Portland’s haunted hotels come in two kinds. Downtown, the Heathman and the Benson are elegant old hotels a ten-minute walk apart on Broadway, each with stories told by guests and staff for decades. Around them, the McMenamins family has turned old institutional buildings into hotels, and it does not shy away from their ghosts: the White Eagle saloon across the river, Edgefield in Troutdale, the Grand Lodge in Forest Grove and Hotel Oregon in McMinnville. Ghost stories here are told as guests, staff and local press tell them. For the rest of the state, see our guide to haunted hotels in Oregon.
$$ · $150 to $300Haunted room bookableGhost tours or eventsHotel embraces its ghostsPet friendly
Address 2126 SW Halsey Street, Troutdale, OR 97060
Where to look Room 215, the main lodge corridors and the old poor farm buildings
Reported ghosts A nurse in the halls, a woman reciting nursery rhymes, a figure peeking from a closet
Booking the haunted room Ask McMenamins for room 215 in the main lodge when booking.
Edgefield opened in 1911 as the Multnomah County Poor Farm, where people with nowhere else to go lived and worked the land. It later became a nursing home, stood empty in the 1980s, and was bought by McMenamins in 1990. Today it is a 74-acre estate 15 miles east of downtown Portland, with over 100 rooms, gardens, a winery, a soaking pool and a summer concert lawn.
Staff and guests describe a nurse in the halls and a woman who faintly recites nursery rhymes. A worker boarding up windows in 1989 saw a figure peeking out of a closet, and guest logs record unseen hands grabbing ankles. Yelp reviewers named room 215 as haunted when Yelp ranked Edgefield among its top 25 haunted hotels in 2022. McMenamins runs Edgefield ghost tours.
Haunted Rooms tip: Request room 215 in the main lodge and book a McMenamins Edgefield ghost tour, which runs on selected Fridays.
$$ · $150 to $300Haunted room bookableGhost tours or events
Address 1001 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97205
Where to look Rooms 703, 803 and 1003 (the '03' stack), the seventh floor and the library
Reported ghosts An unseen guest in the '03' rooms, a woman heard sobbing on the seventh floor, a figure at the foot of the bed
Booking the haunted room Request room 703, 803 or 1003 by number when booking; it is a request, not a guarantee.
The Heathman opened on December 17, 1927 as the New Heathman Hotel, a ten-story brick tower by Portland architects DeYoung & Roald, next to what is now the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. It is still Portland’s arts hotel, with a library of books signed by visiting authors, and has been run by Aparium Hotel Group since 2023.
Its ghost stories all point to one vertical line of rooms. Guests in 703, 803 and 1003 report used towels, moved glasses and chairs, and a shape standing at the end of the bed. CBS News visited room 703, where a longtime employee pointed to room 303 below and a death in 1975. Staff are said to be careful about who gets 703.
Haunted Rooms tip: Request room 703 when you book and again at check-in. If it is taken, ask for 803 or 1003, which sit in the same stack.
$ · Under $150Haunted room bookableGhost tours or eventsHotel embraces its ghostsPet friendly
Address 836 N Russell Street, Portland, OR 97227
Where to look The upstairs rooms (staff knock before entering Room 3), the basement and the men's restroom
Reported ghosts Sam, a longtime resident; Rose, a woman said to have been killed upstairs; a bartender and a bouncer
Booking the haunted room Book through McMenamins and ask for Room 3, the room staff talk about.
Polish immigrants Bronislaw Soboleski and William Hryszko opened the White Eagle in 1905 in what was then a working riverside neighborhood. McMenamins now runs it as a rock-and-roll saloon with 11 simple hotel rooms upstairs that share a bathroom down the hall. Bands play downstairs most nights, so this is a stay for night owls rather than light sleepers.
McMenamins itself calls it a place of ‘tales of ghosts and mischief’. Staff talk about Sam, a longtime resident said to have died in the building, and Rose, a woman said to have been killed upstairs, though Explore notes that even the brothel story may not be true. The manager told Willamette Week that staff still knock before entering Room 3.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask for Room 3 and join a Friday ghost tour if you are there in October.
Where to look The main staircase, the Palm Court bar, the meeting rooms, and the 7th, 9th and 12th floors
Reported ghosts Simon Benson, a lady in white, a woman in a turquoise dress seen in a lobby mirror, a vanishing porter, a little boy on the 9th floor
The Benson opened on March 4, 1913 as the New Oregon Hotel, timed to the minute of Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration. Lumber baron and teetotaler Simon Benson, who gave Portland its ‘Benson Bubbler’ drinking fountains, took it over and renamed it in 1914. Its walnut-paneled lobby and Palm Court still look the part, and since 2021 it has been part of Hilton’s Curio Collection.
