You’re walking down West Bay Street at 2:00 AM. The air isn't just humid; it feels heavy, like it’s holding onto something it should have let go of in 1820. Savannah does that to you. It's a city built literally on top of its own dead, and if you're looking for a haunted hotel Savannah GA experience, you aren't just booking a room with a nice duvet and a mini-fridge. You’re checking into a historical record that sometimes refuses to stay on the page.
People come here for the Spanish moss and the cobblestones. They stay for the ghosts. Honestly, the "haunted" label gets slapped on everything in the Hostess City these days, but a few spots are legitimately unsettling. We’re talking about places where the floorboards groan under the weight of people who haven't drawn breath in a century. It's weird. It's gritty. And if you’re staying at the Marshall House or the Kehoe House, you’re basically sleeping in a museum of the macabre.
The Marshall House and the Surgical Reality of Room 414
The Marshall House is usually the first name that pops up when you search for a haunted hotel Savannah GA. Built in 1851, it’s gorgeous. High ceilings. Gilded mirrors. But the history is brutal. During the Civil War and multiple Yellow Fever epidemics, this place wasn't a luxury retreat. It was a hospital.
Think about that.
During the winter of 1864, the ground outside was frozen solid. Surgeons working for the Union army couldn't bury amputated limbs, so they reportedly tossed them under the floorboards of the ground floor. When the hotel was renovated in the 1990s, workers actually found human remains. That’s not a ghost story; that’s a forensic fact. Guests today report the sound of children running down the hallways at 3:00 AM, which is a classic trope, but then there's the smell. People talk about the sudden, overwhelming scent of antiseptic or rotting wood in rooms that are otherwise pristine.
Room 414 is the one everyone wants. Or the one everyone avoids.
Mary Marshall’s original structure has seen things that would make a modern ER doctor quit on the spot. If you stay here, don’t be surprised if the faucets turn on by themselves. It’s a common occurrence. Some say it's the ghosts of nurses trying to wash their hands after a long shift that never ended. Others think it’s just the old plumbing. But when the water runs ice cold and the room temperature drops ten degrees in seconds, the "old pipes" excuse starts to feel a little thin.
The Kehoe House: When Tragedy Stays in the Family
If the Marshall House is about the collective trauma of war, the Kehoe House is about private, domestic grief. Located on Columbia Square, this red-brick mansion is stunning. It was built by William Kehoe, a successful iron foundry owner, for his wife and their ten children.
🔗 Read more: Why San Luis Soyatlán Is Actually The Most Interesting Stop On Lake Chapala
The local legend? Two of those children died in the house.
Specifically, the story goes that the twins were playing in the chimney and got stuck. It’s a horrifying thought. While historians often point out that there’s no concrete public record of "chimney deaths" in the Kehoe family, the reports from guests are oddly consistent. They hear children laughing. They feel small hands touching their shoulders.
I’ve talked to people who stayed in Room 201 and Room 203. They describe the sound of a ball bouncing on the ceiling. It’s rhythmic. Thump. Thump. Thump. You’re lying there in a four-poster bed, staring at the crown molding, and you realize there isn't another floor above you. Just the roof.
That’s when the charm of Savannah starts to feel a little bit like a trap.
The 17Hundred90 Inn and the Persistence of Anna
The 17Hundred90 Inn & Restaurant is smaller, darker, and feels more "authentic" to many ghost hunters. It’s named after the year the oldest part of the structure was built. It’s a maze of small rooms and slanted floors.
Room 204. That’s the epicenter.
Anna is the resident spirit here. The legend says she was a young woman who fell in love with a sailor and, when he left, she threw herself from the balcony. Or maybe she was pushed. Or maybe she died of a broken heart. The details vary depending on which tour guide you ask, but the experiences in Room 204 are remarkably similar. Women, in particular, report their belongings being moved. Jewelry ends up in different drawers. Makeup brushes are rearranged. It’s a strange, domestic sort of haunting.
Honestly, it’s one of the few places where the staff will openly admit that things get weird. They don't just lean into the marketing; they seem genuinely wary of certain corners of the building. The basement tavern is another spot—people see a "shadow man" there, often associated with the voodoo practitioners who lived in the area centuries ago.
