Shelburne Hotel

The Shelburne Hotel in Seaview, Washington's longest-running hotel since 1896, hosts at least five named ghosts across specific rooms. Charles Beaver stomps the upper floors, Georgina taps shoulders on the stairs, Nina harasses guests in Room 6, and Annie May blesses weddings beneath her favorite garden tree.

A traveler checked into Room 8 at the Shelburne Hotel, left for a short errand, and came back to find his door locked from inside. The deadbolt, which can only be turned by hand from within the room, had been thrown. Nobody was in there. Staff had to access the room through the roof.

The Shelburne is the longest continuously operating hotel in Washington state, built in 1896 in the tiny coastal town of Seaview on the Long Beach Peninsula. It started with 14 rooms for permanent and summer residents. Five of those rooms now come with resident ghosts, and the hotel leans into it, hosting an annual "Spooky Season" event that fills up fast.

Charles Beaver, the hotel's first owner, occupies the upper floors. His heavy footsteps echo through the hallway and stairwell, particularly loud during the 1970s and 1980s renovations when construction seemed to agitate him. Guests and workers heard someone stomping overhead when no one was up there. The prevailing theory is that Beaver, having built and run the place, doesn't appreciate people messing with it. He walks like a man inspecting work he didn't authorize.

Georgina lives between the staircases. She wears period clothing and taps guests gently on the shoulder as they pass. The tap is light enough that people often assume another guest brushed against them, then turn to find an empty stairwell. Some staff think Georgina is waiting for someone to arrive at the front door, a lover who never showed.

Room 6 belongs to Nina. She pokes and prods guests awake at odd hours, moves objects around the room, and seems to enjoy low-level disruption. Former guests have described waking up to someone touching their arm or leg, only to find the room empty and the door locked. Nina's identity is murky. She may have been a long-term resident of the hotel, though no one has pinned down exactly who she was.

Annie May haunts Room 16 and the garden. She's drawn to young couples, particularly around a specific tree on the property. Weddings held beneath that tree are considered blessed by Annie May, and couples who've married there sometimes report feeling a warm presence during the ceremony. Of all the Shelburne's ghosts, Annie May is the most benevolent.

A grouchy former hotel worker occupies a second-floor maintenance closet. He doesn't show himself often, but the closet runs cold year-round, and maintenance staff avoid lingering near it.

The bar has its own problems. Glasses get knocked over when no one is near them. Curtains move in rooms with closed windows. The general staff consensus: the Shelburne has more residents than its guest registry accounts for, and most of them prefer the late shift.

Seaview sits at the end of a long, flat stretch of coastal Washington where fog rolls in thick and the off-season population drops to almost nothing. The Shelburne fits its geography: old, quiet, a little creaky, full of rooms where the previous occupant may not have completely checked out.