The city of New Orleans has a long-standing tradition when it relates to ghost stories and haunting. The citizens of the Big Easy sometimes treat these stories and hauntings frivolously as these phenomena are often taken for granted.
However, distinct seasons or moments of the year make them recall certain stories, many of which are commonly well-known and legendary, and some of these stories are whispered with more caution and discretely…
If you consider the age and the history of New Orleans, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that in the Crescent City tales and stories of ghosts, spirits, and paranormal activities are not unusual at all, and if you are able to see through the idea that presumably all ghosts and spirits are scary, you might become to feel less uncomfortable around them.
When visiting the Big Easy, you surely should go to one of the city’s gorgeous cemeteries or stay at one of the hotels where through the years many visitors experienced paranormal activity.
Additionally, you should have a drink or some food at one of New Orleans’s haunted bars, you won’t want to miss the excitement. Here you can find a few of New Orleans’ most haunted hotels and bars.
The Omni Royal Orleans Hotel
621 St Louis Street, New Orleans, LA 70130, Phone: +1 504-529-5333
In a previous life, the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel was the St. Louis Hotel. People say that a maid who was working at the St. Louis Hotel still looks after the level of comfort of her guests on the 2nd floor. The guests wake up to discover that the bed sheets are tucked securely around them, as though to keep them comfortable. On the other hand, why the maid is reportedly regulating the cold water taps that turn themselves on and off in the middle of the night remains a mystery…
Bourbon Orleans Hotel
717 Orleans Street, New Orleans, LA 70116, Phone: +1 504-523-2222
In former days the property that now houses the Bourbon Orleans Hotel was a convent, and a couple of years ago, a construction worker doing a job alone on a stairway used an obscene expression, and instantaneously was feeling a smack in his face. Apparently, an outraged nun didn’t like his words. Other ghosts at this hotel involve a man who kisses the ladies who he likes, and a Confederate soldier has been witnessed in one of the higher floors holding his weapon, and there are numerous reports of childlike spirits entertaining the guests…
Bourbon Orleans Hotel
Lafitte Guest House
1003 Bourbon Street, New Orleans, LA 70116, Phone: +1 504-581-2678
In Lafitte Guest House, a young girl called Marie, who passed away in a yellow-fever epidemic, occasionally shows up in the mirror close to what used to be her mother’s room, now guest room 21. It is also believed that her mother, when Marie died, was so distressed that she never left the building, and still occupies her old bedroom. You can hear many stories of lights turning on and off by themselves, possibly due to the fact that Marie still wanders about the property…
The Provincial Hotel
1024 Chartres Street, New Orleans, LA 70116, Phone: +1 504-581-4995
The Provincial Hotel is located in New Orleans’ French Quarter and was in former years a Confederate hospital. In those parts of the building where the hospital was situated, many maids have witnessed Confederate soldiers and surgeons of those days. You can find as well quite a few reports of blood marks showing and then again vanishing inexplicably on bedding in several guest rooms. There exists even a claim that one day when the elevator door opened onto the 2nd floor, the complete hospital could be seen…
The Andrew Jackson Hotel
919 Royal Street, New Orleans, LA 70116, Phone: +1 504-561-5881
The Andrew Jackson Hotel is constructed on the location where, during a disastrous fire in the late 1700s, five boarding school children died in a terrible way in the flames. Throughout the years, many hotel guests have recorded listening to young children having fun in the hotel courtyard in the midst of the night, even though the courtyard was completely deserted, at least by the living…
Hotel Villa Convento
616 Ursuline Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70116, Phone: +1 504-522-1793
Hotel guests of Villa Convento have recorded waking up in a particular room to discover that ghosts were staring at them. Other hotel guests heard the sound of laughter by disembodied children all over the place, and rumor goes around that the hotel has been a brothel. There might still be a spooky Madame who occasionally knocks on doors…
The Lamothe House Hotel
621 Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70116, Phone: +1 504-947-1161
At the Lamothe House Hotel, you can find many stories of murder and suicide causing several ghosts to still roam the property. In the middle of the night, you can hear children laughing aloud, and their mother is regularly seen strolling through the house looking for them. Or could they perhaps be looking for something else…
Avenue Plaza Resort
2111 St Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70130, Phone: +1 504-566-1212
The main building of the Avenue Plaza Resort lies next to the Ashley house that at the time housed prisoners of the Civil War. The house is said to be haunted by an angelic lady in the parlor and a phantom piano player, and footsteps are heard coming from unoccupied areas of the house. There are numerous reports of ‘cold spots’ and many unusual electrical disorders, and many guests have reported seeing doors being operated by unseen forces without anybody being around…
