The World’s Most Glamorous Bars With a Ghost Story (One Still Saves a Table for a Dead Man)

A ghostly couple sipping cocktails on a mezzanine above Grand Central. A Norwegian chambermaid who never checked out. A French Quarter former owner who still has a table reserved, bread and wine included. Just in time for Halloween, these are 13 of the world’s most glamorous bars with a ghost story attached, from The Campbell in New York and Muriel’s Séance Lounge in New Orleans to Artesian at The Langham London, The Shelbourne in Dublin and Hotel del Coronado.

Last call is apparently optional.

You expect certain things from a great bar: a properly made cocktail, flattering lighting and company interesting enough to justify a second drink. Whether that company should still be walking the earth is another question entirely. These stories involve heartbroken lovers, devoted employees and former owners who seemingly couldn’t bear to leave. In a few, the encounters happen in the bar itself; in others, the legends belong to the historic properties around it. The sightings are, naturally, a matter of belief. The appeal of the drinking rooms is much easier to prove.

The Horseshoe Bar at The Shelbourne

Dublin, Ireland | Mary Masters

With its rich red walls, gleaming brass and curved counter, the Horseshoe is the kind of bar where an afternoon slides very pleasantly into an evening, and its history of literary, political and celebrity regulars only makes staying put more tempting.

Elsewhere in The Shelbourne, another guest seems to have taken the same approach. The hotel’s best-known ghost legend concerns Mary Masters, a young girl associated with the upper floors, and actress Lily Collins brought the story to a wider audience after describing a presence in her room, complete with giggling and slamming doors. Mary’s identity remains folklore. The Horseshoe’s classic cocktails and whiskey list are far more straightforward pleasures.

Haute Living take: Dublin’s most storied bar. Order a whiskey and stay all afternoon.

The Campbell

Grand Central Terminal, New York City | A ghostly couple on the mezzanine

Grand Central is full of people rushing to get somewhere. The Campbell’s alleged residents seem perfectly happy right where they are. Once the private office and reception room of financier John W. Campbell, the space keeps its extraordinary Florentine-inspired ceiling, leaded-glass window, fireplace and original details, an exceptionally good-looking setting for a cocktail before a train (or instead of one).

Earlier accounts from the bar’s former operator and staff describe unexplained disturbances and an elegantly dressed older couple appearing on the mezzanine, apparently enjoying drinks while watching the room below. If you’re going to spend eternity in Midtown, you could do far worse.

Haute Living take: Midtown’s most beautiful room. Skip the train.

The Palm Room at Hotel Union Øye

Øye, Norway | The chambermaid who never checked out

A cocktail at Union Øye comes with the promise of a very good bedtime story. The historic hotel, welcoming travelers since 1891, keeps an evening tradition of gathering guests for tales of its royal visitors, artists, adventurers and one employee whose departure remains, shall we say, unresolved.

Her name is Linda, the chambermaid the hotel describes as having never checked out, and her story joins the evening’s history lesson over a nightcap in the historic living rooms. Start in the Palm Room, the bar for crafted cocktails and small plates. Between the fjord outside and the house secrets coming after dinner, this is a night worth making a whole trip for.

Haute Living take: Fjords, cocktails and Linda. Stay for the storytelling.

Photo Credit: New Orleans & Company

The Séance Lounge at Muriel’s Jackson Square

French Quarter, New Orleans | Resident ghost: Pierre Antoine Lepardi Jourdan

At Muriel’s, one guest has a standing reservation that requires neither a credit card nor a pulse. The restaurant keeps a table set with bread and wine for Pierre Antoine Lepardi Jourdan, the former owner who, by its telling, lost his beloved home in a poker game in 1814 and died upstairs.

Those upper rooms are now the Séance Lounge, an extravagant mix of red silk, leopard print, Parisian furnishings and exposed brick. Muriel’s reports unexplained lights, knocks and moving objects, much of it centered on the lounge. Order a cocktail downstairs and carry it up when the rooms are open to the public. Jourdan is unlikely to mind you making yourself at home. It is, after all, still his house.

Haute Living take: The most famous ghost table in New Orleans. Take your drink upstairs.

The Richelieu Bar at Arnaud’s

French Quarter, New Orleans | The mystery cocktail

The most unsettling part of an after-hours inventory should be discovering how much Champagne has gone missing. At Arnaud’s Richelieu Bar, an accountant reportedly found something much harder to reconcile. In a story published by the restaurant, he was counting bottles alone when the temperature suddenly dropped. He turned to find a half-full cocktail glass on a counter that had been empty moments before. Arnaud’s also recounts sightings of gentlemen in old-fashioned tuxedos around the bar.

For the living, the menu offers excellent reason to linger: the house French 75 combines Cognac, lemon, sugar and Champagne. The mystery drink, presumably, remains off-menu.

Haute Living take: The best French 75 in New Orleans. Don’t touch the half-full glass.

The Castle Bar at Dragsholm Slot

Hørve, Denmark | The White Lady

At Dragsholm Slot, the ingredients in your cocktail may have traveled less far than you did. The Danish castle’s drinks follow the seasons, with the kitchen and bar drawing on the surrounding landscape.

The castle has had more than 800 years to accumulate stories, and its best-known supernatural resident is the White Lady, a young woman who, according to Danish tourism accounts, was entombed within the castle walls and never left. Today, Dragsholm houses a hotel, an acclaimed restaurant and a bar pouring signature cocktails. A drink before dinner is the most civilized way imaginable to contemplate the building’s less comfortable chapters.

