Among the eerie happenings reported here are red handprints that turn up on guests’ beds, strange misty figures that float, and the metallic clanging and creaking sounds of a pulley system in the night. These instances have been reported as far back as 1832.
If you've had a paranormal experience here, or have any additional information about this location, please let us know!
Want to Spend the Night Here?
Click the button above to find the best rate via Hotels.com
Rate this Haunted Place
What do you think? Is this place really haunted? Voice your opinion here! Click "thumbs up" if you think its haunted, or "thumbs down" if you think its all just a tall tale.
Geographic Information
- Address:
- 501 Decatur St
New Orleans, LA 70130
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 29.955379, -90.06433099999998
- Parish:
- Orleans Parish, Louisiana
- Nearest Towns:
- New Orleans, LA (0.6 mi.)
Gretna, LA (2.9 mi.)
Arabi, LA (3.5 mi.)
Terrytown, LA (3.7 mi.)
Harvey, LA (3.7 mi.)
Marrero, LA (4.4 mi.)
Jefferson, LA (5.4 mi.)
Metairie, LA (5.7 mi.)
Timberlane, LA (5.7 mi.)
Westwego, LA (5.8 mi.)
Contact Information
- Web:
- http://www.frenchmarketinn.com/
Please note: It is your responsibility to acquire appropriate permissions before investigating any location listed on this site. Private property should be respected at all times, as should all posted signs concerning trespassing, hours of operation and other local regulations. Many "ghost hunters" have been arrested because they failed to contact property owners and/or local authorities ahead of time.
Share Your Experiences
Comments (6)
Share Your Comments
Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.
7 years ago I had an eerie experience ag the French Market Inn where I felt like a presence was filling me with a sense of dread. Happened during a hedonistic stay there with my girlfriend at the time. I haven’t told anyone about it until now. It was the most oppressive feeling I’ve ever had and lasted most of the night.
I am staying at the French Market Inn now and woke up to blood ALL over my pillow. It’s my own blood but I found a scratch on my facs that caused it. I have nails that could not have caused this scratch. It was not there when I went to bed. I did not have a drunken night. Also, before I woke up to find this, I had opened my eyes and saw a dark shadow next to me. I thought it was just my eyes adjusting. But my friend staying with me said she saw the same thing in the night. I had no idea this hotel was labeled as haunted. I got online and started searching after this happened and found all of the stories. Interestingly enough, I had gone on a ghost tour and left early because it wasn’t spooky. I even said I want a real experience where I get touched or scratched by a ghost. Well, got my wish granted!
We stayed here in December of 2002. Our room was in the older part of the hotel on the second or third floor and windowless. That was creepy but the second night we stayed there, I and my friend started getting a weird feeling, just sort of creepy in general, then the room got freakishly cold. I thought the air conditioner was working over time and turned it off, but it continued to get colder in the room. Then there was odd clanking and then the toilet flushed. Literally flushed. Freaked us both out. We spent the night with the lights on and got very little sleep. I had no idea the place was known as haunted up until then and not until a few years later on a whim i searched the internet and found out the place had a paranormal history!
