Haunted hotel guide · Bethany Beach, Delaware
The Haunted Addy Sea, Bethany Beach: The Shaking Copper Tub, Room 11 and the Footsteps on the Roof
A shingled Victorian inn on the sand at Bethany Beach, where a copper bathtub is said to shake with guests in it and organ music plays in a room with no organ. Here are the stories, the Addy family history and how to book the rooms.
The Addy Sea sits right on the beach at the end of Ocean View Parkway in Bethany Beach, one of the quietest resort towns on the Delaware coast. It looks like a postcard: dark cedar shingles, white trim, white-railed porches and rocking chairs facing the Atlantic. Inside are original woodwork and brass fixtures, 16 guest rooms with private baths and a dining room where breakfast and afternoon tea are served. Guests step off the veranda onto the sand.
It is also the most famous haunted hotel in Delaware. Three of its rooms have their own ghost stories, from a copper tub that shakes with bathers in it to a man who sits on the end of the bed. This guide covers what guests report, the history behind the names and how to stay.
The Addy Sea at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 99 Ocean View Parkway, Bethany Beach, DE 19930
- Built Around 1902 as the Addy family’s summer home (the inn’s listing says 1904); a guest house since the 1930s
- Most haunted spots Room 1 and its copper tub, Room 6, Room 11, the hallways and the roof
- Best-known ghosts Paul Dulaney, a former handyman, in Room 11; Kurtz Addy, said to have fallen from the roof
- Booking the haunted room Book directly with the inn and ask for Room 1, 6 or 11 by number
- Good to know Oceanfront with private beach access. Breakfast and afternoon tea included. Summer weekends sell out early
The ghosts of the Addy Sea
Room 1 and the shaking copper tub
The Addy Sea’s most famous fixture is the copper bathtub in Room 1. John Addy, a plumber by trade, is said to have brought it with him from Pittsburgh when he built the house, and it is still in use. Guests say that while they are in the bath the tub begins to vibrate, then shake violently, and stops as suddenly as it started.
Some put it down to old plumbing and the pounding surf a few yards away. Others note that it seems to happen to people lying perfectly still in a full tub. Either way, it is the room people ask for first.
Organ music in Room 6
Guests in Room 6 describe being woken by organ music, faint but clear, as if someone were playing in the next room. There is no organ in the room or anywhere in the inn. Nobody has offered a convincing explanation for where the music comes from, or who might be playing it.
Paul Dulaney in Room 11
Room 11 is linked to Paul Dulaney (also spelled Delaney), who worked for the Addys as a handyman and was a local swimming star. The story goes that he died out of state on a construction job, but came back to the house he knew. Guests say they have seen a man sitting on the end of the bed or standing beside it, who disappears when they sit up.
Kurtz Addy and the footsteps on the roof
The Addys’ son, remembered as a wild young man and named in retellings as Kurtz or Kurty, is said to have died after falling from the roof of the house. Guests hear footsteps crossing the roof at night, and something running through the hallways in the evening is blamed on him too. One of the stranger tales says copies of his obituary have turned up in odd places around the inn. We could not find a record of his death, so treat the details as family legend.
Perfume, music and locked closets
Elsewhere, guests report the scent of perfume in the halls, mysterious music, lights that flicker, an answering machine that switched itself on and, in at least one retelling, a guest who found herself locked in her own closet. None of it is described as threatening. It fits the inn’s mood: an old family beach house that never quite emptied.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- Room 1: Home of John Addy’s copper tub, said to shake with bathers in it. The most requested room in the inn.
- Room 6: Where guests are woken by organ music, though there is no organ in the building.
- Room 11: Where a man, said to be former handyman Paul Dulaney, is seen on or beside the bed.
- The halls and porches: Footsteps on the roof, perfume and running in the evenings are reported throughout the house.
History of Addy Sea Historic Oceanfront Inn
Bethany Beach was founded in 1901 as a seaside resort for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and many of its first summer residents came from western Pennsylvania. John Addy, a Pittsburgh plumber and one of the town’s founding members, built his family’s summer home on the oceanfront around 1902; the inn’s current listing gives 1904.
The coast was not kind to early beach houses. In the 1920s the Addy house was moved twice to new lots to escape the storm surges that kept eating into the dunes. During the Depression the family began renting rooms to church groups, and from that grew a guest house and, eventually, a bed and breakfast.
The Gravatte family took over the house and business in the 1970s and restored it with care to keep its Victorian character, from the woodwork and brass fixtures to that copper tub. Today the Addy Sea Historic Oceanfront Inn is a member of Select Registry, with 16 rooms, an oceanfront lawn that hosts weddings in spring and fall, and a reputation as the most haunted place to sleep on the Delaware shore.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Call or book on the inn’s own site and ask for Room 1, 6 or 11 by number; summer weekends fill months ahead.
- Visit in spring or fall for quieter halls, cheaper rates and the best chance of a rocking chair on the porch.
- Listen for the footsteps after dark: guests say they are clearest on calm nights when the surf is low.
- Take afternoon tea in the parlor and ask staff about the house’s history.
- Drive 20 minutes north to see the other haunted inns in Delaware, including Bewitched & BEDazzled in Rehoboth Beach.
- Want a real investigation? Haunted Rooms runs ghost hunts at Linville Manor in Maryland and Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia.
Want to investigate, not just sleep?
Sleeping in a haunted hotel is one thing. Investigating one after dark is another. On a Haunted Rooms ghost hunt our team takes you through the building with professional ghost hunting equipment, runs EVP sessions and lets you explore on your own during free roam.
- 1852 Linville Manor Ghost Hunt & Sleepover, Upper Marlboro, Maryland: Investigate an 1852 manor house, then stay the night.
- Fort Mifflin Ghost Hunt, Philadelphia: A night in one of America’s most haunted forts.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Haunted hotels in Maryland: Including the Atlantic Hotel in Berlin, 30 minutes south
- Atlantic Hotel, Berlin, Maryland: An 1895 Victorian hotel near Ocean City
- Haunted hotels in New Jersey: Cape May is a ferry ride from Lewes
- Haunted hotels in Delaware
Stayed in one of these hotels? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from guests and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your stay. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Addy Sea in Bethany Beach haunted?
Guests report a copper tub that shakes in Room 1, organ music in Room 6, a man on the bed in Room 11, footsteps on the roof and perfume in the halls. It is Delaware’s best-known haunted inn.
Which rooms are haunted at the Addy Sea?
Rooms 1, 6 and 11. Room 1 has the shaking copper tub, Room 6 the organ music and Room 11 the apparition said to be former handyman Paul Dulaney.
Can you book the haunted rooms at the Addy Sea?
Yes. They are regular guest rooms. Book directly with the inn and ask for Room 1, 6 or 11 by number.
When was the Addy Sea built?
Around 1902, as the summer home of John Addy, a Pittsburgh plumber and one of Bethany Beach’s founders. The inn’s listing gives 1904. The house was moved twice in the 1920s.
Is the Addy Sea on the beach?
Yes. It is oceanfront at 99 Ocean View Parkway with private beach access, and guests step off the veranda onto the sand.
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.
- Select Registry: Addy Sea Historic Oceanfront Inn
- Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State: Addy Sea Inn (2014)
- U.S. Census Bureau geocoder: 99 Ocean View Parkway
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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