Northeast luxury hotel since 1912, known for the mezzanine-hanging 'Tuxedo Man,' a White Lady glimpsed during events, and Room 410 anomalies investigated on Halloween 2015 by the TAPS team.
102 Lafayette Street, Utica, NY 13502
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$$
Hotel rooms available for overnight booking; lobby and public areas accessible to non-guests.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Urban hotel; elevator access throughout
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1912 · Designed by Esenwein & Johnson, prominent Buffalo architects · Premier Upstate New York hotel 1912–1972 · Notable guest list spanning five decades of American public life · Restored 1999–2001 after period of vacancy; rebranded DoubleTree 2017
Hotel Utica opened on March 11, 1912, at 102 Lafayette Street in downtown Utica. The building was designed by the Buffalo architectural firm Esenwein & Johnson for the United Hotels Company of America. The original structure offered ten stories of fireproof construction with 200 rooms, four dining rooms, a ballroom, an assembly hall, a ladies' restaurant, and a men's grill and cafe.
Three additional floors were added in 1926, bringing the room count to 250 and cementing the hotel's position as one of the premier addresses in Upstate New York. The guest register during the mid-20th century included Judy Garland, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Mickey Mantle, Mae West, Bobby Darin, and the television character Hopalong Cassidy.
Business declined through the postwar decades and the hotel ceased operations in 1972. The building subsequently served as two adult care residences before entering a long period of vacancy and deterioration. Local investors Joseph R. Carucci and Charles N. Gaetano undertook a $13 million rehabilitation between 1999 and 2001 that restored the grand lobby and reopened the hotel. Financial difficulties followed, and Visions Hotels purchased the property in May 2016. After a Property Improvement Plan with Hilton Worldwide, the hotel reopened as the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Utica on October 24, 2017.
Sources
Hotel Utica's paranormal reputation centers on three named figures. The Tuxedo Man—called 'Charlie' by staff—is described as a formally dressed male who staff and guests associate with broken glasses and plates near the mezzanine-level bar. Local tradition holds that a man in a tuxedo hanged himself from the mezzanine railing in the 1950s; no documentary verification of this specific incident has been published. The mezzanine bar area is where the negative-energy reports cluster.
The White Lady appears only during large events. Witnesses describe a woman in a white, early-1900s ball gown who is visible briefly and then disappears. The detail of the period-appropriate dress is consistent across accounts, which typically place her on or near the mezzanine.
Room 410 is the hotel's most-discussed location for documented anomalies. Staff report that the shower in the room activates on its own and that the hotel has received calls from the room phone while the room was unoccupied. A 12-year-old boy and disembodied voices are additionally associated with the basement level.
On Halloween night 2015, Kris Williams—a former member of the TAPS investigative team from Syfy's Ghost Hunters—led a public paranormal investigation that included access to the hotel's upper floors, which had been closed during the vacancy period. The event was organized as a live investigation with public participation.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Guest rooms are available for booking through the Hilton website. The mezzanine level, Room 410, and the basement bar are the most frequently cited locations for paranormal reports.
Non-guests may visit the hotel lobby and mezzanine to take in the Beaux-Arts architecture and the site of the most-reported paranormal encounters. The mezzanine overlooks the original 1912 grand lobby.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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