Washington Square Hotel - New York City, NY

Step into a corner of Greenwich Village where jazz, folk music and literary legends never quite checked out. At the Washington Square Hotel, you sleep beneath the same roof that once sheltered Bob Dylan, Dylan Thomas and Ernest Hemingway—while looking directly onto one of New York City’s most famously haunted parks. If you love a stay with history, atmosphere and just enough ghost lore to keep you listening to every creak in the hallway, this “crummy hotel over Washington Square” might be your perfect paranormal home base.

Hotel History

• The red-brick building at 103 Waverly Place opened in 1902 as the Hotel Earle, an eight-story residential hotel built by Earle S. L’Amoureux.

• By 1907 a “twin sister” building was added next door, creating the larger property that stands today.

• Through the early–mid 20th century it shifted from respectable residential hotel to down-at-heel artists’ flophouse; famous guests over the years included Ernest Hemingway, Dylan Thomas, Bob Dylan, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and the Rolling Stones.

• Folk icon Bob Dylan lived here in the early 1960s; he and Joan Baez shared Room 305, immortalized as “that crummy hotel over Washington Square” in Baez’s song Diamonds and Rust.

• In 1973 the property was bought by the Paul family, restored, and in 1986 officially renamed the Washington Square Hotel. It remains a family-run boutique hotel and neighborhood landmark today.

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Haunted hot spots & paranormal activity

A key thing up front: there are no widely documented, detailed ghost case files tied specifically to rooms in the Washington Square Hotel the way there are for places like the Chelsea. Most of the hard ghost stories belong to Washington Square Park itself, which sits on a former potter’s field and mass grave (estimated 20,000+ burials) and has long been considered one of NYC’s most haunted spots.

That said, for guests who like to mix music history with ghostly imagination, a few rooms and areas have become “legendary”:

1. Room 305 – the Dylan & Baez room

• Why it’s famous: Bob Dylan lived here when the building was still the Hotel Earle; later he and Joan Baez shared Room 305, which she references in Diamonds and Rust. The hotel’s own history timeline and multiple music histories confirm 305 as the Dylan room.

• Haunted lore: Ghost-tour commentary and fan writing sometimes frame 305 as “spiritually charged” thanks to its association with Dylan and the bohemian 1960s; you’ll see it described in music/rock-history pieces as a room where creativity and late-night drama were the norm.

• Reported activity: Public sources don’t document strong, repeated paranormal incidents (no famous apparitions or poltergeist stories). For your guidebook, you can fairly present 305 as a “legendary room with intense musical energy and occasional reports of uneasy, watched-over feelings from fans who know its history,” but it’s more cultural folklore than proven haunting.

2. Room 107 – Bo Diddley’s favorite

• Why it’s famous: Travel and music articles note that rock ’n’ roll pioneer Bo Diddley “loved room 107” and stayed at the Earle/Washington Square whenever he played New York.

• Haunted lore: 107 shows up in rock-history discussions as a favorite of touring musicians rather than a classic “ghost room.” It’s a natural pick for guests who like the idea that a legendary guitarist might still be riffing in the ether.

• Reported activity: Again, no consistent, specific ghost stories in public sources—just the idea that rooms soaked in decades of late-night jams and hard-living musicians carry a heavy atmosphere.

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