Downtown San Antonio’s Gunter Hotel may have just debuted a splashy $57 million refresh, but it hasn’t escaped the ghosts of its past. Washington, D.C., nonprofit the National Trust for Historic Preservation has named it among 2025’s top 25 most haunted hotels in the United States.
Each year, the nonprofit’s Historic Hotels of America program recognizes storied properties where things are said to go bump in the night. It’s a fun way to highlight the organization’s work to preserve the nation’s diverse historic buildings, neighborhoods, and heritage, whether one believes in the supernatural or not.
The Gunter's ghostly flappers might approve of the 1920s-inspired design at Keystone Club. Photo courtesy of The Gunter Hotel
“For some historic hotels, the past is not only present through historic architecture and authentic character, but also in the legends that hotel staff and locals tell about the ghostly spirits attracted to the historic hotel,” explains a release. “To celebrate this folklore, every October Historic Hotels of America provides travelers with information about historic hotels that want to share their ghost stories and offer guests experiences related to the season.”
Built in 1909 and inducted into the Historic Hotels program in 2025, the Gunter Hotel boasts a room that is only slightly less notorious than The Shining’s Room 237. Room 636 was the site of one of San Antonio’s most famous murders — a scene so gruesome it was bound to leave a psychic mark.
“Since the 1960s, guests and staff alike have reported unsettling phenomena, including unexplained cold spots, flickering lights, and the sound of faint whispers or footsteps when no one is present,” explains Historic Hotels in a release. “Some claim to have seen a shadowy figure lingering near the doorway, or catch the faint scent of cigar smoke, despite smoking being prohibited.”
A boozy message from the afterlife at Keystone Club. The Gunter Hotel San Antonio
According to the release, guests have reported seeing a woman in white drift through the hallways and hearing phantom piano music in empty spaces. Staff often tell stories about dark figures lurking in the ballroom and basement and spectral flappers ambling about.
The Gunter has largely embraced its eerie reputation. Although the hotel’s website understandably skips the darker side of its history, it winkingly say it’s “where comfort and curiosity meet.” And the property’s new Keystone Club has its own nod to paranormal activity. Ominously stenciled atop the foam of a cocktail: a blood-red “636.”
