Haunted hotel guide · Charleston, South Carolina
Haunted Meeting Street Inn, Charleston: Room 303's Locked Door and the Lady in Room 107
A pink 1874 building in the heart of the historic district, on the site of a theatre lost in the fire of 1861. Two of its rooms carry ghost stories: a former owner in Room 303 and a woman at the foot of the bed in Room 107.
The Meeting Street Inn sits on Meeting Street a few steps from the City Market, a three-story building with deep side piazzas looking down on a courtyard, pool and fountain. The building went up in 1874 on the ruins of the Charleston Theatre, which burned in the great fire of 1861. It held a German saloon, a string of shops and even an auto parts store before becoming a 56-room inn in 1981.
Ghost tour companies name two rooms here. In Room 303, the story goes, a former owner of the building would rather lock guests out than share the room. In Room 107, a woman is said to stand at the foot of the bed at night. The inn itself does not promote the stories, and they are thinner than those at some of its neighbors, but it is a comfortable, central base for a ghost weekend among the haunted hotels in Charleston.
Meeting Street Inn at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 173 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29401, steps from the City Market
- Built 1874, on the site of the 1837 Charleston Theatre; an inn since 1981
- Most haunted spots Room 303 and Room 107
- Best-known ghosts A German former owner of the building in Room 303; a woman at the foot of the bed in Room 107
- Booking the haunted room Rooms 303 and 107 are ordinary guest rooms. Request one when you book or call the inn; it is a request, not a guarantee.
- Good to know 56 rooms, continental breakfast and an evening wine and cheese reception, a courtyard pool and hot tub, valet or self-parking for a fee.
The ghosts of the Meeting Street Inn
The owner who locks guests out of Room 303
Room 303 has the inn’s best-known story. Ghost City Tours, which runs nightly ghost walks in Charleston, describes the spirit of the building’s German former owner, who would rather lock guests out of the room than share it with them.
The building did have a German owner. In 1874 Adolph Tiefenthal, a German immigrant, opened a restaurant, saloon and beer and wine showroom on the ground floor and lived upstairs with his family. Nothing ties him to Room 303, which was created long after his time, but the story fits the building’s past.
The woman in Room 107
The second story is gentler. In Room 107, according to the same ghost tour company, a woman is not afraid to stand at the foot of the bed at night. The story casts her as a watcher rather than a troublemaker.
Nobody has put a name to her. Some link her to Tiefenthal’s household; others suggest she belongs to the theatre that stood here before.
The theatre beneath the inn
The Charleston Theatre opened on this spot in December 1837, designed to resemble Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s Royal Theatre in Berlin. It burned in the great Charleston fire of 1861, and the site lay in ruins for about 14 years.
Local ghost tour guides like to point out that a theatre, a fire and a German saloon all stood here, which gives the inn’s ghosts plenty of possible owners. None of the stories names a death at the site, and we have not found one in the records.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- Room 303: The locked-door room, where a former owner is said to keep guests out.
- Room 107: Where a woman is seen standing at the foot of the bed at night.
- The courtyard and piazzas: The tiered porches overlooking the fountain are the best place to sit after a ghost walk.
- The Meeting Street front: The 1874 facade over the theatre site; stand across the street at night to take it in.
History of Meeting Street Inn
The Charleston Theatre opened on Meeting Street in December 1837 in a two-story building modeled on Schinkel’s Royal Theatre in Berlin. It was one of the city’s main stages until the fire of December 1861, which swept across Charleston and destroyed it. After the Civil War, the lot stayed in ruins for about 14 years.
In 1874 businessman Enoch Pratt bought the property and put up a three-story brick building in the traditional Charleston single-house style, with running water piped throughout, a novelty at the time. He split the property into lots and sold two to Adolph Tiefenthal, a German immigrant, who had a restaurant and saloon built on the ground floor, with a showroom for German beers and wines, and lived above it with his family. The inn’s own history credits Tiefenthal with the building.
Over the next century the ground floor changed hands many times. It housed the Savory Club and Restaurant, an antiques dealer, an auto parts store, a dental supply company, a liquor store and a bicycle shop.
In 1981 the building was renovated and enlarged into the Meeting Street Inn at a cost of about $2.5 million, with a new wing beside the original building. Hurricane Hugo damaged the property in 1989, and in 1992 innkeeper Frances Limehouse, who had also restored the nearby Indigo Inn and Jasmine House, bought it and carried out a full renovation. The inn now has 56 rooms.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Ask for Room 303 or Room 107 when you book, and confirm by phone; online booking cannot pick a room.
- Join an evening ghost walk in the historic district; many start within a few blocks of the inn.
- Make the most of the evening wine and cheese reception before heading out.
- Visit the Old Charleston Jail, one of the city’s most haunted buildings, a short drive or a long walk away.
- Parking downtown is tight; the inn offers valet and self-parking for a fee, or walk everywhere from here.
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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More haunted hotels nearby
- 20 South Battery (Battery Carriage House Inn): Room 8’s headless torso and the Gentleman Ghost
- Francis Marion Hotel, Charleston: the 1924 hotel and the ghost of Room 1010
- Mills House, Charleston: Confederate soldiers in the halls, a block away
- Haunted places in Charleston: jails, graveyards and old houses
- Haunted hotels in South Carolina
- Haunted hotels in Charleston
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 Meeting Street Inn haunted?
Charleston ghost tour companies name it as haunted. Guests report a former owner who locks them out of Room 303 and a woman who stands at the foot of the bed in Room 107.
Which rooms are haunted at the Meeting Street Inn?
Room 303 and Room 107. Both are regular guest rooms you can request when booking.
What was on the site of the Meeting Street Inn?
The Charleston Theatre, which opened in 1837 and burned in the great fire of 1861. The current building dates from 1874.
Who haunts Room 303 at the Meeting Street Inn?
The story says it is the building’s German former owner. Adolph Tiefenthal, a German immigrant, ran a saloon here from 1874, though nothing ties him to the room.
Is the Meeting Street Inn near the City Market?
Yes. It is a few steps from the City Market, in the middle of the historic district.
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: Meeting Street Inn
- Meeting Street Inn (official site): Our Inn
- Ghost City Tours: Haunted hotels in Charleston
- Explore Charleston: Meeting Street Inn
- Fodor's: Meeting Street Inn
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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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