Sin City’s Most Haunted Hotels

Posted: 11.30.2024 | Updated: 12.02.2024

When it comes to cities, Las Vegas is relatively new. Las Vegas was founded in 1905, only becoming incorporated as a city in 1911. Although its existence has been short — spanning just over a century — its brief history has no shortage of intrigue. Throughout the decades, the streetsand haunted hotels of Vegas have been charged with vice, drama, and violence. 

From gambling to nightlife, Vegas boasts a vibrant atmosphere. Over the years, everyone from celebrities and gangsters to the common man has found this city to be an alluring oasis where one might get lucky. Yet beneath this neon exterior, darker secrets lie. For many, Sin City has become their eternal resting place. 

For those looking to celebrate the spookier side of this gleaming city, staying in one of Vegas’ haunted hotels is a splendid idea. Las Vegas has multiple haunted hotels to choose from, each with its own distinct history and particular ghosts. Ready to take on the town and see some of the most haunted places in Las Vegas? Book one of our Las Vegas Ghost Tours.

What is the Most Haunted Hotel in Las Vegas? 

Given Las Vegas’ reputation as a city of vice, it’s no wonder so many of its hotels have seen dark days. The competition for the city’s most haunted hotels was steep, but many agree that the Luxor Hotel is the most nefarious of Vegas’ haunts. Multiple sources cite the opulent hotel as cursed, citing its slew of strange and violent deaths. The fact that it channels the energy of ancient Egypt with its design is no help either. 

The Flamingo

The Flamingo first opened its glittering doors the day after Christmas, 1946. Opened by none other than the infamous Bugsy Siegel. Many prominent Hollywood friends of the notorious gangster were in attendance. Despite this, the grand unveiling was a flop.

Just two weeks after its grand inauguration, the Flamingo closed down, reopening some months later as The Fabulous Flamingo. The resort began to turn a profit at last, but this came too late for Siegel. 

Siegel was shot while reading the newspaper on June 20th, 1947, in Beverly Hills. The crime is still unsolved today, although many believe his partners were to blame. Many attest that although Bugsy Siegel died in California, his spirit has returned to haunt the establishment that led to his demise. 

Guests of The Flamingo have claimed to spy a ghostly figure in the haunted hotels’ garden near the Bugsy Siegel memorial. Although the hotel may not advertise its hauntings widely, likely fearful that conventional guests will shy away from these darker elements, The Flamingo remains an enduring Vegas attraction for lovers of mob stories and Vegas’ more ghostly elements.

Horseshoe Las Vegas 

Offering over 2,000 rooms and suites for Vegas vacationers to relax and frolic, the Horseshoe now sits on what was once the site of the deadliest event in Nevada state history.

On an unassuming November day in 1980, the MGM Grand fire enveloped the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Starting as an electrical fire, the blaze raged through the casino floor, sending a flurry of smoke and deadly fumes through the ventilation systems and into unsuspecting guests’ hotel rooms. 

Many of the sleeping lodgers lost their lives to carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation, killing 87 people and injuring 700. The MGM Grand fire would become known as the second-largest hotel fire in United States history in terms of the number of lives lost. 

Less than a year after the devastating fire, the MGM Grand Hotel was reconstructed, updating all its safety features. It was sold to Harrah’s in 1985 and rebranded as Bally’s. In December of 2022, it became the Horseshoe Las Vegas under the operation of Caesars Entertainment. 

Guests have experienced numerous bizarre events at this hotel, hearing the sounds of disembodied coughing and cries. Others have sighted spectral figures appearing at the site of the casino fire, continuing to gamble in the afterlife as they did in their last hours on Earth.

Hotel Apache at Binion’s

Unlike larger Vegas haunted hotels, the Hotel Apache focuses on delivering vintage Vegas charm to its guests. The historic Hotel Apache opened in 1932 under the supervision of the Silvagni family. Having come to Las Vegas as a cement contractor for the Hoover Dam, Silvagni quickly realized its workers needed a place to shelter themselves from the desert heat and soon provided them with such.