Haute Living take: 800 years of history in a glass. Have a drink before dinner.

Artesian at The Langham

Marylebone, London | Room 333

Artesian hardly needs help from the afterlife. The Langham’s celebrated cocktail bar has long made inventive drinks its calling card, and it remains one of London’s most compelling places to settle in for the night.

The supernatural reputation belongs to the hotel around it, specifically the much-discussed Room 333. Published accounts describe strange disturbances in the bedrooms, including England cricketer Stuart Broad, who reported bathroom taps turning themselves on and off during his stay. No need to book that room to join in. A cocktail at Artesian is all the haunted Langham you need, with considerably less commitment than an overnight investigation.

Haute Living take: One of the world’s great bars, ghost optional. Do not book Room 333.

The Writer’s Bar at The Savoy

Mussoorie, India | Frances Garnett-Orme

Mountain views, historic interiors and a drinks collection honoring literary visitors give The Writer’s Bar plenty of character before its darker history even comes up.

The Savoy is associated with Frances Garnett-Orme, a British spiritualist whose death at the hotel in 1911 led to a murder case. Her companion, Eva Mountstephen, was tried and acquitted, and the circumstances still invite discussion. Over time the case became entwined with local ghost lore, with Garnett-Orme’s spirit said to linger. The haunting belongs to the property rather than the bar specifically, but the Writer’s Bar is a very handsome place to mull it over.

Haute Living take: A true-crime mystery with a Himalayan view. Order something literary.

El Coro Lounge Bar at Sofitel Legend Santa Clara

Cartagena, Colombia | A 17th-century convent crypt

Ask about the history at most bars and you might hear about a famous regular. At El Coro, the conversation can lead to a convent crypt. The lounge occupies the former novices’ choir of Cartagena’s 17th-century Santa Clara convent, now pouring premium rums, contemporary takes on Cuban cocktails and live music.

Local ghost stories describe a nun walking the cloister and a long-haired girl drifting through the hotel’s corridors. The crypt itself is very real, and the hotel offers visits on request. A rum cocktail followed by a peek beneath the surface? That’s an evening you won’t forget.

Haute Living take: Rum, live music and a real crypt. Ask for the tour.

Photo Credit: Leo A. Daly/Hotel Del Coronado

Babcock & Story Bar at Hotel del Coronado

Coronado, California | Kate Morgan, since 1892

A restored original mahogany bar and views toward Coronado’s beach make Babcock & Story the easiest place to appreciate why Hotel del Coronado has endured. Its best-known ghost story takes a bit more imagination.

Kate Morgan checked in in 1892, and the property’s own historical accounts describe the belief that her spirit remains. Reports center on her former guest room, though the hotel recounts fleeting appearances and unexplained antics all over the resort and grounds. At the bar, the pleasures are tangible: craft cocktails, a beautiful historic counter and a California sunset. Kate’s presence is optional. Another drink is understandable.

Haute Living take: The prettiest sunset on this list. Toast Kate.

The Library Bar at Dalhousie Castle

Near Edinburgh, Scotland | The Grey Lady

A bar hidden behind a moving bookcase would have my attention on its own. Add oak paneling, Chesterfield sofas and a crackling fire, and Dalhousie Castle’s Library Bar becomes a very persuasive argument for staying in.

The castle’s resident legend is Lady Catherine, better known as the Grey Lady. Versions of her story differ, but accounts consistently place her on the stairs, in the halls and up in the turrets, and a longtime castle steward has described his own encounters with her. Start with an aperitif in the library. Whether you explore further after dark depends entirely on how good the storytelling gets.

Haute Living take: A secret bookcase bar in a haunted castle. It doesn’t get better.

HAUNT at The St. Anthony

San Antonio, Texas | The Lady in Red

At HAUNT, the ghost stories made it onto the cocktail list. The lounge at The St. Anthony names its drinks after the characters said to linger in the hotel’s historic halls.

One is the Lady in Red, tied to Isabella, a woman who, by the lounge’s account, waited for a lover in the Anacacho Ballroom. He never showed; according to legend, she never entirely left. Her namesake drink is a lot more cheerful: strawberry gin, lime, pomegranate, rose syrup and sparkling rosé. A fitting order at a bar where the conversation about spirits can go in several directions.

Haute Living take: The only bar that serves its ghosts by the glass. Order the Lady in Red.

Vista Bar at Bela Vista Hotel & Spa

Portimão, Algarve, Portugal | The daughter in the corridors

Bela Vista’s historic mansion brings a welcome sense of occasion to an Algarve cocktail hour. A painted wooden ceiling gives the bar its character, while the Atlantic supplies a view that’s very hard to improve on.

The hotel is also the subject of a local legend involving a daughter of the family tied to the house, whose cries and footsteps are said to echo through the corridors (best understood as part of the property’s folklore). At Vista Bar, signature cocktails and an intimate setting are the immediate draw. Time it for sunset over the ocean, and let the stories wait until the second round.

Haute Living take: The most beautiful view to drink to a ghost. Go at sunset.

How to Plan a Haunted Happy Hour

For the boldest ghost story: Muriel’s Séance Lounge. For architecture: The Campbell. For storytelling: Union Øye. For cocktails first, ghosts second: Artesian. For a castle: Dalhousie or Dragsholm. For themed drinks: HAUNT. For a sunset: Hotel del Coronado or Bela Vista. In New Orleans, pair Muriel’s and Arnaud’s on a single French Quarter crawl, and if your glass is suddenly half-full when you turn around, don’t ask questions. Just say thank you.

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