EUREKA SPRINGS, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — A hotel in Northwest Arkansas was recently recognized as the “best haunted hotel” in America by voters in USA Today polls.
The publication’s 10Best Reachers Choice highlighted the best haunted hotels by having an expert panel select 20 of the best and have readers vote for their favorites.
The 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa was voted as the top haunted hotel.
“Located in the heart of the Ozark Mountains, 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa has been a top destination for Arkansas visitors since the 20th century,” USA Today said.
Here are the top 10 haunted hotels:
- 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa – Eureka Springs, Arkansas
- Fainting Goat Island Inn – Nichols, New York
- The Marshall House – Savannah, Georgia
- The Queen Mary – Long Beach, California
- Hotel Saranac – Saranac Lake, New York
- Driskill Hotel – Austin, Texas
- Lemp Mansion Restaurant & Inn – St. Louis, Missouri
- Hotel Monteleone – New Orleans, Louisiana
- Lizzie Borden House – Fall River, Massachusetts
- The Stanley Hotel – Estes Park, Colorado
“Some believe that the property has gained a few ghostly residents over the years, especially considering the fact that the hotel used to be a cancer hospital run by a corrupt con,” USA Today continued.
Guests at the hotel have reported hearing rattling furniture late at night, slamming doors, and the occasional nurse pushing a gurney down the hallway.
The hotel opened in 1886 but closed in the 1930s because of the economy. A few years later, con-man Norman Baker purchased the building and turned it into the Baker’s Cancer Curing Hospital.
Baker claimed he had cancer-curing treatments but they were a scam and many people died under his care.
The building was transformed back into a hotel in 1946 and restored to its former glory. However, the ghosts of Baker’s former patients and other spirits are rumored to roam The Crescent.