Is the Chancellor Hotel in San Francisco actually haunted?
During its 100-year history, the Chancellor Hotel has been at the center of many ghost stories.
Visitors of the Chancellor Hotel have experienced it all: hearing knocking inside the walls, feeling inexplicable cold spots, and seeing shadows moving across the halls.
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So, is the Chancellor Hotel in San Francisco Haunted?
Probably, yes. Here is what we know:
The Chancellor Hotel has been a fixture in San Francisco’s Union Square for over 100 years.
Its beginnings did not look so certain, though… With memories of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 on everyone’s mind, the hotel was initially advertised as being “virtually fireproof”.
However, the contractor building the hotel went broke keeping up with the newly updated building codes. The hotel then changed hands after a “creative deal” was made by Isador Rosenberg, whose grandchildren still run the hotel today.
It has not been smooth sailing for the Chancellor Hotel since then, either.
People regularly report experiencing paranormal occurrences in the upper floors of the Chancellor Hotel. It has garnered a serious reputation for being the center of hauntings of all types.
In fact, San Francisco itself is known as one of the most haunted cities in the United States.
It is said that there are 6 dead people “living” in San Francisco for every alive person there. There are plenty of chances for you to encounter a ghost or two if you are visiting!
Myths about the Chancellor Hotel
Room 1501
The upper floors of the Chancellor Hotel are associated with the most paranormal activity. One gentleman reported a particularly chilling occurrence on April 29th, 2009.
He was staying in room 1501, on the 15th floor of the Chancellor Hotel. As he was preparing for bed, he turned off the audiobook he had been listening to, as well as the lamp on his bedside table.
That’s when he felt a chilling sensation overcome him. It was a very deep kind of cold that a simple draft blowing through the room would not give.
He turned around and saw a dark shape on the left side of his bed.
It was human in appearance, about 4 feet tall.
He waved his arms and shook his head to make sure it wasn’t just his shadow… But the shape didn’t move. It was looking directly at him, cocking its head, as if asking “Where did the story go?”
So who was the shadowy figure? Just a child in need of a bedtime story? Or something far more sinister? No one knows.
But occurrences like this are not a rarity.
When another gentleman requested a room change (twice in a row!) because of hearing knocking in the walls, the receptionist just looked at him with a tired look in her eyes and nodded.
Just business as usual at the Chancellor Hotel in San Francisco!
Is the Chancellor Hotel Haunted?
You decide.
But, if you’d like to learn more about the dark secrets of San Francisco and even meet a ghost or two yourself, check out our Haunted San Francisco Ghost Tour.
It’s a hands-on paranormal investigation tour that takes you through Chinatown and the Gold-Rush era Jackson Square district after dark.
Ready to discover the dark side of San Francisco?