Staff and guests say Benson never left. He is described descending the main staircase in a formal suit and, in a nod to his dislike of drink, tipping over glasses at the bar. Other stories tell of a lady in white in the corridors, a woman in turquoise glimpsed only in a lobby mirror, a porter who vanishes before he can be tipped, and a small boy on the 9th floor.
Haunted Rooms tip: Have a drink in the Palm Court and look at the staircase from the lobby; the most repeated sighting is right there.
$$ · $150 to $300Haunted room bookableHotel embraces its ghostsPet friendly
Address 3505 Pacific Avenue, Forest Grove, OR 97116
Where to look The second-floor hallway of the main lodge, near Room 232
Reported ghosts The Lavender Lady (a white-haired woman some call Anna) and the laughter of children
Booking the haunted room Ask for Room 232 on the second floor, where the Lavender Lady is said to linger.
The Grand Lodge was built as the Masonic and Eastern Star Home, a retirement home for Masons and their families that opened in 1922, with a children’s cottage for orphans added in 1926. McMenamins reopened it in March 2000 as a 90-room hotel with bars in the old doctor’s office, a soaking pool and a small theater, about 40 minutes west of Portland.
McMenamins says late-night guests ‘may meet the Lavender Lady, whose spirit is said to drift through the halls’. Stories describe a white-haired woman in a long patterned dress who leaves a scent of lavender, believed to be a longtime resident named Anna who died just short of 100. The local tourism board suggests Room 232, and staff have also reported children’s laughter in empty halls.
Haunted Rooms tip: Stay in the main lodge rather than the outbuildings, and walk the upstairs halls after the bars close.
Address 310 NE Evans Street, McMinnville, OR 97128
Where to look Room 203 (the Ollie Ruffler White room), the cellar bar and the hallways
Reported ghosts John, a mischievous presence reported since the 1980s on the rooftop, halls and elevator; a presence in room 203; children heard playing
Booking the haunted room Rooms are named, so you can ask McMenamins for room 203 (Ollie Ruffler White) by name.
Hotel Oregon opened in 1905 as the two-story Hotel Elberton, gained its upper floors in 1910 and took its current name in 1932. It is still the tallest building in downtown McMinnville, about an hour southwest of Portland. Its lobby was a bus depot for two decades and its upper floors sat closed from 1967 until McMenamins reopened it in 1999. Its 36 rooms are each named for a person from its past.
Oregon Wine Press collected the stories in 2017: a guest who felt ‘pushed out’ of room 203, named for Ollie Ruffler White; a regular called John said to roam the rooftop bar and halls; and a former employee who watched a heavy steel cylinder spin in the cellar bar office as the room went cold. OPB adds reports of children heard playing.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask for room 203, then finish the night at the rooftop bar, where the stories about John are set.
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.
Changes to this guide: We removed the Shilo Inn Hotel & Suites because we could not find a published source naming the property or supporting its stories. We added the White Eagle Saloon & Hotel, McMenamins Edgefield and McMenamins Grand Lodge, all with well-documented ghost stories. Hotel Oregon opened in 1905 as the Hotel Elberton and is in McMinnville, about an hour southwest of Portland.
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.
What is the most haunted hotel in Portland, Oregon?
The Heathman Hotel is the best known, for room 703 and the stack of rooms ending in 03 where guests report moved furniture, used towels and a figure at the foot of the bed. The Benson and the White Eagle are close behind.
Can you book a haunted room in Portland?
Yes, as a request. Ask for room 703, 803 or 1003 at the Heathman, Room 3 at the White Eagle, room 215 at Edgefield, or room 203 at Hotel Oregon in McMinnville.
Are there ghost tours at Portland's haunted hotels?
McMenamins runs ghost tours at the White Eagle and Edgefield, mostly in October, and downtown Portland ghost walks pass the Heathman and the Benson.
Which Portland haunted hotels are cheapest?
The White Eagle has 11 simple rooms with a shared bathroom, around $110 a night. Hotel Oregon in McMinnville is also good value.
Is the Shilo Inn in Portland haunted?
Older versions of this page listed a Shilo Inn, but we could not find any published source identifying which Shilo Inn or backing the stories, so we removed it.
Sources and how we research
Every hotel in this guide is checked against the hotel’s own website, historic register listings and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as the hotels, guests and local historians tell them; we note where a story can’t be confirmed. Read how we rate haunted hotels.
New guides, haunted hotel picks and ghost hunt dates near you. No spam, unsubscribe any time.
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.
Booking links on this page are affiliate links. If you book through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It never affects which hotels we include or how we score them.
