3 'Haunted' Houses And Hotels In San Diego County

SAN DIEGO — San Diego is known for its beautiful beaches and nearly perfect year-round weather, but the region is also reportedly home to several real-life haunted houses and hotels.

With Halloween around the corner, we're taking a closer look at three of the most haunted destinations in San Diego County.

Horton Grand Hotel

Located in the heart of downtown San Diego, the Horton Grand Hotel is one of the most charming urban boutique hotels in the city – and some say one of the most haunted.

The hotel is a reconstruction of two separate historic hotels: the Grand Horton Hotel and the Brooklyn-Kahle Saddlery Hotel. Both hotels were built in the mid-1880s and were originally located where Horton Plaza mall now stands.

Room 309 has long been a "hotbed of paranormal activity," with stories of inexplicable eventssuch as the bed shaking and lights flickering, according to Historic Tours of America and the Ghosts & Gravestone Tour.

Some believe the ghost of Roger Whitaker haunts the room. Whitaker was a gambler who was reportedly shot to death in the room at the original Grand Horton, according to Historic Tours of America.

Hotel del Coronado

Having opened in 1888, Hotel del Coronado has a long and rich history. The beachfront resort has welcomed presidents, celebrities, royals and beachgoers for more than 130 years. The resort also has its own resident ghost.

As the story goes, Kate Morgan checked into Hotel del Coronado in 1892 but never checked out.

According to the hotel's book, "Beautiful Stranger: The Ghost of Kate Morgan and the Hotel del Coronado," the young woman was married but estranged from her husband. It is believed that she arrived at the hotel hoping to rendezvous with a lover.

A man never arrived. After five lonely days, the 24-year-old took her own life.

Guests and employees have reported ghostly going-ons – or creepy coincidences – since her death, including seeing a woman in a black dress in hotel hallways and along the beach.

Read more: The Resident Ghost At Hotel Del Coronado

Whaley House

Located in San Diego's Old Town neighborhood, the Whaley House has twice been called the "most haunted house in America," once by Time Magazine and also by the Travel Channel's "America's Most Haunted."

The house was dedicated as a historic museum in 1960 and has been open to the public ever since. More than 125,000 people visit the museum every year, according to the museum's site.

The Whaley House was the home of early settler Thomas Whaley and his family. The home once housed a granary, a county courthouse, the city's first commercial theater and various businesses including Whaley's own general store.

Visitors have reported encountering a variety of spirits, including Whaley himself, according to the museum's site. The earliest documented ghost at the Whaley House was "Yankee Jim," who in 1852 was hanged on a gallows off the back of a wagon on the site where the museum now stands.