Located in Nichols, NY, Fainting Goat Island Inn is a quaint small town hotel that even features a goat farm on its premises. It also happens to be one of the most haunted hotels in all of America. To wit, a 2020 USA Today list of the best haunted hotels in America put the Fainting Goat in at number four. What makes this hotel so haunted, and perhaps the best haunted hotel in New York? Well, you're just going to have to read on.
The Fainting Goat was built in 1850. It used to be a railroad hotel, running along the Erie/Lackawanna line. It is part of the New York State Haunted History Trail.
Click here for more on the New York State Haunted History Trail
The home was purchased by the current owner Marnie Streit in 2007. When she bought the hotel, she didn't know that it had a reputation for being haunted. But during restoration, a knife fell out of the ceiling of one room. Surely, Streit changed her attitude after that!
Multiple ghost hunting groups have visited the hotel, reporting paranormal activity in every room of the house. Streit says that she has witnessed furniture moving in and out of its position and the sound of chains being pulled along the ceiling.
If you need to take a break from all of this spookiness, the grounds surrounding the hotel has plenty of nature and gardens for you to enjoy.
The hotel only has five bedrooms; every room comes with a small notebook that can be used by guests to log their experiences during their stay. These books are filled with reports of eerie footsteps and sounds of scratching coming from the walls.
It's not all scary, though. Never forget, there are goats on premises. We can't promise that the goats aren't haunted, but they seem pretty harmless!
For a fun, spooky stay at a haunted hotel in New York State, you can't go wrong with the Fainting Goat Island Inn. That's only if you can handle it, though! Did you know that Nichols is on the New York Cheese Trail? If you are staying at the Fainting Goat, we recommend a trip to Engelbert Farms. They have been making organic cheese since the early 1900s.
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