Restored 1924 downtown Astoria boutique hotel where guests and housekeepers report an older male apparition walking through walls, child voices, and 'sitter imprints' left on freshly made beds.
357 12th St, Astoria, OR 97103
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Boutique hotel pricing; 32 rooms, 11 suites. Continental breakfast included. Pet-friendly options. See hotelelliott.com for current room rates.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Restored 1924 downtown hotel with elevator access to all guest floors and rooftop terrace.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1924 · Post-1922 Astoria Fire Reconstruction · Downtown Astoria Boutique Hotel Heritage · Astoria Hospitality History
The Great Astoria Fire of December 1922 destroyed roughly 30 blocks of downtown Astoria. The Hotel Elliott was among the first major hotels built into the rebuilt commercial core, opening in 1924 with 68 rooms. The original name was Hotel Niemi, but the property was quickly acquired by local entrepreneur Jeremiah Elliott, who renamed it for himself. For its first decades it was one of Astoria's flagship downtown hotels, hosting traveling business clientele and visitors arriving at the Columbia River waterfront.
Like much of downtown Astoria, the hotel declined through the mid-to-late 20th century as the city's economy contracted. In 1999, new owners began a major restoration; the building reopened in roughly 2003 with the room count reduced from 68 to 32 (plus 11 suites) to enlarge accommodations and add modern amenities. The renovation preserved 1920s details — pressed-tin elements, period millwork — and added a rooftop terrace overlooking the Columbia River and the Astoria-Megler Bridge.
The hotel today operates as a boutique destination and is a member of the Unique Inns network. The Astoria Liisa Penner archives include a 2022 Daily Astorian piece on the building's history by Jaime Lump. The hotel features prominently in author Jefferson Davis's book Haunted Astoria, which collects multiple paranormal accounts from staff and guests across the renovation era.
Sources
Hotel Elliott's paranormal narrative is unusually well-documented for a working hotel: management has maintained a guest log of ghost encounters since the early 2000s renovation, and Jefferson Davis devoted significant attention to the property in his book Haunted Astoria.
The most consistent figure described is an older male apparition. An employee account collected in regional reporting by Beach Connection describes seeing a man in the lobby who looked strikingly like family photos of Jeremiah Elliott; family members reportedly told him the figure resembled Jeremiah's brother, who in life had a habit of sitting silently in the lobby watching the comings and goings of guests. A separate guest account describes an older man walking around inside her guest room and passing through a closed door.
Housekeeping staff have repeatedly reported the impression of a recently seated person left on freshly made beds — a depression in the bedding that returns shortly after the bed is remade. A guest account describes the sensation of someone sitting on the edge of the bed when the room was otherwise empty. Children's voices have been heard in corridors and rooms when no children were registered.
The hotel does not promote itself as a haunted attraction, and lore is consistently framed as low-intensity, benign, and tied to the building's continuity from 1924 forward.
Notable Entities
Book one of the 32 restored rooms or 11 suites in the 1924 Hotel Elliott. The hotel maintains a guest log of paranormal encounters; staff at the front desk are willing to share which rooms have generated the most reports. The rooftop terrace overlooks the Columbia River and Astoria-Megler Bridge.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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