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11 Most Haunted Hotels in San Antonio, TX

Ready to sleep like the dead? These are the most haunted hotels in San Antonio, Texas that you can actually stay the night in!

San Antonio is one of the most haunted cities in America, so it’s no wonder there are a bunch of haunted hotels here.

If you’re looking for a good scare before bed, check out these haunted San Antonio hotels. Sleep tight!

Gunter Hotel and high rise, San Antonio, Texas

Haunted Hotels in San Antonio

1. Menger Hotel

Menger Hotel at night, San Antonio, Texas

Price: $$ | Rating: 4.5/5 | View rates & availability

The Menger Hotel is one of the most haunted hotels in San Antonio, and one of the most haunted places in the city, with a recorded 32 different spirits that haunt the hotel’s halls. Located just down the street from the Alamo, the hotel essentially sits on old battleground land, contributing to its many ghosts.

The hotel is said to be haunted by Teddy Roosevelt, since the former president recruited his Rough Riders in the hotel’s Menger Bar. Apparently President Roosevelt is still searching for recruits in the afterlife.

When you stay at the Menger Hotel, you may encounter the ghost of Sallie White, a hotel maid who was brutally murdered by her husband, who is still hard at work straightening up the guest rooms. Or you may see Captain Richard King, a rich ranch owner who spent his last days in his personal suite at the hotel. In the afterlife, he still enters his old room through the wall where the door used to be before the hotel was remodeled.

These are just a few of the many apparitions at the Menger Hotel. Other ghostly sightings include: a woman in an old-fashioned blue dress and wire-framed glasses knitting in the hotel’s original lobby; a man in a buckskin jacket and grey pants; and some “helpful” kitchen ghosts who like to transport utensils themselves.

2. Emily Morgan Hotel

Emily Morgan Hotel and Alamo Plaza, San Antonio, Texas

Price: $$ | Rating: 4.3/5 | View rates & availability

A beautiful neo-Gothic hotel that towers over Alamo Plaza, the Emily Morgan Hotel was San Antonio’s first skyscraper. It was built as the city’s first Medical Arts Building, and that coupled with its location on old Alamo battlegrounds makes it easy to see why the hotel would be named the 3rd Most Haunted Hotel in the World by USA Today.

The most haunted floors of the Emily Morgan Hotel are the 7th, 9th, 14th, and basement floors. These floors acted as the psychiatric ward, surgery level, waiting area, and morgue respectively.

But really, all the floors of the Emily Morgan Hotel are haunted! Guests have reported feeling a cool breeze brushing up against them; the lingering heavy scent of medicine; opening their doors to the hallway to see a hospital scene; bathroom doors opening and shutting on their own; and bathroom faucets turning on and over flowing in the middle of the night. So all-in-all, a really pleasant stay at the Emily Morgan Hotel!

The elevators seem to have a life of their own and may go up and down without a rider, skip past requested floors, or even trap people inside. They’ve even been known to take guests down to the basement, a restricted floor that’s not open to guests, where employees have reported the smell of burning human flesh.

3. The Gunter Hotel San Antonio Riverwalk

The Gunter Hotel San Antonio Riverwalk at night, San Antonio, Texas

Price: $$ | Rating: 4/5 | View rates & availability

The Gunter Hotel San Antonio Riverwalk (formerly the Sheraton Gunter Hotel) was built in 1837, just a year after the historic Battle of the Alamo. The hotel gained notoriety in 1965 as the site of one of San Antonio’s most gruesome murders.

The most famous guest room at the Gunter Hotel is Room 636. In February 1965, Walter Emerick check into this room under a false name in the company of a tall woman. Two days later, a housekeeper found Emerick standing at the foot of the bed holding a bloody bundle, the room covered in blood. Emerick ran out of the room and disappeared. Despite the blood, no body was found in the room.

A few days later Emerick, using another false name, checked into the St. Anthony Hotel nearby and requested Room 636. He became angry when that room was unavailable, but settled for Room 536. When the staff, by now suspicious of the man’s behavior, called the police to his room, Emerick shot himself before they could enter. The police have never found that tall woman’s body or identified her.

The Gunter Hotel has since split the original Room 636 into two guest rooms, but that hasn’t stopped the hauntings. Guests staying in these rooms report seeing the murder endlessly on repeat or the mystery woman standing in the room with her arms outstretched.

In addition to this mysterious murder, there are a few other ghosts you may witness when you stay at the Gunter Hotel. You’ll can find Alamo soldiers haunting its halls. You might also get a glimpse of two 1920s flappers who haunt opposite sections of the hotel and tend to argue with each other. And in room 414, you can catch the spirit of blues artist Robert Johnson who held a recording session in this room.

4. Hotel Gibbs

King sized bedroom at Hotel Gibbs, San Antonio, Texas
Photo courtesy of Visit San Antonio

Price: $$ | Rating: 4.4/5 | View rates & availability

Hotel Gibbs Downtown San Antonio Riverwalk takes up residence in San Antonio’s first high rise building — the old Gibbs Building. It also sits on what is considered the bloodiest area of the Battle of the Alamo.

