Dare to stay? Two iconic Upstate NY inns named among best haunted hotels in U.S.

There’s only one good way to get ghosted.
Two lodges in Upstate New York have been named among the best haunted hotels in the nation — just in time for peak spooky season.
The Fainting Goat Island Inn, a perennial favorite for paranormal fans, was ranked the second-best haunted hotel in the United States by USA Today’s 10Best. The small Southern Tier inn was knocked down a spot after spending two years in a row at the top of the list of great ghoulish getaways.
But Fainting Goat wasn‘t the only lodge voted onto 10Best’s list: Hotel Saranac, an iconic Adirondacks inn, was named No. 5 on the ranking of top haunted hotels.
Released just days before Halloween, the list didn’t leave travelers much time to book a scary October stay.
Luckily, the ghosts who call the haunted Upstate New York hotels home never check out — making spooky nights a year-round possibility.
1311 West River Road, Nichols | (607) 972-9849
“The house can sometimes get really noisy, even when there are no guests here.”
That‘s how owner Marnie Streit once described the permanent, ghostly tenants of the Fainting Goat Island Inn — the No. 2 haunted hotel on 10Best’s 2024 list.
Fainting Goat is home to a herd of goats and overlooks a 17-acre island in the Susquehanna River. It’s near the Pennsylvania border and less than 2 miles from Tioga Downs Casino Resort.
Built in the late 1800s, the Victorian inn has five cozy bedrooms named after different goat breeds. It is filled with antique decor, from phonographs to antique dolls.
For a small inn, the Fainting Goat boasts a plethora of hauntings — legends that have drawn guests seeking goosebumps, ghost hunters and even the Travel Channel.
“Guests of the Fainting Goat Island Inn…have reported numerous ghostly encounters, like being woken in the night by voices, or seeing two women sitting for tea in the Fainting Room,” 10Best wrote in its ranking. “Others have reported hearing footsteps on a staircase that doesn’t exist, or finding a child-sized chair that had somehow moved next to the bed in the Nubian Room.”
Consider us happily creeped out.
100 Main St., Saranac Lake |(518) 891-6900
The stored Hotel Saranac is an icon in charming Saranac Lake, from the touches of old-world charm that dot its interior to the illuminated sign perched on its roof.
It was built in 1927 on the grounds of a former high school and has long been a base camp for adventurers looking to explore the Adirondacks.
After falling into disrepair, the Hotel Saranac underwent serious renovations and opened to its restored former glory in 2018. It now includes a spa, restaurant a spacious “Great Camp” suites near the hotel.
But in addition to its link to the Roaring Twenties, Hotel Saranac also has rumored ties to a few ghostly guests.
“According to local reports, the spirit of Howard Littell, the school’s superintendent, still roams the property,” 10Best wrote. “Other encounters at Hotel Saranac include mysterious scratching sounds heard on the third floor, a young girl spotted on the fourth floor, and spectral singing heard on the sixth floor.”
While some inns shrug off hints of hauntings, the Hotel Saranac has embraced the legends — even including a page titled “haunted” on its website.
Want to test the reports? Grab a drink in the hotel‘s historic Great Bar, where the hotel said it isn’t unusual to encounter “unexplained footsteps, doors shutting, and flickering lights.”