Saranac Lake
Hotel Saranac
William Scopes's 1927 hotel, with a Grand Salon inspired by Florence's Davanzati Palace; on HHA's Most Haunted lists in 2024, 2025 and 2026.
- Built
- 1927Built 1925-27 for the Saranac Lake Hotel Corporation on the site of the former high school; completed 1927 (HHA; NRHP nomination).
- Style
- Classical Revival
- Architect
- William H. Scopes (Scopes & Feustmann)
- Type
- Grand hotel
- Rooms
- 82
- Credentials
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Historic Hotels of America member
The story
Architect William Scopes, who came to Saranac Lake for tuberculosis treatment, formed the Saranac Lake Hotel Corporation with Morton Marshall in 1925 and built the fireproof hotel, finished in 1927, with a Grand Salon inspired by Florence’s 14th-century Davanzati Palace. Paul Smith’s College bought it in 1962 and ran its hotel-management program there until the Arora family bought it in 2006. Roedel Companies bought it in 2013, restored it and reopened it in Hilton’s Curio Collection.
The ghost story
Believers say a man in a black suit, tails and top hat who roams the halls is Howard Littell, longtime superintendent of the high school that stood on the site; guests also report a ghost cat scratching on the third floor and singing on the sixth. The hotel has appeared on HHA's Most Haunted lists in 2024, 2025 and 2026.
Source: www.historichotels.org
Good to know
- Address: 100 Main Street, Saranac Lake, NY 12983
Sources (2)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.