Haunted hotel guide · Newport, Rhode Island

The Haunted Hotel Viking, Newport: The Party That Never Ended

At the top of Bellevue Avenue since 1926, the Hotel Viking has hosted Newport society, naval officers and Bob Dylan, and guests say one of its old parties never quite ended.

By The Haunted Rooms Team · Updated November 2026 · How we rate hotels

2.8/5Haunted Rooms Score
1926Year opened
208Rooms

Check availabilityMeet the ghosts

The Hotel Viking stands at One Bellevue Avenue, where Newport’s grandest street begins, a five-story red brick Colonial Revival hotel that opened on May 25, 1926, as a gathering place for Newport society and its guests. Nearly a century later it has marked its 100th anniversary with a full restoration of its 208 rooms, restaurants and spa, reopening in May 2026.

Its ghost story is one of the most memorable in New England: a party. Guests first reported loud revelry at night above a ballroom that was being used for storage. After renovations the noise seemed to move to the lower levels, went quiet for a few years from 2007 and was back by 2010. Historic Hotels of America adds a little boy seen cleaning floors in the historic wing, and one guest described two little girls in black dresses at the end of a first-floor hallway. For the rest of the state, see our guide to haunted hotels in Rhode Island.

Hotel Viking at a glance

2.8/5
Haunted Rooms Score
Haunted reputation3
History4
Ghost hunter access1
$$$ · Over $300
  • Address 1 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI 02840
  • Opened May 25, 1926; restored in the late 1990s, 2007, 2016 and for its centennial in 2026
  • Most haunted spots The old ballroom level, the lower levels and the first-floor hallway
  • Best-known ghosts Phantom partygoers; a little boy cleaning floors; two small girls in black dresses
  • Booking the haunted room There is no named haunted room. Ask for a lower floor in the original building, near the old ballroom level.
  • Good to know Guests must be 21 to check in; the Skoal Room bar and seasonal Cap Club rooftop bar are on site, along with Spa Fjör and its indoor pool.

Check availability

The ghosts of Hotel Viking

The phantom party

The Viking’s signature story is the sound of a party that is not there. HauntedPlaces says guests first complained about the noise of a great party at night above one of the ballrooms, at a time when that space was only being used for storage. Historic Hotels of America, the National Trust program the hotel belongs to, repeats that guests and staff have heard party noise at odd hours.

After renovations, the story goes, the party moved to the lower levels of the hotel. OnlyInYourState says the carousing stopped for a few years starting in 2007, the year of a $6.8 million guest room restoration, and was back by 2010. One guest wrote in 2017 that she had once woken to a loud party at the foot of her bed that fell silent the moment she opened her eyes; another said staff told him the party had ended early when he heard noise outside at 3 a.m.

A boy in the historic wing, and two girls in black

Historic Hotels of America mentions a quieter figure too: a little boy seen cleaning the floors in the historic wing.

A guest named Emily wrote on HauntedPlaces in 2015 that two little girls in black dresses stand at the end of the hallway on the first floor, and called it the scariest thing she had ever seen. Near-identical comments that appeared later on this and other hotel pages read like copies of hers, so we count it as one account. Nobody has suggested who the girls might be.

Lights, doors and footsteps

The rest of the Viking’s activity is the familiar kind: lights and doors that some say former guests like to play with, footsteps and voices in empty corridors. One guest, Ed, wrote in 2017 that he was woken by something thrown at him and saw a white shape cross from the bathroom to the window.

Nothing reported here is described as malicious. The general feeling in the stories is of former guests who enjoyed the hotel too much to leave.

The most haunted rooms and places to look

  • Lower-level rooms: Closest to where the party is said to have moved after renovations.
  • First-floor rooms: Near the hallway where the two girls in black are reported.
  • Classic rooms: Queen or king rooms, all renewed in the 2026 centennial restoration.
  • Suites: Larger premium suites for a special-occasion stay.

History of Hotel Viking

The Hotel Viking opened on May 25, 1926, at the head of Bellevue Avenue, during what the hotel calls Newport’s Gilded Age resurgence. Newport leaders, among them merchants Harry Titus and James O’Connell and summer resident William H. Vanderbilt, raised the money and sold public stock through The American Hotels Corporation, so that the town’s summer families had somewhere grand for their guests. Navy officers from the Naval War College attended the opening.

Over the decades it has hosted naval officers, movie stars and well-known politicians. Its most famous guest is Bob Dylan, who stayed at the Viking during the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, when he first played with an electric band, a stay later depicted in the biopic A Complete Unknown.

A mid-century renovation added rooms and an outdoor pool. In the late 1990s new owners, LaSalle Hotels, spent about $8 million on a renovation and the hotel joined Historic Hotels of America; a $6.8 million guest room restoration followed in 2007 and a refresh for the 90th anniversary in 2016. Kay Chapel, a Newport landmark from 1859 steps from the hotel, is used for small weddings and its Halloween event.

For its 100th anniversary, a renovation led by KHP Capital Partners and managed by Pivot restored all 208 rooms and reopened the hotel in May 2026, keeping the original 1926 room key cabinet behind the front desk. It now has the Pescadou restaurant, the Skoal Room martini bar, the Tuck Shop cafe, Spa Fjör and the seasonal Cap Club on the roof.

Tips for a haunted stay

  • Have a drink at the Cap Club rooftop bar in season, or the Skoal Room year round.
  • Ask for a lower floor in the original building if you want to listen for the party.
  • Walk the first-floor hallway late at night; that is where the girls in black are reported.
  • You must be 21 to check in.
  • The Outlook Inn on Spring Street and Thames Street’s bars are a few minutes’ walk away, and the Newport Mansions start just down Bellevue Avenue.

Ghost hunts near Newport with Haunted Rooms

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.

See all Haunted Rooms ghost hunts

More haunted hotels nearby

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 Hotel Viking in Newport haunted?

It has one of Rhode Island’s best-known hotel ghost stories: the sound of a loud party above an unused ballroom, later heard on the lower levels. Historic Hotels of America also mentions a little boy seen cleaning floors in the historic wing, and one guest reported two little girls in black dresses.

When was the Hotel Viking built?

It opened on May 25, 1926, at One Bellevue Avenue, and reopened in May 2026 after a centennial restoration.

Did Bob Dylan stay at the Hotel Viking?

Yes. The hotel says Bob Dylan stayed there in 1965 during the Newport Folk Festival weekend when he first played electric.

How old do you have to be to stay at the Hotel Viking?

Guests must be at least 21 to check in.

Does the Hotel Viking have a rooftop bar?

Yes. The Cap Club is a seasonal rooftop cocktail bar with views over Newport, and the Skoal Room is the hotel’s classic bar.

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.

Get new haunted hotel guides by email

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.