November 2018 My wife and I stayed at The French Market Inn. We took the inner room with no windows. After a full day and night in the French Quarters neighborhood we went to our room and went right out . The only lighting was from the red numbers glowing from the alarm clock, My wife loves it pitch black and extremely quiet. About 4:00 am I was wakened by the lamp light clicking on, I opened one eye and noticed the light coming from just the top of the lamp shade, like a flood light to the ceiling, no light was going down. I found that to be odd. And at that moment it clicked off. It happened a second time only seconds later, now with both eyes wide open, I saw a large black shadow covering some of the ceiling and wall and began traveling across the entire room. I felt a presence but wasn’t frightened, the entity wasn’t threatening. The next morning I asked the woman at the desk if she has heard of any unusual reports. She then asked me what room I was staying in, like that would make a difference. I told her room 234 She then told me yes but not that often. Maybe once every two months. I asked, what did they see? She said most of the complaints were reports of being touched. I wanted to ask for a refund, Why wasn’t I touched? True story
In September 2011 my husband and I visited New Orleans to celebrate my 30th birthday. We got in early Saturday morning, like 1 a.m. checked into the French Market Inn and then hit Bourbon. Unfortunately by 1 a.m. the party was pretty much over. The detritus of a wild night very much in evidence, with the rank smell of puke and urine everywhere. Disappointed, we headed back to the hotel and its quaint inner courtyard and old fashioned elevator, which we bypassed and took the stairs. Our room was on the second floor and had no windows. It was very dim in the room, even with all the lights on, and you could hear people in their rooms, as if they were in our same room. We giggled about this and after a great, albeit forced to be quiet, romp in bed, we fell asleep. I woke to complete darkness and reached out to turn on the beside lamp. To my surprise, my husband was wide awake, propped up on his elbows, just sort of spaced out. I checked the time and it was only like half an hour after we had initially gone to bed. I asked if he was ok and he nodded his head towards the wall across from the bed. I looked and there was a sort of light moving on the wall. I turned my head to see if light coming in the window were causing it when I remembered there were no windows in this room. I gasped and the light *heard* me and stopped fluctuating then began to climb up the wall, through the ceiling and then it was gone. No idea what it was. We fell asleep with the dim lights on and woke early and hit the town. We were gone all day and came back only to change clothes and hit Bourbon. So my husband, normally a chill, laid back type, is suddenly behaving irrationally angry and even abusive. I’m so shocked I can’t even respond. We were at a place called the Bourbon Cowboy when he suddenly shoves me and bolts. I tried to go after him but couldn’t find him. Bourbon, as all know, is crazy crowded and I could not find him. I walked everywhere. I wondered if I should call the cops. He wasn’t answering his cell. I went back to the French Market Inn and don’t know why but they would not let me in our room because I did not have a key and he reserved the room. Even with my ID showing the same last name. I waited in the bed of our truck, parked across the street in an open parking lot and watched the entrance to the hotel and waited for him to return. Finally I saw him approaching the hotel and his face was contorted with rage. He waited for me to reach him and then pushed/pulled me to our room. The lady at the desk looked down and away from us. As we crossed the courtyard I saw booted feet near the elevator but when I looked up to see if this man might say something to my husband for shoving me along I realized there was no one there. I was afraid. We reached our room and he shoved me inside, screaming that I was a bitch slut whore. He screamed that I wanted big, black dicks fucking me. I was beyond aghast at his accusations. The more I tried to calm and reason with him the angrier he became. His eyes were wildly dilated. He wasn’t himself. We left that night, driving through the night back to Houston. He doesn’t remember a thing. He swears the last thing he remembers is us heading towards Bourbon, with a vague memory we were at Pat O’s, which is correct. We did go to Pat O’s for some hurricanes. But that is all he swears he recalls. So was he roofied or possessed?
My daughter and I stayed on the 3rd floor at the front of the French Market Inn in May 2019 — accessible from the 2nd floor only by a long staircase. On our second to last night there, I woke up early to the feeling of my pillow being tugged about under my head. It was just starting to get light out. I lay there a while, and convinced myself I had been dreaming. But that night, I started Googling “French Market Inn haunted” before I went to bed, and read some of the accounts listed here and on other pages. This was our last night in New Orleans.
About 4 a.m., I awoke as the lamp between the two queen beds clicked on, and I saw my daughter staring at me with wide eyes. I asked, “Did you do that?” She nodded. So I asked her what was up. She said, “I saw a ghost.” We sat up and I asked what happened. She said she had awakened to a black figure between her bed and the windows. She watched it move across the room into a corner by the wardrobe and a standing lamp. She watched the corner for a bit, decided she had been seeing things (perhaps the lamp had fooled her), so she rolled over to go back to sleep. That’s when she felt something sit on her bed, making the mattress sink by the foot — and she turned on the lamp.
I told her my experience from the previous morning. At that point, she decided she wouldn’t be going to sleep, and she wanted to get something to eat from the vending machines. We went to the front desk to get change, and my daughter told the night clerk what had happened. The woman asked where we were staying, and we told her. The clerk said, “Oh. We call that ‘Heaven,’ because you have to take a staircase to get to Heaven.” Then she said, “We don’t get too many reports of activity up there.” Hahaha! For the record, my daughter and I had a great time, and we love the French Market Inn. We’ve stayed there twice now, and would stay there again!