Dauphine Orleans Hotel
415 Dauphine Street, New Orleans, LA 70112, Phone: +1 504-586-1800
Much of the Dauphine Orleans hotel dates back to the 19th Century, and there are many reports of a dark-haired male spirit dressed in a military uniform who shows up in the hotel courtyard, where you could possibly catch a very fast view of a dancing woman as well. Apparently, somebody enjoys to lock vacant guest rooms from the inside, and there are many people claim that they are being watched…
The Columns Hotel
3811 St Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70115, Phone: +1 504-899-9308
The Columns Hotel dates back to the 19th century, and because of its beauty, the former owners refused to leave the property even after they died. Occasionally, a disembodied, but nicely dressed, gentleman entertains the hotel guests, and you can find also a woman dressed in white clothes who likes the ballroom and the courtyard, as well as a young girl who walks on the 3rd floor close to the balcony…
BARS:
Pat O’Brien’s
718 St Peter Street, New Orleans, LA 70116, Phone: +1 504-525-4823
At Pat O’Brien’s, through the years the owners and the staff all have heard footsteps strolling around the empty attic, although there could not be anyone around. The bar’s 3rd floor is extremely scary, and most of the staff members will not go up there by themselves. When going to the ladies restrooms, some customers have become unexplainably frightened on the stairs as they reached the 2nd floor, and for sure this wasn’t related to the famous Hurricanes that are served here. There definitely are things that like to move around…
Lafitte’s Blacksmith’s Shop
941 Bourbon Street, New Orleans, LA 70116, Phone: +1 504-593-9761
This absolutely is one of the most haunted bars in the world, and Lafitte’s has experienced quite a few ghosts, such as the image of a stunning woman in a 2nd-floor mirror and also the spirit of the pirate himself comes to life occasionally. There are rumors of ghosts waiting at the bar for their wives as they promised on their deathbeds, lights turn on and off all by themselves, and clients claim they felt taps on their shoulders by an invisible hand…
The Old Absinthe House
240 Bourbon Street, New Orleans, LA 70112, hone: +1 504-523-3181
Several employees have seen here the spirit of Jean Lafitte here while still preparing for the Battle of New Orleans, and ghosts have reportedly been giving parties after the bar has closed. However, nobody could spot actual physical bodies to accompany the laughing and excitement these ghosts were experiencing. Furniture and plates move about without any explanation, and items have reportedly come off walls and this happened in full view of the customers…
O’Flaherty’s Irish Channel Pub
514 Toulouse Street, New Orleans, LA 70130, Phone: +1 504-529-1317
In the 1880s, the owner of this property had a mistress, Angelique, and O’Flaherty’s is haunted by the ghost of this Angelique. The owner pushed Angelique from a 3rd-floor window and her lover then followed her and jumped to his own fatality. Angelique and her lover still move around on the upper floor, and clients still are feeling ‘cold spots’ where they landed in the courtyard. A hanged man has left another distressing spirit on the second floor, and four ghosts on the upper floors are observing the clientele every once in a while…
Yo Mama’s Bar and Grill
727 St Peter Street, New Orleans, LA 70116, Phone: +1 504-522-1125
Yo Mama’s Bar and Grill used to be a tailor shop of a certain Mister Green who hanged himself here. Many staff members have claimed that they saw a ghost at the bar who had rope burns all around his neck, and reportedly Mr. Green still enjoys to play billiards by playing the balls on the table. The second floor holds the ‘Secret Room’, and photographs taken here show blurry pictures or spirits around the photographed items or persons, and a haunted mirror echoes a fuzzy figure or a strange light coming from within…
Alibi Bar
811 Iberville Street, New Orleans, LA 70112, Phone: +1 504-522-9187
The Alibi bar is just off Bourbon Street and is a late-night hangout that offers 150 different types of beer. Many staff members have reported incidents where knives came flying off the bar and into the floor. This has happened in a spot where supposedly a man was stabbed to death some time ago. Some other things seem to be flying around at this bar as well, and mysterious characters have from time to time been spotted by clients as well. In the basement section, that is forbidden to the public, reportedly chained-up slave children have been noticed…
Kerry Irish Pub
331 Decatur Street, New Orleans, LA 70130, Phone: +1 504-527-5954
Many regulars enjoy all sorts of brews and liquors at Kerry Irish Pub, and the music ranges from Gaelic traditional tunes to bluegrass and rock and roll. In Kerry’s the hauntings apparently include things like spooky noises and sensations, for example, the sounds of incorporeal footsteps, ghostly sounds and whispers, and the feeling of cold spots. Customers have witnessed doors opening and closing all by themselves and felt like being followed although there was nobody there…