Est. 1918 · Historic Hotels of America · Marietta Ohio Heritage · Ohio River Tourism History
The original hotel at this site was the Bellevue, built in 1892 with 55 rooms on the Ohio River front in Marietta. It operated as the city's premier accommodation for 24 years before a 1916 fire caused severe damage. The top floor was lost and two new floors constructed on the surviving structure; the renamed Lafayette Hotel opened in 1918.
The hotel takes its name from Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who had fought in the American Revolution and returned to visit the United States in 1824-25. His 1825 stop in Marietta is noted in local historical records.
Reno Hoag purchased the hotel's contents for $25,000, and he and his son S. Durward Hoag began acquiring stock as it was offered. The family incorporated in 1924. Reno Hoag died on March 4, 1944. Durward continued operating the hotel for nearly three decades after his father's death, selling it on December 17, 1973.
The third floor carries a wing named in Durward Hoag's honor. His attachment to the property was documented during his lifetime; the hotel was his life's work. He sold it reluctantly.
The Lafayette Hotel received TripAdvisor's Travelers' Choice Award in 2024, recognizing consistent guest satisfaction ratings. March 2026 reviews confirm the hotel remains operational. The Historic Hotels of America included the Lafayette on its 2024 and 2025 most haunted hotels lists.
Sources
- https://www.lafayettehotel.com/
- https://www.historichotels.org/us/2024-top-25-most-haunted-hotels.php
- https://www.historichotels.org/us/2025-top-25-most-haunted-hotels-list.php
- https://irontontribune.com/2021/10/29/lafayette-hotel-has-storied-past/
ApparitionsPhantom soundsPhantom smellsLights flickeringDoors opening/closingEquipment malfunction
S. Durward Hoag ran the Lafayette Hotel for decades and sold it in 1973 in a transaction he reportedly found difficult. The consensus among staff is that he never fully left.
The third floor is where his presence is most concentrated, in the wing the hotel named for him. A specific account documented in multiple sources: a guest's friend observed a man smoking a cigarette through a third-floor window. When the guest inquired at the front desk about the occupant of that room, she was told no one was registered there. She subsequently identified the figure as S. Durward Hoag from a photograph.
The elevator at the Lafayette operates independently on documented occasions — moving between floors without passengers and without instructions from the control panel, and stopping consistently at the roof level. The pattern is specific enough that staff consider it a known behavior of the building.
Light bulbs throughout the hotel are subject to unexplained flickering and occasional sudden failure, concentrated on the third floor but not limited to it. Appliances turning on and off without cause, doors opening and closing in empty hallways, and voices in unoccupied corridors are reported by staff and long-term guests.
A misty apparition in a black dress — presumed to be a former maid — has been observed in various areas of the hotel across multiple independent reports.
Notable Entities
S. Durward HoagThe Maid in Black
