America’s #1 Haunted Hotel Is Officially Here In New York State

It’s always so hard when you come to the end of a really great vacation and have to go home. Have you ever been to a hotel so nice, friendly, and relaxing you never wanted to leave? Well, some hotels across America have guests that must have liked their stays so much they never left, even after death.

USA Today recently released their 2022 10Best, a yearly reader’s poll featuring the best destinations in America by category. With haunted tourism becoming a growing niche for the travel industry, it makes sense they would include a 10Best Haunted Hotels – and this year’s number one is here in New York State.

10Best, 2Haunted

To be named the newspaper's top haunted hotel in the country is no easy feat. To put it in perspective, this year’s winner dethroned the Stanley Hotel, which was Stephen King’s inspiration for The Shining. So yeah, this place is pretty spooky. A former Railroad Hotel for the Erie/Lackawanna Railroad in the 1800s, this year’s haunted champ is Nichols, New York’s Fainting Goat Island Inn.

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The five-room hotel near the New York/Pennsylvania border has more than its share of supernatural guests to share your room. Two women have been seen (and heard) enjoying tea in the Fainting Room in the dead of night. Many visitors hear someone walking up a staircase that was torn down years ago. The Fainting Goat owners say they found a doll and a knife found in the ceiling, and a child’s chair regularly moves in one room.

On One Hand, Ghosts. On The Other, Cinnamon Buns.

The hotel is a member of the Haunted History Trail of New York State. The Fainting Goat’s newest guest room - The Angora – has gotten lots of paranormal visits, with guests feeling like someone was sitting with them on the bed, sheets being tossed off in the middle of the night, and even a guest reported being held down by a spirit.

If this is overwhelming you with dread, know The Fainting Goat Island Inn also has a potbelly pig named Porkchop and a herd of the famous fainting goats roaming the grounds, plus homemade cinnamon buns in the morning if you survive the night. Demand is high, but reservations can be made at the hotel’s website. Even if you don’t want to stay, they still offer frequent tours and ghost hunts.

Upstate's Haunted Hotel

Another haunted New York hotel also made the 10Best at number four: Upstate’s Hotel Saranac at Saranac Lake, which was built on the grounds of a former high school. Some say the school’s old superintendent still roams the grounds, so make sure you always have your hall pass.

If more lighthearted hotels are your speed, USA Today also named an Upstate resort to its 10Best Destination Resorts (though it was opened in the 1880s, so odds are there is probably at least one ghost on premises). Congratulations not only to the hotel managers, but also the ghosts on these big honors.