The hotel was the first in Vegas to have an air-conditioned lobby as well as an electric elevator. Benny Binion began leasing the property from the Silvagnis in 1951. Today, the Silvagni family are still the hotel’s landlords, although they no longer manage the property. 

Yet, it seems, the true owners of this desert oasis are its undead guests. Many patrons frequent the hotel today in search of spirits. Multiple employees continue to report being touched or nudged by unseen forces or describe seeing strange figures. 

The hotel records these unusual occurrences on its website. Guests’ experiences range from objects moving without explanation to mysterious figures that appear and vanish. 

Exactly who these bothersome spirits are that haunt the Hotel Apache has never been disclosed — although many believe they are connected to Benny Binion. Binion was known to have a “vicious streak,” physically punishing gamblers caught cheating in his casinos and employing others to kill people. 

Former FBI agent Bill Coulter was considered to be one of his victims, being blown up in a parking garage in 1972. Given his reputation and connections, Binion was never charged. Might it be his victims who still haunt the hotel? 

Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino

Located one block from the Vegas Strip, the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino is a well-known Vegas haunt. Constructed in 1969 by American architect Martin Stern Jr., the hotel was previously known as the International Hotel, then the Las Vegas Hilton. It became the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino in 2014.

It is reportedly haunted by Elvis, the King of Rock and Roll, who performed an impressive 837 shows on the site between 1969 and 1976. Many attest his presence can still be felt here. 

Sightings of Elvis have been reported in the upper-floor hallways and backstage at the International Theatre. Others have seen Elvis on the casino floor and the Tuscany Villa where Elvis’ suite once was. Those who stay in the villa have reported the presence of “The King,” occasionally hearing his music when no source can be found. 

On the night of February 10th, 1981, busboy Philip Cline set fire to the hotel. According to news reports, the fire was intentionally set, having multiple points of origin. The raging inferno expanded quickly, scorching hallways, taking eight lives and injuring a further 350. 

To this day, hotel guests have reported strange experiences, including phantom figures and ghostly silhouettes. 

The Luxor

The Luxor is considered by many to be Las Vegas’ most haunted hotel for numerous reasons. The hotel has been privy to many grim occurrences over the years, including death, violence, and suicide.

Opening in 1993, The Luxor took a brief 18 months to construct and cost a whopping $375 million. 

For years, rumors have circulated of multiple construction workers who died during the building’s hasty construction, with darker speculators believing management covered the deaths up to preserve the hotel’s pristine reputation.

There have also been a string of violent deaths within the pyramid. The first reported death unfolded a few years after the hotel’s opening when a woman died of suicide by jumping from the 26th floor of the hotel. 

The numerous other Luxor Hotel deaths include the murder of 16-year-old runaway Sarah Gruber, a 24-year-old restaurant worker killed by a homemade explosive device, the death of UNLV football player Demario Reynolds, a casino employee murdered in the lobby by her boyfriend, and in 2012, a guest of the hotel died of Legionnaires’ disease. 

No wonder countless ghost stories continue to circle The Luxor. 

Haunted Las Vegas

When taking in all Las Vegas has to offer, tourists have a variety of lodgings to choose from, spanning from the homey to the haunted. Come and experience even more of the city’s dark underbelly with one of our Las Vegas Ghost Tours if you are unable to choose a Las Vegas haunted hotel. We’ll make that easy for you.

Content to continue exploring from the safety of your screen? Be sure to check our blog for more sinister stories and eerie tales. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to stay in the spooky know.

Sources:

https://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/Residents/History/Timeline

https://www.thrillist.com/lifestyle/las-vegas/most-haunted-places-las-vegas

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https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/deadly-mgm-grand-fire-changed-worldwide-safety-standards

https://www.caesars.com/horseshoe-las-vegas/hotel

https://www.binions.com/hotel/hotel_apache.php

https://www.binions.com/hotel/haunted_encounters.php

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/lasvegas-binion

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https://www.buriedsecretspodcast.com/the-curse-of-the-luxor-hotel-part-9