The Most Haunted Hotels in Asheville

Posted: 03.05.2025 | Updated: 03.05.2025

Known for its sweeping views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Asheville also has a reputation for its haunted hotels. Across the city and its surrounding areas, Asheville’s haunted hotels range from quaint bed and breakfasts to luxury hotels. Wherever you end up staying, you might have to share a room with a ghost.

Planning your next trip to Asheville and want to take a ghost tour? Learn about Asheville’s haunted history by booking a ghost tour with Asheville Terrors today!

What Are The Most Haunted Hotels In Asheville?

With a city as old as Asheville, it’s no surprise that many hotels in the area have at least one ghost story. However, some hotels are arguably more haunted than others. Take for example the Omni Grove Park Inn, which was the site of a tragedy that resulted in over 100 years of hauntings. 

At the Balsam Mountain Inn, a skeptical innkeeper became a full-on believer in the paranormal after her first night in this haunted spot. At the Reynolds Mansion, guests can enjoy a classic bed and breakfast experience while interacting with the ghosts of the family who originally owned the home.

Omni Grove Park Inn

Nestled in Sunset Mountain, the Omni Grove Park Inn is one of Asheville’s most iconic and haunted hotels. Built in 1913 by Edwin Wiley Grove, the hotel became a destination spot for politicians and celebrities alike. 

William Taft was the first president to stay at the hotel and Barack Obama was the most recent president to spend the night there. In the early days of the hotel, public figures like Thomas Edison and F. Scott Fitzgerald were said to frequent the inn. Fitzgerald even wrote part of The Great Gatsby there while Zelda Fitzgerald was undergoing psychiatric care at a nearby sanitarium. 

Tragedy struck the Omni Grove Park Inn in 1920 when a young woman fell from the 5th floor balcony onto the 3rd floor’s Palm Court atrium. Some say the woman was jilted by the man she had been having an affair with and took her own life. 

Others suspect she was pushed by the man, or that she simply lost her footing and fell. Whatever the case, the woman’s body was rolled in a carpet and quietly removed from the inn. She had been staying in room 545, but since the room was in the man’s name, her identity has been lost to time. 

The Pink Lady

Now known as the Pink Lady, the spirit of the woman who lost her life over a century ago has been seen throughout the Omni Grove Park Inn. She appears to guests and staff shrouded in pink mist. Guests staying in room 545 report unexplained cold spots and electronics that turn on and off by themselves. A rather mischievous spirit, the Pink Lady has been known to open and close doors and tickle the feet of sleeping guests.

When a paranormal group investigated the inn in the 1990s, they collected 50 eyewitness accounts of people who had experienced the Pink Lady of the Omni Grove Park Inn. 

Balsam Mountain Inn

A short drive from downtown Asheville, the Balsam Mountain Inn sits on the edge of North Carolina’s Nantahala Forest. The picturesque landscape and proximity to the Southern Railway led brothers-in-law Joseph Kenny and Walter Christy to build the Balsam Mountain Inn there.

Construction began in 1905 and the hotel opened in 1908 when it quickly became a popular tourist destination. The success of the Balsam Mountain Inn was short-lived and tourism had dwindled to almost non-existent by the 1940s. 

It wasn’t until the current owner purchased it in 2017 that the Balsam Mountain Inn’s luck started to turn around. It was also at this time that the owner discovered the inn was extremely haunted.

Owner Marzena Wyszyska had been warned about the ghosts of Balsam Mountain Inn but was skeptical at best. However, it took only one night at the inn to make her a believer. 

Wyszyska awoke with a start on her first night in the hotel after the sheets were ripped off her bed by an unseen force. The next morning, she heard scratching on the wall to the (supposedly empty) room next to her.

Wyszyska had a priest bless the hotel, which only made the spirits more active. It wasn’t until paranormal investigators encouraged Wyszyska to embrace the spirits that they became friendlier. Wyszska has placed “welcome” signs above the guest rooms where spirit activity has been reported.

Shadow figures are seen in the hotel and guests report hearing disembodied talking and laughing. Doors will open and shut by themselves and objects will be moved to odd places. The ghost of a sheriff who died in room 205 after being shot outside the hotel in 1928 is known for harassing female guests. 

Reynolds Mansion

Built in 1847 for Colonel Daniel Reynolds and his family, the Reynolds Mansion is one of only three brick buildings in North Carolina that survived the Civil War. The large home stayed in the Reynolds family for generations and underwent an extensive renovation at the turn of the 20th century after Nathaniel Reynolds inherited the house. 

Reynolds was a mortician, and it’s rumored that he embalmed people in the house. In 1920, Nathaniel rented the Reynolds Mansion to Dr. Elizabeth Smith who used it as an osteopathic sanitarium. 

The Reynolds family eventually sold the mansion, which changed hands several times before becoming a bed and breakfast in 1972. Several people have owned it since then, and most of them acknowledge that there are some restless spirits who have never left Reynolds Mansion.

Two female ghosts are believed to haunt the Reynolds Mansion. One of these spirits is Annie Lee Reynolds who lived in the home as a spinster. She reportedly died due to complications from tuberculosis, and her apparition has been seen in the house ever since. 

She is most often seen standing on the main staircase. You can also stay in Annie’s old bedroom. Now called guestroom Maggie, this room is known for being the most haunted in the entire bed and breakfast.

The ghost of a six-year-old girl is also said to haunt the bed and breakfast. This girl was likely one of the Reynolds daughters who died from typhoid fever. Her spirit usually appears as an orb of light accompanied by disembodied child laughter. One former owner said of the hauntings, “You learn to deal with it.”

Haunted Asheville

The haunted hotels of Asheville each have their own unique story as well as ghosts. If you want to hear all about the hauntings of Asheville, don’t forget to book your ghost tour with Asheville Terrors now! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, and keep reading our blog for more real North Carolina hauntings.

Sources:

• https://ashevilleterrors.com/grove-park-inn/
• https://ashevilleterrors.com/balsam-mountain-inn/
• https://mountainx.com/news/horror-in-the-highlands-ashevilles-ghostly-legends-provide-a-glimpse-into-citys-past/