👉 See also: Why the NYC subway map 2005 version still confuses commuters today
Why Savannah Is Different Than Your Average "Spooky" City
You’ve got to understand the geography. Savannah is a grid. General James Oglethorpe designed it with these beautiful squares, but those squares were often used as burial grounds. When the city expanded, they didn't always move the bodies. They just moved the headstones.
When you stay at a haunted hotel Savannah GA, you are frequently sleeping directly over an unmarked colonial-era cemetery.
Take the Olde Harbour Inn on Factor’s Walk. It sits right on the river. The "Hank" ghost there is legendary. He’s supposedly a former worker who died in a fire. He’s known for stinking up rooms with the smell of cigar smoke. But look deeper. The building sits on the bluff where the city’s earliest and most desperate residents lived and died. The layer of history is so thick you can practically peel it back like wallpaper.
The persistence of these stories isn't just about tourism dollars. Sure, the ghost tours are a massive industry. But talk to the night auditors. Talk to the housekeeping staff who refuse to go into certain rooms alone. They have no reason to lie to you when the cameras aren't rolling. They’ll tell you about the heavy doors that bolt themselves from the inside or the feeling of being watched while they're changing the linens.
Realities of Booking a Haunted Stay
If you’re actually going to do this, don't expect a Hollywood movie. Most hauntings are subtle. It’s a feeling of "wrongness" in the air. It's a shadow in the periphery of your vision that vanishes when you turn your head.
🔗 Read more: Where to Go in Nashville: Why Most People Get the Music City Wrong
- The Marshall House: Best for Civil War buffs. It’s centrally located on Broughten Street. If you want the "classic" experience, ask for the fourth floor.
- The Kehoe House: Best for couples. It’s an upscale B&B. It’s quiet, which makes every weird noise in the middle of the night sound ten times louder.
- The 17Hundred90 Inn: Best for the hardcore skeptics. It’s cramped and old. If anything is going to convince you that ghosts are real, it’s a night in Room 204.
- The Eliza Thompson House: Located on Jones Street (often called the prettiest street in America). It was the first house built on this street, and guests often see Confederate soldiers standing in the courtyard.
How to Handle a "Haunted" Room
First, don't provoke anything. It sounds cheesy, but most "investigators" who come in shouting for signs get nothing but silence. The most active rooms are usually the ones where people are just trying to sleep.
Bring a camera, but don't rely on it. "Orbs" are usually just dust caught in a flash. Instead, pay attention to your own physical reactions. Do the hairs on your arms stand up? Do you feel a sudden, inexplicable sense of dread? That’s your lizard brain reacting to an environmental shift that your conscious mind hasn't processed yet.
Also, keep in mind that these are historic buildings. They creak. They have drafts. The "ghostly" footsteps you hear might just be the building settling after a 95-degree Georgia day. But when you hear those footsteps walk across a carpeted floor and stop right next to your ear... well, science doesn't have a great explanation for that.
Actionable Steps for Your Savannah Ghost Hunt
If you’re serious about experiencing a haunted hotel Savannah GA, don't just book the first room you see on a travel site.
- Call the hotel directly. Ask the front desk which rooms have the most "guest feedback regarding unusual activity." They know exactly which ones they are.
- Book during the shoulder season. October is packed and expensive. Try January or February. The city is mistier, quieter, and much more atmospheric.
- Walk the squares at night. Start at Calhoun Square, which is widely considered the most haunted due to the number of unmarked graves. Then walk back to your hotel. The transition from the dark, quiet squares to your "haunted" room sets the psychological stage.
- Check the archives. If you want to debunk or confirm a story, the Georgia Historical Society is right there in Savannah. You can look up the actual death records for the families who lived in these houses.
Savannah isn't trying to be scary. It just is. The city lives with its ghosts the way other cities live with traffic or pigeons. They’re just part of the landscape. Whether you’re a believer or a total skeptic, sleeping in a room where someone took their last breath 150 years ago changes you. It makes the past feel less like a story and more like a neighbor.
Go for the history. Stay for the architecture. But keep the bathroom light on. Just in case.