Haunted hotel guide · Naples, New York
The Haunted Naples Hotel: Topper, Alice and the Ghosts of a Finger Lakes Inn
A brick hotel on the site of an 1818 stagecoach tavern, where a ghost called Topper is linked to the third floor and a mother and her children are said to watch from the windows.
The Naples Hotel sits on Main Street in the village of Naples, among the vineyards at the south end of Canandaigua Lake. It has been welcoming travelers on this spot since a stagecoach tavern opened in 1818, and its owners say the building is rarely as empty as it looks.
It is a stop on New York’s Haunted History Trail and appeared on Syfy’s Ghost Hunters. Since Tom and Destiny Salviski restored it between 2020 and 2023, it has ten suite-style rooms, a restaurant and a bar in the old lower-level speakeasy, and a fresh supply of ghost stories from the owners themselves. It is one of the best-loved haunted hotels in New York.
Naples Hotel at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 111 South Main Street, Naples, NY 14512
- Opened 1818 as the Lyon Tavern; current brick hotel completed 1895; restored 2020 to 2023
- Most haunted spots The third floor, the Riesling, Cabernet and Niagara Suites, the front dining room, the basement bar
- Best-known ghosts Topper; Alice and her two children; a Civil War soldier; a lilac-scented woman
- Booking the haunted room Ask for the Riesling, Cabernet or Niagara Suite, which the owners say are the most active.
- Good to know Ten suites, two of them long-term stay apartments, with keyless entry. The restaurant keeps limited hours, so check before you go.
The ghosts of The Naples Hotel
Topper
The hotel’s best-known spirit is Topper. On Ghost Hunters, the owners of the day said a guest had taken his own life in a third-floor room in the 1920s and that they believed his was the presence behind the activity; they named him Topper. Visit Finger Lakes describes a man who died on the third floor and is seen wandering the hotel. No newspaper record of the death has been published, so treat the backstory as hotel lore.
The current owners add a modern Topper story. They found a third-floor room locked from the inside, and when they got in, there was nobody there.
Alice and her children
Staff and a former manager, quoted by the Haunted History Trail, describe a woman called Alice sitting in the front dining room, while her two children are seen looking out of an upstairs window. The story is that all three died in the hotel in the 1900s. The owners have also heard stories of a girl called Belle. None of these names has been matched to a record, which is worth remembering about all of them.
The soldier, the lilacs and the flashlights
Other reports gathered by the Haunted History Trail and Visit Finger Lakes include a Civil War soldier seen coming down the basement steps, a woman in a front room whose lilac scent fills the air, and two men in one guest room who make flashlights flicker. Guests also describe whispers, artwork that moves, lights that flicker, televisions that switch themselves on and coat hangers found dangling from a bathroom light.
Ghost Hunters at the Naples Hotel
The hotel featured on season 8 of Syfy’s Ghost Hunters, in an episode called Buyer Beware. The owners said they had tried to sell in 2008 and that a would-be buyer was driven off by the activity. They described objects thrown at them, an older gentleman seen in full figure, voices and a waitress who watched an ice cube fly past her face.
The team reported a second-floor door that unlocked and opened by itself, a conversation that sounded like three men and a scream on tape, a painting found tilted on its two hooks, and a light fixture in the basement that fell toward an investigator on a thermal camera. They also told the owners that not everything is paranormal.
What the owners experienced
Tom and Destiny Salviski bought the hotel in 2020 and say the renovation was eventful. Tools kept vanishing from the basement until they turned up in a locked room that was once the bar’s cooler. A cherry pipe smoke smell drifted through the second floor. While Tom was in the Niagara Suite bathroom, someone banged on the door; nobody was there. Guests have since reported knocking, running in the halls, invisible hands and tugged feet around 3 a.m., a pregnant guest in the Niagara Suite heard children running in the hallway, and a few guests have left in the middle of the night. Some staff will not go to the basement bar after seeing wine glasses move.