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The building has been haunted since the beginning. During construction, workers uncovered two cannons used during the Battle of the Alamo, and as soon as the cannons were removed from the building and placed in museums across the city, the hauntings began.

When you stay at Hotel Gibbs, you may witness figures pushing a cannon across the street toward the hotel and then disappearing without a trace. There are reports of many more Alamo soldiers roaming about.

The ghosts enjoy playing with the hotel’s historic elevators, which are no longer in operation. Guests have seen the doors closing on women in vintage dresses or caught a glimpse of a ghostly elevator operator inside. But these elevators no longer work and are off-limits to guests.

5. Hotel Havana

Hotel Havana sitting room, San Antonio, Texas
Photo by Nick Simonite, courtesy of Visit San Antonio

Price: $$ | Rating: 4.5/5 | View rates & availability

Hotel Havana opened in 1914 and it has served as a hotel, a halfway house, and an office building before becoming a hotel once again. This 27-room boutique hotel has been rumored to be haunted since reopening in 2010.

Back when the building was an office, a fire broke out in the basement and an employee died trapped down there while trying to put the fire out. And when the building became the Hotel Havana, housekeeping staff reported seeing a specter on fire. The specter reportedly grabbed the housekeeper and left a burn mark on her arm. Today, the basement holds the Havana Bar, and many people feel an uneasy energy.

When you stay at Hotel Havana, don’t be surprised to find shadowy figures in your room, hear faint whispers in the hallways, or see something out of the corner of your eye that’s not really there. Some people also report having intense lucid dreams while staying here, in which the hotel features heavily, almost like the building has a Haunting of Hill House hold over you while you’re there.

If you’re looking for a good fright, try to book Room #27, considered the most haunted room in the hotel. The Penthouse Suite also reportedly has an unsettling energy to it, as do rooms #26 and #35. There’s ghostly energy all throughout this hotel, from the sounds of children in the hallways to a phantom perfume scent in the lobby.

6. Holiday Inn Express N-Riverwalk at the Old Bexar County Jail

Holiday Inn Express N-Riverwalk at the Old Bexar County Jail, San Antonio, Texas
Devot007, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Price: $$ | Rating: 3.5/5 | View rates & availability

The Holiday Inn Express NRiverwalk at the Old Bexar County Jail is indeed located in the old county jail. In fact, this was the site of Texas’ last public death by hanging, so it’s no wonder it’s one of San Antonio’s most haunted hotels.

The Old Bexar County Jail was built in 1878 and expanded in 1911. With the expansion, the jail got a unique feature: a hanging gallows inside the jail on the 3rd floor rather than outside the jail. The prisoner would be hanged and dropped through a trap door to the second floor in full view of the other prisoners.

The jail shut down in 1962 and not long after, it was converted into a hotel. When you stay at the Holiday Inn Express Riverwalk at the Old Bexar County Jail, you may experience cold spots, dramatic changes in temperature from spot to spot, even in the height of summer. Don’t be surprised if you get the feeling that someone is watching you.

Employees have reported the security monitors detecting motion when there is nothing there, lights flickering, and disappearing figures. One person even reports being grabbed in the middle of the night and waking with a bruise in the shape of a hand on his arm.

7. The Crockett Hotel

The Crockett Hotel lobby, San Antonio, Texas
Photo courtesy of Visit San Antonio

Price: $$ | Rating: 4.4/5 | View rates & availability

The Crockett Hotel sits right behind the Alamo on the site of some of the bloodiest battles during the Battle of the Alamo. The hotel’s namesake, Davy Crockett, defended the Alamo and is said to have died on the spot where the hotel’s swimming pool and patio now sit.

The hotel was built in 1909 by The Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternal order that dates back to 17th century England. And given its locale, it’s not surprising that it’s said to be haunted by fallen Alamo soldiers, including Davy Crockett himself.

Hotel patrons report hearing sounds of horses’ hooves, chanting and war-shouts, and disembodied footsteps echoing throughout the hallways. The motion-activated front doors will open on their own, without anyone there to trigger them. You may even catch a translucent orb in your photos.

When you stay at the Crockett Hotel, look for paranormal activity in the bar and lobby. The elevator may even take you for a ride of its own accord.

8. The St. Anthony Hotel

St. Anthony Hotel overhang, San Antonio, Texas
Gaberlunzi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Price: $$$ | Rating: 4.5/5 | View rates & availability

The St. Anthony Hotel was built in 1909 and was the first purely luxury hotel in Texas. But that hasn’t stopped its haunted reputation.

A great place to start looking for ghosts at The St. Anthony is the Haunt Lounge, the hotel’s playfully named bar where you can find cocktails named after the hotel’s ghosts. The bathroom by the Cavalier room is said to be haunted by the Lavender Lady, a ghost who emits a phantom scent of lavender.

