Haunted hotel guide · Savannah, Georgia
East Bay Inn, Savannah: Charlie the Ghost and an 1852 Warehouse
A small inn in an 1852 brick warehouse a block from River Street, where staff say a ghost called Charlie paces the third floor and locks the odd bathroom door.
The East Bay Inn fills an 1852 brick warehouse on Bay Street, the busy street that runs along the top of the bluff above River Street. It has high ceilings, exposed brick and big windows, and it is one of the few historic inns in Savannah that welcomes dogs. It has been a hotel since the 1980s and belongs to the Historic Inns of Savannah group, along with the Marshall House and the Olde Harbour Inn.
Its ghost is Charlie. The hotel group’s own haunted Savannah page says staff named him after a young man who fell to his death from a third-floor window long ago, and that guests describe a figure in a dark suit and top hat who stares into the distance and fades away. Most people who meet him come away amused rather than frightened.
East Bay Inn at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 225 East Bay Street, Savannah, GA 31401
- Built 1852 as a warehouse; a hotel since 1984
- Most haunted spots The third floor, its hallway and guest rooms
- Best-known ghosts Charlie, a young man in a dark suit and top hat
- Booking the haunted room No specific room is named. Book, then call and ask for a third-floor room.
- Good to know Pet-friendly rooms (some with patio access), evening social hour, Tandem Coffee and Spirits on site, one block from River Street
The ghosts of East Bay Inn
Charlie
According to Historic Inns of Savannah, the company that runs the inn, Charlie was a young man who fell from a third-floor window of the 1852 building long ago. The inn does not give his real name or a date, and we have not found a record of the fall, so Charlie is best understood as the name staff gave a story.
Guests describe a man in a dark suit and top hat who seems to stare into the distance and then fades away. The outfit fits the building’s 19th-century working life, when it was a warehouse and then a bakery on one of the city’s busiest streets.
Footsteps on the third floor
The most common report is of footsteps pacing the third floor through the night, heard by guests in rooms along the corridor when nobody is there. The hotel group places nearly all of Charlie’s activity on this floor, near the window he is said to have fallen from.
Locked doors and flickering lights
Lights flicker and doors lock themselves, according to guests quoted by the hotel group. One recent guest summed it up: Charlie locked them out of the bathroom a couple of times, and other than that he was a pretty nice fellow. That is the tone of most East Bay Inn stories: more prank than poltergeist.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- Third-floor rooms: Where guests hear Charlie pacing at night. Ask for the third floor when you book.
- Corner King Suites: The inn’s best-loved rooms, with windows on two sides over Bay Street and the historic district.
- Pet-friendly patio rooms: Ground-level rooms with private patio access for guests traveling with dogs.
History of East Bay Inn
The building went up in 1852 as a warehouse on Bay Street, where the city’s merchants and factors did business at the top of the bluff. Visit Savannah lists its later lives as a steam bakery, offices for foreign consuls, a grocery warehouse and a drug company, a fair picture of how Savannah’s riverfront buildings changed hands as the port changed.
It became a hotel in 1984 and is now part of the Historic Inns of Savannah collection. Rooms keep the original brick walls, wide windows and ceilings of 16 feet or more, with modern bathrooms and an elevator to every floor.
Today the inn has 28 rooms, a lobby lounge where an evening social hour is held, and Tandem Coffee and Spirits on the ground floor. River Street is reached down the old cobblestone ramps and stone stairs across the road, and City Market and the squares are a short walk south.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Ask for the third floor if you want Charlie’s corridor.
- Bring the dog: the inn has pet-friendly rooms, some with private patios. Check the fee when you book.
- Watch your step on the stone stairs and ramps down to River Street; they are steep and slippery when wet.
- Bay Street is a main road, so light sleepers may prefer a room away from the front.
- The Olde Harbour Inn and the Marshall House are in the same hotel group and within a few blocks if you want to see more of Savannah’s haunted inns.
- Many evening ghost tours start within a five-minute walk.
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.
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- Roanoke Island Inn Ghost Hunt & Sleepover, Manteo NC: Investigate, then sleep over in a historic Outer Banks inn.
More haunted hotels nearby
- The Marshall House, Savannah: Savannah’s oldest hotel, a Civil War and yellow fever hospital
- More haunted hotels in Savannah: the 17Hundred90 Inn, Kehoe House, Eliza Thompson House and more
- Francis Marion Hotel, Charleston: a haunted 1924 hotel about two hours up the coast
- Casa Monica Hotel, St. Augustine: a haunted Spanish Revival landmark about 90 minutes south
- Haunted hotels in Georgia
- Haunted hotels in Savannah
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 East Bay Inn haunted?
It has a ghost story the hotel group tells itself. Guests report a figure in a top hat, footsteps pacing the third floor, flickering lights and doors that lock themselves, all put down to a ghost staff call Charlie.
Who is Charlie at the East Bay Inn?
Charlie is the name staff gave the inn’s ghost. The story says he was a young man who fell from a third-floor window long ago. No record of his real name or the fall has been published.
Which floor is haunted at the East Bay Inn?
The third floor. That is where guests hear pacing footsteps and where Charlie is said to have fallen.
Is the East Bay Inn pet-friendly?
Yes. It has pet-friendly rooms, some with private patio access.
How old is the East Bay Inn?
The building dates to 1852 and was a warehouse, bakery and offices before it became a hotel in 1984.
How far is the East Bay Inn from River Street?
About a block. Cross Bay Street and take the stone stairs or cobblestone ramps down to the river.
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.
- Historic Inns of Savannah: Haunted Savannah
- East Bay Inn: official website
- Visit Savannah: East Bay Inn
- Hotel Scoop: A Historic Savannah Stay at East Bay Inn
- Fodor's: Haunted Hotels in Savannah
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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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