The Old Harbor Inn

Between Factor’s Walk and River Street, lies one of Savannah's most beautiful hotels! The building was originally a warehouse built in 1892 by the Tide Water Oil Company. During this time, allegedly a worker was burned alive in the building when the area caught on fire. Interestingly enough, these stories might be false since no casualties or deaths were reported during the fire. The company that owned the building abandoned it in 1907. In 1930, it eventually was bought by the Alexander Brothers Company, a jeans and pants manufacturer. They left in 1980, and in 1985 it was once again bought and renovated to become the Old Harbor Inn. In 1987, the inn officially opened its doors. The building is owned by HLC Hotels, who also own a number of historic buildings in Savannah.

When I arrived at the Inn, I was immediately greeted by the front desk and introduced to a worker named Kevin, who worked there for around 12 years. Kevin told me that the building is definitely haunted, and showed me the rooms that both guests and staff experience the most activity. All of the rooms were on the 4th floor, but as Kevin said, the room with the most activity was room 406. When I entered that particular room, I felt as if I walked into a whole different building. The room looked similar enough to the other rooms, but the smell is what caught me off-guard. It wasn’t a putrid or even an unpleasant smell, but it noticeably smelled different than any other room in the hotel. It smelled almost like an old room, one that hasn’t changed in a long time, almost as if it was left abandoned.

Kevin was a major help, and he told me to talk to the other workers since they experienced more things than him. So I was introduced to Sharika, Monica, and Taimy. Sharika told me that one day she was cleaning room 406’s downstairs closet when the door swung shut behind her, trapping her inside. Fortunately it wasn’t locked so she wasn’t put in any danger. Monica was in room 409 making the bed, when suddenly she heard a female voice. Funny enough, there was no one on the 4th floor when she heard it. Taimy had what she called the most common experiences happen to her. Mostly the TVs turning on by themselves revealing only static, strange sensations, and of course hearing voices. One guest apparently took a picture of a towel with the black outline of a face in room 404. The staff have nicknamed the spirit “hank,” short for hanky panky. It is often believed that Hank was a worker that died in the fire of 1892.