There’s also the apparition of the Lady in Red, a ghostly figure in a red dress who wanders the halls and enters the women’s bathroom only to disappear inside one of the stalls. The hotel’s 10th floor is said to be the most haunted level, with reports of phantom footsteps, a knocking sound on all the doors, and the figure of a tall man in a dark suit riding the elevator who disappears when he steps out onto the 10th floor. When you stay at The St. Anthony, there are plenty of ghosts for you to see.

And let’s not forget the murderer from the Gunter Hotel who made his way next to The St. Anthony and checked into Room 536. When the police came to arrest him, he shot himself in the head inside his hotel room. Guests and employees report a strange energy on the 5th floor still to this day.

9. Omni La Mansión del Rio Hotel

Decorative waterfall in front of the Omni La Mansión del Rio, San Antonio, Texas Hotel

Price: $$ | Rating: 4.4/5 | View rates & availability

Omni La Mansión del Rio Hotel started as a Catholic school in the 1850s until it became a hotel in the 1960s. Today, the hotel is said to be haunted by the school’s former students.

School’s never out for the ghosts that haunt the Omni La Mansión del Rio Hotel. The hotel’s most well-known ghostly resident is Little Jimmy, a precocious young Catholic student who is usually seen in what was the school gymnasium and is now an event space. He’s been known to make a window mysteriously crack, the last window on the left.

Guests staying at Omni La Mansión del Rio Hotel report strange feelings, cold spots, and restless nights with figures looming over them as they slept. The rambunctious schoolboys seem to still enjoy a good prank, even in the afterlife.

10. Hotel Emma

Hotel Emma, San Antonio, Texas

Price: $$$$ | Rating: 4.8/5 | View rates & availability

Hotel Emma is located in the former Pearl Brewery and is named for Emma Koehler, the president of the brewery. This luxury hotel is said to still be haunted by the former CEO.

Emma Koehler took over as president of the brewery when her husband Otto was shot dead in 1914 by his mistress, also named Emma. In fact, Otto ended up with two mistresses, both named Emma, both nurses hired to care for Emma Koehler after a car accident. The mistress who shot and killed Otto claimed that Otto threatened her with a gun first, and she was quicker on the draw, shooting him three times.

The mistress was found not guilty of murder, both mistress Emmas moved on with their lives, and Emma Koehler recovered from her car accident injuries and took over the brewery, managing to keep it alive during prohibition with a lot of creative initiatives.

And it seems that Emma Koehler isn’t quite finished with her brewery. During construction converting the brewery into the hotel, workers claimed to see a woman walking the halls in the unfinished space. When you stay at the Hotel Emma today, you may still see a full-bodied apparition that disappears when it turns a corner. People believe this to be the spirit of Emma Koehler, still keeping tabs on her brewery in the afterlife.

11. The Bullis House Inn

Price: $ | Rating: 4/5 | View rates & availability

The Bullis House Inn was built in 1909 for General John Lapham Bullis, who was known for his part in the capture of Apache Chief Geronimo. Its proximity to the Quadrangle, a military headquarters where Geronimo was held prisoner, lends itself to the bed & breakfast’s haunted lore.

The house was turned into a B&B in 1983, and one of the most prevalent stories since then says that Apache Chief Geronimo haunts the mansion, particularly on the second floor. Some even report seeing the ghost of General John Bullis himself.

Many people staying at the Bullis House Inn here get an unsettling feeling on the top floor, as if something is watching you. Guests have reported hearing disembodied voices and laughter in their rooms at night.

Haunted Hotels San Antonio Map

Ready for a stay at these haunted hotels in San Antonio, Texas? Use the map below to plan out your trip.

I hope you get a good night’s sleep at these haunted San Antonio hotels!

Haunted San Antonio Hotels FAQ

What is the most haunted hotel in Texas?

The Emily Morgan Hotel in San Antonio is considered the most haunted hotel in all of Texas.

What floor of the Emily Morgan Hotel is haunted?

Pretty much every floor of the Emily Morgan Hotel is said to have ghosts, but the most haunted floors are considered the 7th, 9th, and 14th floors (plus the basement, which isn’t open to guests). If you’re really looking for a good scare, try to get a room on the 7th floor.

Is Hotel Gibbs haunted?

The Hotel Gibbs is said to be haunted by the ghosts of fallen Alamo soldiers. They can be seen pushing cannons outside the hotel or taking the hotel’s vintage elevators that aren’t in operation anymore.

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Top San Antonio Tours

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Where to Stay in San Antonio

Find the perfect place to rest your head on your visit to San Antonio, from the top rated accommodations to unique stays you can’t get anywhere else.

Want More Haunted Travels?

Check out these other spooky locations around the world:

More Things to Do in San Antonio

Discover more of what San Antonio, Texas has to offer with these itineraries:


Ready to visit San Antonio, Texas? Plan your trip with these tips.


Cheers!

Paige

11 Most Haunted Hotels in San Antonio, TX

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