Haunted hotel guide · Rhinebeck, New York

The Haunted Beekman Arms, Rhinebeck: Ghosts of America's Oldest Inn

A Hudson Valley inn that has taken in travelers since before the Revolution, where staff talk about a dark figure in the wine cellar and guests ask for two particular rooms.

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

4.0/5Haunted Rooms Score
1766Inn on its present site
Rooms 21 & 22Most talked-about rooms

Check availabilityMeet the ghosts

The Beekman Arms stands at the main crossroads of Rhinebeck, a village of old houses and shops in Dutchess County, about two hours north of New York City. It bills itself as America’s oldest continuously operating inn. Washington, Hamilton and Franklin D. Roosevelt all knew it, and its low-beamed Tavern still serves dinner every night.

In 2025 Historic Hotels of America, the National Trust program the inn belongs to, named the Beekman Arms one of its 25 most haunted hotels. The stories are modest but consistent: footsteps and whispers in Rooms 21 and 22, a dark figure that rises from the wine cellar, and a basement that staff say is the most haunted part of the building. If you want a quieter, history-first haunted stay in the Hudson Valley, this is one of the best haunted hotels in New York to try.

Beekman Arms at a glance

4.0/5
Haunted Rooms Score
Haunted reputation3
History5
Ghost hunter access5
$$ · $150 to $300Haunted room bookableGhost tours or eventsHotel embraces its ghostsPet friendly
  • Address 6387 Mill Street, Rhinebeck, NY 12572 (845-876-7077)
  • Opened Tavern roots in the early 1700s; on its present site since 1766
  • Most haunted spots The Tavern and its dining room, the wine cellar and kitchen, the basement, the attic, Rooms 21 and 22
  • Best-known ghosts A dark figure from the wine cellar; unexplained footsteps, whispers, smells and cold drafts
  • Booking the haunted room Call the inn and ask for Room 21 or 22. It is a request, not a guarantee.
  • Good to know About 80 rooms across the Beekman Arms and the Delamater Inn; dog-friendly rooms are available under the inn’s dog policy

Check availability

The ghosts of Beekman Arms and Delamater Inn

Rooms 21 and 22

Ask staff which rooms have the stories and you will hear the same two numbers. According to Historic Hotels of America, guests and staff report footsteps with no one there, sudden cold drafts, strange smells and whispering, most often in Rooms 21 and 22.

No one has attached a name or a tragedy to these rooms, and we have found no record of a death in either of them. The reports are simply what people say they have heard and felt. That makes them a good fit for guests who want an old room with a reputation rather than a dramatic legend.

The dark figure from the wine cellar

The most consistent story among employees is of a dark figure that rises up out of the wine cellar. The same shape has been seen moving through the kitchen. It is never described in detail, which is part of what unsettles the people who see it. The Tavern, the oldest part of the inn, is where most sightings are reported.

The basement

Staff consider the basement the most haunted part of the inn. The inn’s own telling links it to the Underground Railroad and to Prohibition. We have not found documents that confirm either use, so treat that part as local tradition.

For several years the inn ran a Friday evening event called Ghost Stories in the Basement, in which a storyteller led guests down into the early cellar to hear tales of the people and spirits connected with the building. The Haunted History Trail of New York State listed it, and Historic Hotels of America says the inn still holds ghost storytelling sessions there in autumn.

Orbs in the Tavern and the attic

Visitors and staff have photographed orbs in the Tavern dining room and in the attic. Most orbs in photographs turn out to be dust or moisture caught by the flash, and old dining rooms full of candlelight and beams are prime territory for them. They are part of the inn’s ghost lore all the same.

Paranormal nights at the inn

The Beekman Arms has welcomed paranormal groups. In March 2019 a team called the Ghost Magnets held an evening there, with dinner, a short history talk and then a late-night search of the building in small teams, and overnight stays were offered to those taking part. The Tavern also throws a Halloween party each year.

The most haunted rooms and places to look

  • Rooms 21 and 22: The two guest rooms most often named for footsteps, whispers and cold drafts.
  • The Tavern: The oldest part of the inn, with wide plank floors and heavy beams. Most sightings are reported here.
  • The wine cellar and kitchen: Where staff see the dark figure rise and move through the kitchen. Not open to guests, but ask your server about it.
  • The basement: Staff call it the most haunted area. Seen only on the inn’s ghost story evenings.
  • The attic: Another place where orbs have been photographed.

