Claremont Club & Spa

This stunning white castle-like hotel has been a Bay Area landmark since opening in 1915. Perched in the Berkeley Hills with panoramic views of San Francisco Bay, the Claremont has hosted celebrities and dignitaries for over a century. The hotel was named among America's 25 most haunted hotels by Historic Hotels of America.

The Claremont Hotel stands on land steeped in tragedy. In the mid-19th century, William Butler Thornburgh, a Kansas farmer who struck it rich during the California Gold Rush, built an English-style castle here for his family atop 13,000 acres in the Berkeley Hills. On July 14, 1901, a devastating wildfire swept through the hills, reducing the magnificent estate to ashes—only the horse stables survived. The heartbroken Thornburgh family sold the property, and after years of construction delays caused by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the Panic of 1907, the Claremont Hotel finally opened its doors on May 3, 1915.

The spirits seem never to have left. The most famous ghost is a six-year-old girl who gently visits guests at night, reaching out as if to bid them hello. Some believe she perished in the 1901 fire that destroyed the Thornburgh estate; others say she died within the hotel itself. Her favorite haunt is Room 422 on the fourth floor, where guests report televisions switching on while they shower and lights flickering without explanation. Bellman Earl Van Dyke, who has worked at the hotel for years, describes her presence: "It's not a bad spirit, not a fearful spirit. I feel it's something gentle."

Mrs. Thornburgh herself is said to remain at the Claremont, appearing as a Victorian woman in a high-necked collar who wanders the verandas and gardens. According to legend, she died of a broken heart after the fire destroyed her beloved home and her only daughter eloped to Europe with an Englishman she met at a party. Guests have spotted her apparition in mirrors, only to have her vanish when they attempt to photograph her.

A third spirit haunts what staff call "the most haunted room"—a young woman who allegedly drowned herself in the bathtub after being jilted by her fiancé approximately a century ago. The hotel declines to reveal which room witnessed this tragedy, but guests on the haunted history tours are granted access to areas not usually open to the public, including this notorious chamber.

The fourth floor experiences the most intense activity. Staff report elevators arriving at floors where no one called them, buckets of water spilling on their own, and mysterious pushes or pokes from behind. In March 2014, San Antonio Spurs players Tim Duncan and Jeff Ayres made national headlines when they claimed the hotel was "haunted to the rafters." Ayres heard a child crying from inside his room before entering—but when hotel staff investigated, no one was there. "I really heard voices and a baby in the room, and there wasn't anybody in there. It was crazy," Ayres told reporters. Duncan corroborated the account: "I definitely heard something. I'd rather not stay there again."

The Claremont embraces its supernatural reputation today. Named among Historic Hotels of America's "Most Haunted Hotels" in both 2021 and 2024, the hotel offers guided haunted history tours each October. Led by loyalty concierge supervisor Laura Christensen, the tours take guests through the most legendary halls where past visitors have reportedly refused to check out—not because of the service, but because they never left at all.