Haunted hotel guide · Birmingham, Alabama
The Haunted Redmont Hotel, Birmingham: Hank Williams, Clifford Stiles and the Ninth Floor
Birmingham’s oldest operating hotel, where Hank Williams slept the night before he died and guests still say they hear a guitar picking out his songs.
The Redmont Hotel stands on 5th Avenue North in downtown Birmingham, a block from the Tutwiler and a short walk from Linn Park and the Civil Rights District. It opened in 1925 and has never stopped being a hotel, which makes it the oldest operating hotel in the city. Since 2016 it has been part of Hilton’s Curio Collection, with 120 rooms, a restaurant, a bar and a café.
Its ghost stories are some of the best known in Birmingham. Country star Hank Williams spent his last night in a bed here on December 30, 1952, and guests say they have heard his guitar. Former owner Clifford Stiles, who turned the top floor into a penthouse, is said to walk the halls and lock doors, and guests describe a woman in white on the ninth floor and a little dog trotting down the corridors. It sits alongside the Tutwiler at the top of our list of haunted hotels in Birmingham.
The Redmont at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 2101 5th Avenue North, Birmingham, AL 35203
- Opened May 1, 1925; restored and reopened March 8, 2016 as a Curio Collection by Hilton hotel
- Most haunted spots The ninth floor, the corridors, the old penthouse floor and the lobby
- Best-known ghosts Hank Williams, former owner Clifford Stiles, a woman in white and a small dog
- Booking the haunted room There is no haunted room package and no confirmed Hank Williams room number. Ask staff about the stories at check-in.
- Good to know Birmingham ghost walks pass the Redmont and the Tutwiler, a block apart, so you can sleep in one and see the other on the same night.
The ghosts of Redmont Hotel Birmingham, Curio Collection by Hilton
Hank Williams and the guitar in the night
On December 30, 1952, Hank Williams and his 18-year-old driver Charles Carr stopped in Birmingham on the long drive from Montgomery to a New Year’s show in Charleston, West Virginia. According to Bham Now, the first hotel they tried turned them away because Williams was drunk, and they spent the night at the Redmont instead. It was the last bed Williams slept in. He died in the back seat of his Cadillac and was found at a gas station in Oak Hill, West Virginia, on New Year’s Day 1953. He was 29.
Many accounts say Williams died at the Redmont. He did not; he died on the road, less than 24 hours after leaving Birmingham. But the hotel’s ghost story centers on him all the same. Edward Wolfgang Poe of the Birmingham Historic Touring Company told Bham Now that guests have heard a guitar playing parts of Williams’ songs, and a voice calling out his nickname, “Old Hank.” Other guests describe a shadowy figure in a cowboy hat, and staff have described a man in dark pants and a white shirt walking the halls.
Clifford Stiles, the owner who never checked out
Businessman Clifford Stiles bought the Redmont in 1946 and converted the top floor into a New York-style penthouse for his family, with terraces, a private elevator and even a lawn for the family’s pets. He hosted lavish parties there for Birmingham society. He died in 1975, and Bham Now says he died in the hotel.
Bham Now reported in 2018 that he is believed to stalk the halls and lock doors. Ghost tour guides describe a refined, gentlemanly figure who seems to be checking up on the staff, and US Ghost Adventures says he keeps the rooms to his own standard, pulling sheets off beds and knocking over cleaning supplies when work is not up to scratch.
The woman in white on the ninth floor
Guests have described a woman in white walking the ninth floor. WVTM 13, joining the Birmingham Ghost Walk in 2024, reported the Redmont’s phantom woman in white, along with an account of a woman who felt someone walk up behind her and heard a lady’s voice say hello in her ear.
Nobody has named her, though the Redmont has had nearly a century of guests and long-term residents to choose from.
The little dog
The Redmont’s friendliest ghost is a small dog seen trotting down the hallways before it vanishes. Some people think it belonged to the Stiles family, whose penthouse came with its own pet lawn.
It is one of the stories that appeared in our original guide, and it still comes up on ghost walks.
The 1934 shootout
The Redmont’s lobby has also seen real violence. US Ghost Adventures and WVTM 13 both describe a shootout in which police confronted criminals in the hotel; US Ghost Adventures dates it to November 1934 and says two robbers fleeing a Florida holdup ran into the lobby, one was fatally wounded and a detective was hurt.
Some tour guides suggest the robber’s spirit is still there. Of all the Redmont’s stories, it is the one with the least to say about a ghost and the most about the building’s past.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- The ninth floor: Where the woman in white is seen. Ask for a ninth-floor room when you book and repeat the request at check-in.