The owners are measured about it. As Tom told Visit Finger Lakes, historic buildings always have stories that go with them. They estimate about one guest in ten comes for the ghosts.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- The Niagara Suite: Where Tom heard the banging on the bathroom door and a guest heard children running at 3 a.m.
- The Riesling and Cabernet Suites: Named by the owners, with the Niagara, as the most active rooms, perhaps because they keep the most original character.
- The third floor: Topper’s floor, and the room that locked itself from the inside.
- The front dining room: Where Alice is seen sitting.
- The basement bar: The old speakeasy level, with the basement steps where the soldier is seen. Some staff will not go down alone.
History of The Naples Hotel
Simeon Lyon built the Lyon Tavern here in 1818, about a mile south of the original pioneer settlement of Naples. It served travelers on the stagecoach route between Geneva and Bath, and it stood until 1895, when Jefferson Brown completed the brick hotel you see today, backed by ten local businessmen. It had 30 guest rooms and, according to the hotel’s own timeline, no indoor plumbing or electricity until around the turn of the century.
The hotel had its ups and downs. Ethel Roosevelt, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt, stopped for the night and signed the register in 1914. In 1919 a change of owner and a lost liquor license closed it, and when there was talk of demolition, locals defended it as an ornament to the street and village. A fire on July 30, 1924 destroyed the roof structure and damaged the interior, and the hotel was rebuilt. In August 1928 federal agents raided it and seized liquor.
In 1964 Robert F. Kennedy spoke to a crowd from the front of the hotel during the Naples Grape Festival. The hotel’s ghost reputation grew in the following decades: the owners tried to sell in 2008, and the hotel was later featured on season 8 of Ghost Hunters.
Tom and Destiny Salviski, who had restored historic homes in upstate New York, took over in 2020 and spent three years restoring the building, from wiring and plumbing to new windows and all 17 toilets. Today it has ten private suites, including two long-term stay apartments, with keyless entry, plus a restaurant and a bar in the basement.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Ask for the Riesling, Cabernet or Niagara Suite when you book.
- Stay midweek if you want quiet. The owners say a busy restaurant and bar can drown out the atmosphere at weekends.
- Set an alarm for 3 a.m., the hour guests say is most active.
- Visit in late September for the Naples Grape Festival, and try a slice of the village’s famous grape pie.
- Make a Finger Lakes ghost weekend of it with a night at Belhurst Castle on Seneca Lake.
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.
- Historic Palmyra Ghost Hunt, Palmyra: Our nearest ghost hunt, a historic village about an hour north
More haunted hotels nearby
- Belhurst Castle, Geneva: Isabella, the opera singer in white, on Seneca Lake
- Allegiance Bed and Breakfast, Mount Morris: Karen on the stairs and Raymond in the library
- Hotel Utica, Utica: Charlie the Tuxedo Man and Room 410
- Haunted hotels in New York
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 Naples Hotel haunted?
It has one of the strongest ghost reputations in the Finger Lakes. Guests and staff report Topper on the third floor, Alice in the front dining room with her two children at an upstairs window, a Civil War soldier on the basement steps and a lilac scent in a front room. It is on New York’s Haunted History Trail.
Who is Topper at the Naples Hotel?
The hotel’s best-known ghost. Former owners told Ghost Hunters that a guest took his own life in a third-floor room in the 1920s and named the spirit Topper. The current owners found a third-floor room locked from the inside with nobody in it.
Was the Naples Hotel on Ghost Hunters?
Yes. It was featured on season 8 of Syfy’s Ghost Hunters, in the episode Buyer Beware.
Which rooms are haunted at the Naples Hotel?
The owners name the Riesling, Cabernet and Niagara Suites as the most active, along with the basement bar.
How old is the Naples Hotel?
The Lyon Tavern opened on the site in 1818, and the current brick hotel was completed in 1895.
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.
- Haunted History Trail of New York State: The Naples Hotel
- Visit Finger Lakes: An interview with one of the most haunted hotels in the Finger Lakes (2023)
- The Naples Hotel: A haunted history (hotel timeline)
- Syfy: Ghost Hunters season 8 recap, Buyer Beware
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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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