History of Beekman Arms and Delamater Inn

The inn’s story begins with William Traphagen, who opened a tavern at the Rhinebeck crossroads in the early 1700s. The inn gives 1704 as the year, and some accounts say 1706. In 1766 the Traphagen family moved the tavern to its present corner, where the old King’s Highway, now Route 9, met the Sepasco Trail, and that is the date the inn uses for its continuous operation. It took its name from the Beekman family, who held the land grant here. Over the years it was also known as Bogardus Tavern and Potter’s Tavern.

During the Revolution the 4th Regiment of the Continental Army drilled on the front lawn in 1775, and the inn’s history says townspeople sheltered behind its thick walls when the British burned Kingston across the river. George Washington, Philip Schuyler, Benedict Arnold and Alexander Hamilton are all said to have stayed or dined here. In the 1804 race for governor, General Morgan Lewis made his headquarters at the inn while Aaron Burr was based at another tavern in the village, and local tradition says Hamilton and Burr quarreled at the Beekman Arms before their duel that summer.

Through the 1800s the inn served as Rhinebeck’s town hall, post office, theater and newspaper office, and in 1888 Benjamin Harrison and Levi P. Morton heard here that they had been nominated for president and vice president. In 1918 owner Tracy Dows renovated the inn and added the ballroom. His son Olin’s friend, the novelist Thomas Wolfe, stayed for long stretches, and those visits are said to have fed into his 1935 novel Of Time and the River. Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose home was at nearby Hyde Park, ended each of his campaigns for governor and president with a speech from the front porch.

Charles LaForge bought the inn in 1958 and became its longest-serving owner. He added the Greenhouse Room and, in 1979, bought the Henry Delamater House on Montgomery Street with a partner. That house, built in 1844 to designs by Alexander Jackson Davis, is one of the best early Gothic Revival houses in America and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973. George Banta Sr. bought both properties in 2002, and the inn joined Historic Hotels of America in 2006. The Beekman Arms sits within the Rhinebeck Village Historic District, listed on the National Register in 1979.

Tips for a haunted stay

  • Call the inn on (845) 876-7077 to ask for Room 21 or 22. Online booking will not let you pick a room number.
  • Rooms are spread across several buildings, including the Delamater Inn a short walk away. If the ghost stories are the point of your trip, ask for a room in the main Beekman Arms building.
  • Eat in the Tavern. It is the oldest part of the inn, it is where most sightings are reported, and staff are usually happy to talk about the stories.
  • Visit in autumn and ask whether the ghost story evenings in the basement are running. They are the only way to see that part of the building.
  • Bringing a dog? The inn has a dog policy and pet-friendly rooms. Read the policy on its website before you book.
  • Make a haunted weekend of it: the Shanley Hotel in Napanoch, which runs ghost hunts for its guests, is about an hour away across the Hudson.

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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Frequently asked questions

Is the Beekman Arms haunted?

It has a ghost reputation strong enough for Historic Hotels of America to put it on its 2025 list of the 25 most haunted historic hotels. Guests and staff report footsteps, whispers, cold drafts and a dark figure from the wine cellar. These are reports, not proof.

Which rooms at the Beekman Arms are haunted?

Rooms 21 and 22 are the ones most often named. Staff also point to the Tavern, the wine cellar and kitchen, the attic and above all the basement.

Is the Beekman Arms really the oldest inn in America?

The inn says it is America’s oldest continuously operating inn, dating its present site to 1766 and its tavern roots to the early 1700s. Other old inns make similar claims, so think of it as the inn’s own title, though its age is not in doubt.

Did George Washington stay at the Beekman Arms?

The inn’s history says Washington, Philip Schuyler, Benedict Arnold and Alexander Hamilton all stayed or dined there during the Revolutionary era. Franklin D. Roosevelt was a regular and gave campaign speeches from the front porch.

Does the Beekman Arms do ghost tours?

The inn has run ghost story evenings in its basement, led by a storyteller, usually on autumn Fridays. Dates change from year to year, so call the inn to check.

Is the Beekman Arms dog friendly?

Yes. The inn has pet-friendly rooms under its dog policy, which you should read on its website before booking.

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.

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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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