Haunted hotel guide · Warsaw, Indiana

The Haunted Barbee Hotel, Warsaw: Al Capone's Room 301 and the Ghosts of Barbee Lake

A lakeside hotel in Kosciusko County, on a site that has taken guests since 1897, where Al Capone is said to have taken over the whole third floor and staff still smell cigar smoke outside his old room.

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

3.0/5Haunted Rooms Score
1897Hotel Ormond opens on the site
1923Current building opens

Meet the ghosts

The Barbee Hotel sits at 3620 North Barbee Road at Kuhns Landing, between Little Barbee and Big Barbee lakes, part of a chain of seven small lakes north of Warsaw in Kosciusko County, Indiana’s lake country. A hotel called the Ormond stood here from 1897 until it burned in 1921, and the present building opened in 1923 as the New Barbee Hotel. During Prohibition it became a quiet getaway for visitors from Chicago. Today it is best known as a restaurant serving Chicago-style pizza, with guest rooms upstairs.

It is also one of the best-known haunted hotels in Indiana. Staff report cigar smoke drifting from Room 301, said to be Al Capone’s favorite, a diner who vanishes from his booth and a man at a third-floor window when no guests are booked. The hotel featured on The Dead Files in 2014.

Barbee Hotel at a glance

3.0/5
Haunted Rooms Score
Haunted reputation3
History3
Ghost hunter access3
Haunted room bookable
  • Address 3620 North Barbee Road, Warsaw, IN 46582
  • Built 1923, replacing the Hotel Ormond (about 1897), which burned in August 1921
  • Most haunted spots Room 301 and the third floor, the restaurant booths, the stairs
  • Best-known ghosts Al Capone and his cigar smoke; a vanishing old man in the dining room; a figure in a third-floor window
  • Booking the haunted room Call the hotel to ask for Room 301 or the suite named for Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. Room availability changes with the season.
  • Good to know The restaurant opens evenings and hours are shorter in winter. Confirm rooms and hours before you travel.

The ghosts of the Barbee Hotel

Cigar smoke outside Room 301

The Barbee’s most famous story starts with Al Capone. Legend says he arrived with his men, rented the entire third floor, moved the other guests out and stayed for weeks at a time, always in Room 301.

Smoking has been banned in the building for years, but staff say they often smell cigar smoke, and some describe it seeping from under the door of Room 301. Greg Steffe of the Kosciusko County Historical Society wrote for Visit Indiana that he was hit by a wave of cigar smoke at the top of the stairs and could follow it down the hallway. Employees also say they smell it first thing in the morning, before anyone is in the building.

The old man in the booth

Servers tell of an elderly man who sits alone in one of the restaurant booths. When someone goes over to take his order, the booth is empty, and nobody remembers seeing him leave. Older accounts describe him sitting there silently after closing time.

The face at the third-floor window

Employees and locals have reported a man looking out of a third-floor window at night, even when no guests were staying up there. Some accounts place him at the window of Room 301.

The gangster's girlfriend

The darkest legend says a gangster’s girlfriend was murdered at the hotel after opening her door to a rival, and that guests sometimes hear her screaming at night, along with sudden cold spots. We found no record of a killing, so treat this as a story that grew up around the Capone legend.

On camera

The Barbee appeared on an episode of the Travel Channel’s The Dead Files in 2014, and MIGHT Paranormal investigated it the same year.

The most haunted rooms and places to look

  • Room 301: Said to be Capone’s room, and the source of the cigar smoke.
  • The third-floor hallway: Where visitors have followed the smell of smoke.
  • The restaurant booths: Where the old man is seen and then is not.
  • The Gable and Lombard suite: Named for the Hollywood couple said to have been regulars.

History of Barbee Hotel

The first hotel on the site, the Ormond, opened around 1897 to draw vacationers to the Barbee lakes. According to the Indiana State Library’s notes on a 1920s postcard of the hotel, Clara and Arthur W. Davison bought the Ormond around 1910, and Clara kept running it after Arthur died in 1913. On August 17, 1921, fire destroyed the building. Clara and Charles H. Lincoln built a replacement, the New Barbee Hotel, which opened in the spring of 1923, and the two married in 1927. That 1923 building is the one that stands today. A local story that the Lincolns were related to Abraham Lincoln has no record behind it that we could find.

Big Barbee Lake covers about 304 acres and is part of a chain of seven small lakes among the more than 100 in Kosciusko County. Its size allows boating with no speed limit, and the hotel became the lake’s best-known landmark.

During Prohibition the Barbee was one of the few places nearby where a drink could be had, and it has a reputation for bathtub gin. Its walls are hung with Capone stories. Visit Indiana says he rented the whole third floor and always stayed in Room 301; other writers call his visits legend rather than documented fact. Our older guide said Capone was a regular in the early 1890s, which cannot be right: he was not born until 1899, so his visits, if they happened, belong to the 1920s, in the new building.

Clark Gable and Carole Lombard are also said to have been regulars, and Lombard had family in the area. One account says they honeymooned in a lakeside cabin and ate at the hotel, and a suite upstairs is named for them.

Local businessman Dan Signore, who also runs Danny’s Pizza and Sports Bar, owns the hotel, and the restaurant is known for some of the best Chicago-style pizza in Indiana. During the COVID pandemic the owners announced plans for a major renovation, and recent coverage focuses on the restaurant rather than the rooms. Call the hotel on 574-834-1111 to check which rooms are open.

Tips for a haunted stay

  • Call ahead to check which rooms are open and ask for Room 301 or the Gable and Lombard suite.
  • Have dinner downstairs first and ask the staff about the booth and the smoke.
  • Visit in summer, when the lake is busy and the restaurant keeps longer hours.
  • Combine the trip with the old Whitley County Jail in Columbia City, 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.

See all Indiana ghost hunts

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Frequently asked questions

Is the Barbee Hotel haunted?

It has one of Indiana’s best-known ghost stories. Staff report cigar smoke near Room 301, an old man who vanishes from a booth and a figure at a third-floor window.

Did Al Capone stay at the Barbee Hotel?

Local tradition and Visit Indiana say he rented the whole third floor and always stayed in Room 301 during Prohibition. It has not been proven from records, so treat it as legend.

Which room is haunted at the Barbee Hotel?

Room 301, said to be Capone’s room, where staff report cigar smoke from under the door.

Can you stay overnight at the Barbee Hotel?

The hotel has rooms above its restaurant, but availability changes with the season. Call ahead to confirm.

Was the Barbee Hotel on The Dead Files?

Yes. It appeared on the Travel Channel’s The Dead Files in 2014.

How old is the Barbee Hotel?

The site has hosted a hotel since about 1897, when the Hotel Ormond opened. That building burned in 1921, and the present Barbee Hotel opened in 1923.

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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