Haunted hotel guide · New Orleans, Louisiana
The Haunted Place d'Armes Hotel, New Orleans: The Lost Girl of Jackson Square
A cluster of old townhouses around shady courtyards, one block from Jackson Square, where guests say a small girl still asks for her grandmother.
The Place d’Armes Hotel sits at 625 St. Ann Street in the French Quarter, just off Jackson Square and a short stroll from St. Louis Cathedral and Cafe du Monde. It is set in restored 18th and 19th century buildings arranged around lush courtyards, magnolia trees and a swimming pool, and it is run by the Valentino family’s hotel group, which has been welcoming visitors to the Quarter for more than 60 years.
It is also a regular stop on French Quarter ghost lore. The story told by bloggers and tour guides is that a school once stood here and burned in the Great Fire of 1788, and that the hotel’s ghosts are the people lost that night. Even the hotel’s own FAQ admits that ghost stories are part of its local lore. Here is what guests report, what the records can and cannot confirm, and how to make the most of a stay. For more nearby, see our guide to the most haunted hotels in New Orleans.
Place d'Armes at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 625 St. Ann St, New Orleans, LA 70116 (French Quarter, one block from Jackson Square)
- Buildings Restored 18th and 19th century townhouses around courtyards
- Most haunted spots Upper hallways, courtyard rooms and rooms that are standing empty
- Best-known ghosts A little girl looking for her grandmother; an old bearded man in 18th-century dress
- Booking the haunted room No single room is named. Ask for a courtyard room in one of the older buildings.
- Good to know No breakfast service, but 24-hour coffee and tea in the guest lounge. Courtyard pool open 10am to 10pm. Valet parking is extra.
The ghosts of the Place d'Armes
The girl who asks for her grandmother
The best-known story at the Place d’Armes is a gentle one. Guests describe a young girl in old-fashioned clothing who approaches them in a hallway or courtyard and asks where her grandmother is. Before anyone can answer, she is gone.
No one has put a name to her. In the local telling she is one of the children lost when the school said to have stood on this site burned in 1788, still searching for family who never came. It is a sad story, and it is the one people most often bring up at the front desk.
The bearded gentleman
The second figure is an old man with a beard, dressed in clothes of the 18th century. Guests say he nods politely to them as they pass and then fades away. Some tellers make him the headmaster of the burned school, who is said to have died with his pupils. Others simply call him one of the Quarter’s colonial residents who never moved out.
Footsteps, voices and laughter overhead
Most reports at the Place d’Armes are things heard rather than seen. Guests describe footsteps, voices and laughter coming from rooms above theirs, sometimes when the hotel says those rooms are empty. Music with no obvious source is mentioned too, which is not unusual in the French Quarter, though guests say they hear it when the streets are quiet.
Furniture that moves on its own
Housekeeping stories add furniture shifted around in unoccupied rooms overnight. Even guests who notice nothing at all often say the older buildings have an atmosphere of their own, especially in the courtyards late at night when the crowds have gone home from Jackson Square.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- Courtyard rooms: Rooms looking onto the old courtyards, where the girl and the bearded man are most often described.
- The upper hallways: Where guests report footsteps, voices and laughter from rooms that should be empty.
- The courtyards after dark: Shady, quiet and lit softly at night, the best place to sit and soak up the atmosphere.
History of Place d'Armes Hotel
The hotel takes its name from the old Place d’Armes, the parade ground at the heart of the colonial city. The square dates from 1721, in the first years of the French colony, and it served as the town’s parade ground until it was renamed Jackson Square in 1851, in honor of Andrew Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans. Today it is the open heart of the French Quarter, framed by St. Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo and the Pontalba Buildings.
Most of the old city burned in the Great Fire of 1788, which broke out on Good Friday, March 21, 1788, and destroyed 856 of the city’s roughly 1,100 buildings. A second fire in December 1794 destroyed 212 more. That is why so much of the French Quarter, despite its French name, was rebuilt under Spanish rule in brick, with courtyards, thick walls and iron balconies. The townhouses that make up the Place d’Armes today date from the late 18th and 19th centuries and were later joined together as one hotel around their courtyards.
The ghost lore claims a school stood on this site and burned in 1788, killing its headmaster and several pupils. We have not found a record that confirms a school or deaths here. Some online accounts also say the hotel was built in 1725, which does not fit with the 1788 fire. The same burned-school story is told about the Andrew Jackson Hotel on Royal Street, which suggests a shared French Quarter legend rather than a documented event. Enjoy it as folklore.
Today the Place d’Armes is part of the Valentino Hotel Group, the family company that also runs the Hotel St. Marie, the Prince Conti and the French Market Inn in the Quarter. Rooms range from interior rooms to courtyard and balcony rooms, and the pool sits in a courtyard shaded by magnolias.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Ask for a courtyard room. The older courtyard buildings are where most of the stories are set. It is a request, not a guarantee.
- Walk Jackson Square late. The square is a minute away and very different after midnight, with the cathedral floodlit and the crowds gone.
- Plan breakfast out. The hotel has no breakfast service, but Cafe du Monde is about a block away.
- Join a French Quarter ghost walk. Many evening tours pass this corner, and the guides tell their own versions of the burned-school legend.
- See the neighbors. The Hotel Monteleone and the Bourbon Orleans are both an easy walk away.
- Want to investigate with a team? Haunted Rooms runs ghost hunts at historic venues across the US.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Andrew Jackson Hotel: the same burned-school legend, a few blocks away on Royal Street
- Bourbon Orleans Hotel: the ballroom dancer and Confederate soldier, two blocks up Orleans Street
- Hotel Provincial: soldiers in the 500 Building on Chartres Street
- Haunted places in New Orleans: the city’s other famous haunts
- Haunted hotels in Louisiana
- Haunted hotels in New Orleans
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 Place d'Armes Hotel haunted?
It has a local reputation for it, and the hotel itself acknowledges that ghost stories are part of its lore. Guests report a little girl asking for her grandmother, a bearded man in colonial dress, and footsteps and voices from empty rooms.
Was there really a school fire at the Place d'Armes?
The legend says a school on the site burned in the Great Fire of 1788, killing a headmaster and pupils. The 1788 fire was real and destroyed most of the city, but we have not found a record of a school or deaths on this site.
Where is the Place d'Armes Hotel?
At 625 St. Ann Street in the French Quarter, one block from Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral, with Cafe du Monde about a block away.
Is there a haunted room I can book?
No single room is linked to the ghosts. Most stories are set in the courtyard rooms and upper hallways, so ask for a courtyard room when you book.
Does the Place d'Armes have a pool?
Yes. There is a swimming pool in a courtyard setting, open from 10am to 10pm according to the hotel.
What does Place d'Armes mean?
It was the name of the colonial parade ground in front of St. Louis Cathedral, a place where soldiers drilled. The square was renamed Jackson Square in 1851.
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.
- Place d'Armes Hotel (official site)
- Place d'Armes Hotel: FAQ
- Explore Louisiana: Place d'Armes Hotel
- Seeks Ghosts: Place d'Armes Hotel
- Wikipedia: Jackson Square
- Wikipedia: Great New Orleans Fire (1788)
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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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