4 of the Most Terrifying Haunted Hotels in Illinois

Weird things happen in hotels, everyone knows that, but many hotels throughout Illinois are hiding some eerie secrets too.

Personally, I have never had anything unnerving occur will staying at a hotel, but I  guarantee I would come unglued if any of these experiences happened to me...

Haunted Hotels in Illinois

If paranormal experiences are an amenity you look for when choosing a place to stay, these 5 hotels in Illinois are a great place to start.

1. Hotel Baker in St. Charles, Illinois

This gorgeous and historic hotel is located on the banks of the Fox River and was built in 1928. Local legend says a chambermaid at the hotel drowned herself in the river after being jilted by her fiancé, (who was also a hotel employee), and now haunts the sixth floor of the hotel where the chambermaids used to live.

The sixth floors has since been converted to a Penthouse Suite, and hauntedrooms.com says;

 guests there frequently report their bedding being disturbed by unseen hands and hearing disembodied sobbing.

2. Desoto House in Galena, Illinois

Galena is one of my favorite places to visit in Illinois, and of all the times I've gone there, I have never been brave enough to book a room at the DeSoto House due to its infamous history of hauntings.

The DeSoto House Hotel is one of the oldest hotels in Illinois with a long history of celebrity guests, (Abraham Lincoln once made a speech on its balcony!), but the 'Lady in Black' is the one guest people talk about the most.

Illinois Haunted Houses says many guests have reported; "phantom cigar smoke, voices in the halls, and apparitions of people wearing period clothing who seem to walk or float through the walls".

3. Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago, Illinois

There are several reason the Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago is often called the most haunted hotel in Illinois, and even America. For one, multiple ghosts are rumored to haunt the hotel. Secondly, it is said this hotel was the inspiration for Stephen King's '1408'. Thirdly, there is a room on the twelfth floor that is so disturbing that the hotels sealed the door and wallpapered over it!

Some of the terrifying experiences people have reported at the Congress Hotel include;

• unexplained organ music
• mysterious moans and groans on a 5th floor elevator
• people going missing from photos taken at Congress Hotel events
• A one-legged apparition in the South Tower

4. Drake Hotel in Chicago, Illinois

The grand opening of the luxurious Drake Hotel in Chicago in 1920 was plagued with tragedy as a 'woman in red' jumped from the hotel's roof during the opening night gala after finding her fiancé in the arms of another woman. Ever since that day, the "Lady in Red" has been spotted the halls of the 10th floor at The Drake.

Hauntedrooms.com says The Drake is also home to a few other high profile spirits including "The Franks" and "The Lady in Black",  (read more about the numerous Drake hauntings, here).