Haunted Hotel Saranac Review

When visiting the Lake Placid area during peak season, it can be hard to find a reasonably priced hotel that is centrally located with all the necessary amenities. 

I stay in almost exclusively Hilton owned hotels as a Diamond rewards member, so when I came across this boutique hotel, I knew this is where we had to stay. 

Hotel Saranac is a beautifully restored 1920s era hotel, it’s haunted, it has free parking, and it offers a daily food and beverage credit. 

Hotel Saranac Review

Hotel Saranac is in the small lake town of Lake Saranac, just down the road from the iconic Lake Placid.

The hotel sits right off the main road up on a hill.

It has a historic neon sign that sits atop, that back in the day would say “Hot Sara” when some of the lights burned out.

Today, they’ll still put up “Hot Sara” for the nostalgia and their gift shop actually has a lot of merch featuring this.

You’ll also see the plaque naming this hotel as a historic landmark as you enter the lobby.

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Standard King Room

During our stay, we just booked a standard king room since that’s all we needed.

Living Space

The living area is small, given how old the hotel is, but it’s perfectly functional for 2 able-bodied adults. 

Our room had a nice couch in the window overlooking downtown Saranac.

The bed, pillows, and bedding were very fluffy and cozy. 

There was plenty of space in the closet and on a bench to keep our suitcase, bags, and just random stuff. 

Bathroom

The bathroom was quite small as well, but again it’s a historic hotel, and it has been beautifully renovated. 

There’s not a lot of counter space, so if you have a lot of skincare products, makeup, and hair care stuff, you’ll have to keep it pretty organized. 

The shower is decent sized, but on the smaller size. 

One problem I ran into is that there was actually a gap in the sliding glass door of the shower. 

I had taken the detachable shower head off to wash my hair with the higher water pressure, but when I set it down to lather my hair, it was pointing toward the door. 

Because of the gap, it was spraying straight out of the shower and it soaked the entire bathroom. 

We had to get extra towels from housekeeping to mop it all up. 

Maybe to you this might seem like an obvious thing to pay attention to or this is something “everyone knows” to look out for, but I’ve never come across this in my life, so the thought never occurred to me that I needed to check. 

So if you’re like me, now you know to check!

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Hotel Dining

Hotel Saranac has a full service restaurant on the main floor and a hotel bar up on the 2nd floor.

Both locations accept the daily food & beverage credit and you don’t have to be a hotel guest to go to either of these locations.

Campfire Restaurant

The Campfire Restaurant is the hotel restaurant just off of the lobby. 

They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

Breakfast

One morning we decided to use our daily dining credit for breakfast at the Campfire Restaurant. 

I’m not a huge breakfast person, so we decided to share an entree. 

The hotcakes came with a locally sourced maple syrup, so we decided to indulge in those. 

Our favorite pancakes of all time are from Du-Par’s at the LA Farmer’s Market and these were comparable. 

Dessert

One night we decided to use our daily dining credit on a s’mores in a cup dessert. 

We had so much to spend we decided to each get our own, which was quite a bit just for 1 person. 

I loved the combo though of the chocolate mousse and marshmallow and graham cracker crumbs. 

Drinks 

The only time we got drinks from Campfire was the time we went in the evening for dessert. 

It was cold and rainy, so we decided to share a Hot Toddy, which is one of my go-to’s. 

Hotel Bar

The hotel bar is the absolute icon of Hotel Saranac. 

It reminds me of the Tower of Terror at Disney World. 

There’s a big, lobby type space with a fireplace, board games, verandah, and the actual bar. 

The bar is on the second level of the hotel, so you can take the winding marble staircase from the lobby or a tiny, historic elevator. 

Drinks 

From the bar, I once again had a Hot Toddy. 

They made it a little differently than the Campfire Restaurant made theirs, but both were good. 

Evenings in the Summer are cooler and we happened to have rainy weather, so these drinks just hit the spot during our stay. 

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Is Hotel Saranac Really Haunted?

Hotel Saranac is known for being one of the most haunted hotels in New York. 

When I shared this on TikTok I got swarmed with comments from people saying they’ve been there a million times and they’ve never seen anything haunted. 

News flash – that’s generally how haunted places are. 

I can’t name a single place that is known for being haunted where every single person that has ever been there has witnessed something haunted. 

We’ve stayed in a handful of haunted hotels and have never experienced anything, but there are stories about regular hauntings on just about every floor and every common area. 

One of my favorite haunted hotels by the way is Hotel Julian, a bed and breakfast in the historic gold mining town of Julian, California, just outside of San Diego. 

Things To Do In Lake Saranac and Lake Placid

We were in town for a wedding, but we stayed a couple of nights so we could explore the area.

These are the standout things we did during our visit.

Olympic Museum

One of the iconic attractions in the area is the Olympic Museum.

Lake Placid has actually been home to 2 Winter Olympics. 

Most famously, it’s the site of the Miracle on Ice hockey game!

You can go into the arena and there are several interactive exhibits. 

Browse Downtown Shops

Taking an afternoon to just walk up and down the Main Street of Lake Saranac and Lake Placid is a great way to explore the area. 

There are many unique gift shops and special interest shops. 

There’s also a shop where you can try free samples of a variety of maple syrups. 

Lake Saranac actually had a lot of places that are empty and it’s much smaller, but Lake Placid you could explore for a few hours.

Dine at Local Restaurants

We enjoyed our meals at Lakeside Drift, Players Waterfront Eatery, and Smoke Signals. 

Lakeside Drift

Steak Frites – came with mashed potatoes instead of fries for some reason

Crab Cakes – came with fries!

Shrimp Fettucine Alfredo – it was supposed to be a mushroom pasta with a brown looking sauce, but it seemed like it was actually just an alfredo

Players Waterfront Eatery

Players is at the far end of the main road going through Lake Placid.

We enjoyed a Spring Chicken Sandwich which was loaded with grilled chicken with hickory smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, spring mix, apples, coleslaw and dijon mustard on warm ciabatta bread and served with fries.

Smoke Signals

We had dinner at Smoke Signals as part of the wedding we were in town for, so I’m not sure how regular plates are served, but we had a variety of prime rib, bbq beef tips, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, and cornbread, all served family style.

Conclusion: Hotel Saranac Review

Hotel Saranac is one of the most beautiful hotels I’ve ever stayed in and I absolutely loved the Tower of Terror vibes in the hotel bar area.

It was significantly cheaper than any of the regular hotels throughout Lake Placid, but it was worth being further away.

We didn’t experience anything haunted, but maybe next time!

If you have more time to explore the area, a day trip to Saratoga Springs is just 2 hours away.

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