The Haunted Hawthorne Hotel
Posted: 11.21.2024 | Updated: 11.21.2024
Located in the heart of Salem, Massachusetts, the Hawthorne Hotel has been a fixture of the bewitching city for the last 100 years. The 93-room luxury hotel has hosted celebrities, former presidents, and government officials from around the country.
The daunting brick exterior demands respect from anyone passing by — and the ghostly guests require the same from those who venture inside.
Who Haunts the Hawthorne Hotel?
From a child who cries in the night to a woman who walks the halls in a white dress, several spirits call the Hawthorne Hotel home. Yet, they aren’t the only otherworldly Salem residents.
Salem seems to be ground zero for ghostly activity on the East Coast. Is this a curse laid down by those who were killed during the Salem Witch Trials? Or are these the spirits of those who wrongly accused the “witches” — forever left to grieve their choice?
If you want to experience the eerie energy in Salem yourself, book a ghost tour with Salem Ghosts today.
The Hawthorne Hotel: A Salem Institution
When the Hawthorne Hotel opened in 1925, it was the talk of the town. In fact, there was an actual parade throughout the streets of Salem to celebrate the upscale hotel’s opening day.
Interest in the hotel, named after author Nathaniel Hawthorne, who grew up just down the street, only grew as word of the luxurious rooms spread throughout the East Coast. The hotel also did its best to stay up-to-date with the times, renaming the property the “Hawthorne Motor Hotel” in the 1950s to appeal to the ever-growing class of people traveling by automobile.
The hotel managed to stay relevant throughout the decades, even hosting a dance school in its ballroom for several years. However, the hotel’s biggest moment in the spotlight came in the 1970s, when a certain witch-themed show decided to shoot a Salem-themed episode.
The Famous Faces at Hawthorne Hotel
Salem will forever be tied to the infamous witch trials that took place in 1692, where at least 20 people were wrongfully accused of witchcraft and executed. It’s a bit ironic that despite the townspeople very clearly trying to rid their home of witches, their city is now known for all things witchy.
It was only fitting, then, in 1970, when an incredibly popular show about a witch, Bewitched, decided to film an episode in Salem. Their filming locations included The Hawthorne Hotel, which offered up its elevator for a particularly memorable scene.
This may have been the beginning of the hotel’s affiliation with all things dark and otherworldly. At some point, rumors started to spread about spirits haunting the halls of the Hawthorne Hotel. Perhaps this was why the hotel was chosen as the host for a seance in 1990 to connect with the long-lost spirit of Harry Houdini.
Held in the Grand Ballroom, guests held their breath as they waited to see if the magician would communicate from the other side on the 64th anniversary of his death. Despite the organizers’ best efforts, Houdini did not make an appearance. However, the whispers of unusual encounters at the hotel only continued to grow after the event.
Is the Hawthorne Hotel Haunted?
The Hawthorne Hotel is generally regarded as one of the most haunted hotels in the United States due to countless, unexplainable experiences by guests and staff. Of the 1 million guests who have stayed within the hotel’s walls, it seems quite a few of them have their own stories of strange experiences — especially if they stayed on the third or sixth floors.
Room 325: The Most Haunted Room in the Hotel
For guests wanting to experience a spectral sighting, there is one room that is most requested: 325. Room 325 is home to a baby or young child spirit, who often cries in the middle of the night — jolting the sleeping guest up in a panic. If a cry doesn’t wake them up, the feeling of their sheets getting ripped off them will instead.
Odd things also happen when the guest is awake. The faucet will mysteriously turn on when no one is near it. Lights will turn on and off on their own. One guest smelled a strong scent of perfume that wouldn’t seem to fade away. There is also a common experience of feeling watched while alone in the room.
The Sixth Floor: Home of the Woman in the White Dress
If 325 is booked up, apparition-seeking guests will instead request to stay on the sixth floor, particularly room 612.
One guest watched a woman in a long, white dress walk up to door 612. She didn’t seem well, so, after unlocking her own door, the guest turned to check on the woman. Yet, there was no one there. The disturbed woman has been seen lingering around the sixth-floor hallway, often returning to room 612.
For those brave enough to stay in 612, there is a common experience of feeling an icy hand touch their body or even tug on their hair. Is this the woman in white, trying to force them out? Or could she be warning them about something even worse?
One hotel guest was jolted from sleep by an incredibly loud bang, only to find nothing amiss. After trying to recreate the sound, they determined that it was their door lock being thrown open against the wall. However, their lock was still in place when they had investigated the initial sound.
Guests who stay on floors other than the third and sixth aren’t immune from ghost encounters either. One guest on the fifth floor woke up to a finger poking them, as well as knocking on their door when no one was outside.
Another guest on the fifth floor experienced what felt like a cat walking across her legs and settling down by her feet. Of course, when she looked down, she saw nothing.
Furniture-moving Spirits
Bewitching experiences aren’t only reserved for the guest rooms. Plenty of strange experiences have been had on the ground level of the hotel as well.
One hotel worker had just finished rearranging the furniture for a meeting, only to return a few minutes later to find everything had been moved back to its original position.
Haunted Salem
The Hawthorne Hotel is not unique in its tales of disappearing women and disembodied cries. Less than a mile from the hotel resides some of the most haunted sites in Salem. There’s the Salem Witch House, where the judge who sentenced the poor victims of the 17th-century witch hunt to their death lived. The long-dead judge, Jonathon Corwin, can still be heard crying on some nights, perhaps regretful of the lives he cut short so long ago.
There’s also the Ropes Mansion, whose original owner lost three wives inside its walls. Featured in the Disney film Hocus Pocus, the house gives off a chilling feeling to all who pass it.
If you want to explore more of Salem’s spooky sites, book a tour with Salem Ghosts today.
The East Coast is full of haunted locations that make us question our history with witches, ghosts, and the humans involved. If you want to learn about more creepy places around the US, follow our blog, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.
Sources:
https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/possessed-salem-witch-trials
https://www.historichotels.org/us/hotels-resorts/hawthorne-hotel/ghost-stories.php
https://www.thedistractedwanderer.com/2010/12/scaring-up-splendid-stay-in-salem-part.html
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