- The top floor: Once Clifford Stiles’ penthouse, and the floor most tied to him.
- The Hank Williams room: There is no published room number. Staff tend to talk about it only if asked, so ask politely at the front desk.
- The lobby: Scene of the 1934 shootout. A good place to start a ghost walk, or to wait for one to pass.
History of Redmont Hotel Birmingham, Curio Collection by Hilton
The Redmont opened on May 1, 1925, designed by Atlanta architect G. Lloyd Preacher. At 200 rooms it was not the largest hotel on Birmingham’s hotel row, but it was one of the most modern: every room had a private bath, chilled running water and ceiling fans, which was rare at the time.
Clifford Stiles bought the hotel in 1946 and the following year turned the top floor into a penthouse for his family. Through the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s the Redmont was a political hub. One suite, nicknamed the Lucky Governor’s Suite, served as Birmingham headquarters for the winning gubernatorial campaigns of Jim Folsom and George Wallace.
Like most downtown hotels, the Redmont declined as travelers moved to the suburbs. In 1983 an investment group of NBA players, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Ralph Sampson, bought it, and the same year it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. A $7 million renovation led to a grand reopening in 1985. It later flew the Crowne Plaza flag, then went independent in 2006, when plans to turn the top floors into condominiums were shelved during the recession.
In 2013 the hotel won Alabama historic tax credits, and a multimillion-dollar restoration began in 2014. It reopened on March 8, 2016 as the Redmont Hotel Birmingham, Curio Collection by Hilton, with 120 rooms in place of the original 200 and an independently run restaurant, bar and café.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Ask for the ninth floor when you book, then ask at check-in which room staff link to Hank Williams.
- Book the Birmingham Ghost Walk; it covers both the Redmont and the Tutwiler, a block apart.
- If you hear guitar music in the night, check the corridor and note the time before assuming it is a neighbor’s radio.
- Visit Sloss Furnaces, Birmingham’s most famous haunted landmark, a short drive east.
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.
- Old Moore County Jail and Old Lynchburg Funeral Home Ghost Hunt, Lynchburg, TN: Our nearest ghost hunt to Birmingham, a little under three hours north.
- Thomas House Hotel Ghost Hunt and Sleepover, Red Boiling Springs, TN: Investigate a haunted hotel all night, then sleep in it.
More haunted hotels nearby
- The Tutwiler Hotel, Birmingham: a block away, home of the Knocker on the sixth floor
- Hotel Indigo Five Points, Birmingham: a 1931 medical building with a nurse still on her rounds
- Sloss Furnaces: Birmingham’s most famous haunted landmark
- Hotel Finial, Anniston: an 1888 Victorian mansion an hour east
- Haunted hotels in Alabama
- Haunted hotels in Birmingham
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 Redmont Hotel in Birmingham haunted?
It is one of the most talked-about haunted hotels in Birmingham. Guests report hearing a guitar playing Hank Williams songs, a woman in white on the ninth floor, a small dog in the corridors and former owner Clifford Stiles locking doors. These are guest, staff and tour-guide stories, not proven events.
Did Hank Williams die at the Redmont Hotel?
No. He spent the night of December 30, 1952 at the Redmont, the last bed he slept in, but he died in the back of his car on the drive to West Virginia and was found in Oak Hill, West Virginia, on New Year’s Day 1953.
What room did Hank Williams stay in at the Redmont?
No room number has been published. Staff sometimes share the story if you ask at the front desk.
Who haunts the Redmont Hotel?
The stories name Hank Williams, former owner Clifford Stiles, an unnamed woman in white on the ninth floor and a little dog. Some tour guides add a robber shot in the lobby in 1934.
How old is the Redmont Hotel?
It opened on May 1, 1925, and is Birmingham’s oldest operating hotel. It was restored and reopened in 2016 as part of Hilton’s Curio Collection.
Is the Redmont near the Tutwiler Hotel?
Yes, they are about a block apart in downtown Birmingham, and the Birmingham Ghost Walk visits both.
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.
- Wikipedia: Redmont Hotel
- Bham Now: Hank Williams' last night spent in Birmingham's Redmont Hotel (2024)
- Bham Now: Real haunted Birmingham (2018)
- Bham Now: Birmingham ghosts continue to haunt (2018)
- WVTM 13: Birmingham Ghost Walk (2024)
- Southern Spirit Guide: The Redmont revenants (2017)
- US Ghost Adventures: Top ten haunted locations in Birmingham
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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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