Five Maine inns where guests report something they cannot explain, from a sea captain in a Kennebunkport basement to a lake inn where the piano plays itself.
Maine’s haunted inns are sea captains’ houses, Victorian mansions and lakeside lodges, and their ghosts tend to be the people who built or loved them. Every place in the main list takes overnight guests today. We checked current names and status, corrected the details older guides got wrong and noted what we removed and why. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. For other spooky sites, see our guide to haunted places in Maine.
Where to look Room 8, Room 5, the piano in the public rooms
Reported ghosts A wife and her lover said to have been killed in Room 8, and the husband in Room 5
Booking the haunted room Call the inn and ask for Room 8.
The Lucerne Inn is a long white colonial inn on a hillside above Phillips Lake, on the old road between Bangor and Ellsworth. It has been taking travelers for more than 200 years and today has guest rooms with lake views and seasonal fireplaces, a fine dining restaurant, Rian’s Pub and a popular Sunday brunch.
Local legend says that in the 1800s a jealous husband found his wife with another man in Room 8, killed them both, then took his own life in Room 5. Guests and staff report doors opening on their own, faint voices, shadows in the halls, a piano playing with nobody near it and televisions switching themselves on. No record of the killings has been found, so treat the story as lore.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask for Room 8 and book a lake-view table for dinner.
Address 8 Pleasant Street, Kennebunkport, ME 04046
Where to look The basement, the hallways and parlors of the main house
Reported ghosts Captain James Fairfield, the sea captain who built the house
The Captain Fairfield Inn is a white Federal mansion a block from the Kennebunk River in Kennebunkport’s historic district, built around 1813 for sea captain James Fairfield and his bride Lois Walker. Fairfield and his brother-in-law, Captain Nathaniel Lord, built their houses close together so their wives, who were sisters, could keep each other company while the men were at sea. The house stayed a private home until it became a nine-room bed and breakfast in 1991.
Fairfield survived capture by the British in the War of 1812 but died of pneumonia only a few years after moving in. Guests and innkeepers say he never really left. The first sighting came during the 1991 renovation, when a figure resembling the captain was seen in a dark corner of the basement. Since then guests describe a warm, protective presence in the house rather than anything frightening.
Haunted Rooms tip: Breakfast is cooked by the inn’s chef; do not miss the blueberry French toast.
Address 930 Kings Highway, Kennebunkport, ME 04046
Where to look The attic windows, Room 25, Room 29, the front porch
Reported ghosts Emma Foss, who built the inn
The Tides Beach Club is the shingled Victorian inn across from Goose Rocks Beach in Kennebunkport, built in 1899 as the Tides Inn By-The-Sea for Emma Foss, to a design attributed to the architect John Calvin Stevens. It has been restyled as a boutique beach hotel under its current name, but the building is the one Emma built.
The hotel’s own Halloween events say Emma still keeps watch over her life’s work: guests hear whispers, furniture is moved overnight, and lights glow in an attic that has no lights. Older ghost guides add that Emma lets owners know whether she approves of their changes, and name her old room, Number 25, where guests describe a woman seen in the room and the sense of being tucked into bed.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask whether Room 25 still carries its old number when you book.
Reported ghosts Former patients of the doctor who practiced here, said to wait on the stairs and in the parlor
The LimeRock Inn is a Queen Anne mansion with a round turret and wraparound porch in Rockland’s historic district, built in 1892 and now an eight-room bed and breakfast with rooms named for Maine islands. From 1950 it was the home and medical office of a local doctor, Oram Lawry Jr., who saw patients in the house.
That is where its ghost stories come from. Ghost guides say the patients can still be heard and seen going up and down the stairwell and lingering in the parlor that served as their waiting room, and investigators quoted in 2020 called the spirits friendly, even jovial. The inn itself does not promote the stories, and it has been rated the top place to stay in Rockland every year since 2022.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask for a room near the stairwell, then take tea in the parlor.
The Greenville Inn is an 1890s lumber baron’s mansion above Moosehead Lake, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the William M. Shaw House, with rooms in the main house plus suites and cottages on the grounds. It was built for William M. Shaw, whose company owned timberland and ran the lake steamer Katahdin, and it keeps its fine Queen Anne woodwork.
Its ghost is described as a beautiful young woman, and those who say they have seen her call her friendly. Guests also mention unexplained voices and a sound like tap dancing, which ghost directories place in Room 302. It is a gentle haunting in one of the most beautiful settings in Maine, and a good base for moose watching and the lake.
Haunted Rooms tip: Stay in the main mansion rather than a cottage for the full experience.
The Lindsey Hotel, Rockland: the former Captain Lindsey House, built in 1835 for Captain George Lindsey and later the offices of the Camden and Rockland Water Company; new owners bought it in March 2026. Guests have described polite ghosts that slam doors and leave impressions on made beds.
Captain Lord Mansion, Kennebunkport: built for Captain Nathaniel Lord, Captain Fairfield’s brother-in-law, and said to be haunted by his widow Phoebe.
The Kennebunk Inn, Kennebunk: where former night watchman Silas Perkins is blamed for falling mugs and flying glasses.
Removed from this guide: the Carriage House Inn in Searsport, which closed; and the Chapman Inn in Bethel, whose website now belongs to an unrelated site and which we could not confirm is taking guests. Renamed: the Tides Inn By-The-Sea is now the Tides Beach Club; the Captain Lindsey House is now the Lindsey Hotel. Corrected: Captain Fairfield’s brother-in-law was Captain Nathaniel Lord, husband of Lois Fairfield’s sister Phoebe.
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.
The Captain Fairfield Inn in Kennebunkport is the one most often named, for the sea captain first seen in its basement in 1991. The Tides Beach Club and the Lucerne Inn have the busiest ghost stories.
What happened to the Tides Inn By-The-Sea?
It is now the Tides Beach Club, a boutique hotel at Goose Rocks Beach in Kennebunkport. The 1899 building is the same, and so is the legend of its builder, Emma Foss.
Is the Captain Lindsey House in Rockland still open?
It is now the Lindsey Hotel, a nine-room inn bought by new owners in March 2026, who planned to reopen it in May. Older guides say its polite ghosts slam doors and rumple made beds.
Is the Carriage House Inn in Searsport open?
No. It closed several years ago, so it is no longer on this list.
Where can I go ghost hunting near Maine?
Haunted Rooms runs overnight ghost hunts at Captain Grant’s 1754 inn in Preston, Connecticut, and the General Stanton Inn in Charlestown, Rhode Island.
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.
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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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