Andrew Jackson Hotel
The site at 919 Royal Street began as a Spanish colonial boarding school for boys, many of them orphaned by yellow fever, before the great fires that swept the French Quarter in 1794 reduced it to ash and, by legend, claimed five young boys trapped inside. A federal courthouse later rose on the spot — where General Andrew Jackson was famously held in contempt of court after the Battle of New Orleans — and the present brick hotel with its wrought-iron balconies was built in 1890. Guests have long reported childlike laughter and small running footsteps echoing through the courtyard after midnight, faucets and televisions switching on by themselves, and covers tugged from the bed by unseen hands. Room 208 is named most often, said to belong to a mischievous boy called Armand, while a quieter female apparition is described tidying rooms and fluffing pillows as though still minding her charges. Skeptics note the fire's exact death toll is unverified, but the hauntings are reported with unusual consistency across decades of guests.
📍 919 Royal Street, New Orleans, LA 70116, New Orleans, LA · Get directions