaceful and picturesque than Alcatraz (complete with a beach right outside the property), the building was originally a palatial private residence before it was converted into a penal institution for women in 1724. The prison expanded and remained an island jail for more than 200 years until its closure in 1975. Långholmen’s Hotel and Youth Hostel opened in 1989 and honored its roots with an on-site prison museum. Today, the beautifully updated hotel features standard cell rooms and double cells, and guests get their own set of jail cell keys. For anyone looking to woo their partner, the hotel offers a “Romantic Cell” package, wherein they outfit a former jail cell with slippers, sparkling wine, chocolate and a three-course dinner.
Drury Plaza Hotel
Santa Fe, New Mexico
New Mexico must have a knack for transforming hospitals into hotels, as evidenced by another turnkey property in the state’s capitol. The Drury Plaza Hotel, right in the thick of the historic, adobe-filled downtown district, recalls a time when Bishop Lamy asked the Sisters of Charity to come to town in the 1860s to open and run local hospitals to treat the sick. They did so for a century, culminating with the construction of St. Vincent’s Hospital, designed in late Territorial Revival style by architect John Gaw Meem in the 1950s. It operated as a hospital for 20 years, and the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs moved in by 1977. It didn’t become a hotel until 2007, when the Drury Plaza bought the property and poured concerted efforts into restoration and preservation, to the point where 97% of the existing structural elements were repurposed for the hotel. Nowadays, it’s out with the hospital beds and medical equipment and in with gratis popcorn machines and rooftop nachos.
West Virginia Penitentiary
Moundsville, West Virginia
A bit of an honorable mention, considering it’s not a hotel by any stretch, the West Virginia Penitentiary earns its place on this list for the macabre fact that visitors can technically check in. This Gothic nightmare of a building, opened in 1876 and run as a prison until 1995, was infamous for its mistreatment of inmates — so much so that the West Virginia Supreme Court deemed the cramped cells cruel and unusual punishment, leading to its eventual closure. Although the diminutive, dingy cells have not been turned into suites, daring visitors can still spend the night here for a cool $1,099. Private paranormal investigations are available to adults, who, following a 90-minute tour, are left to rove the penitentiary on their own all night. It may not be the most comfortable experience, and it’s certainly not for the faint of heart, but pulling an all-nighter in one of America’s most notorious prisons should earn some bragging rights.
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