Entry No. 25 — the Asheville file — filed under: haunted-hotel
The 1927 Lake Lure Inn and Spa
The stucco hotel that opened across from Lake Lure Beach in 1927 has hosted Roosevelt, Coolidge, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and — during the Dirty Dancing shoot — Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. It also keeps less-registered guests: a woman said to have been murdered in Room 217 in the 1930s, whose scream two separate paranormal investigations recorded almost identically, plus a dining-room figure staff take for town founder Dr. Lucius Morse, and an employee's event photo showing an unexplained figure behind an ice sculpture. The inn spent 1943 to 1945 as a convalescent hospital for wounded soldiers, which the ghost-minded consider explanatory. It runs today as a 69-room hotel with the Veranda restaurant and the Moose & Goose Lounge just off the antique-filled lobby.
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The story
Lake Lure is a manufactured place. Dr. Lucius Morse and his brothers began buying land around Chimney Rock in 1902 — 400 acres at first, more than 8,000 by 1925 — then dammed the Broad River and flooded a valley into a lake. The inn came with the package, opening in 1927, the year the town incorporated, its Mediterranean stucco styled after the Lake Como region of Italy. The guest register earned its plaques quickly: F. Scott Fitzgerald stayed in 1935 during one of the roughest stretches of his life, Franklin Roosevelt's motorcade stopped for lunch on the lawn in 1936, and Calvin Coolidge and Emily Post both passed through.
From 1943 to 1945 the Third Army Air Force leased the building as a convalescent home for wounded and shell-shocked soldiers, with entertainment from an Army band directed by Albert Hague, later of Broadway and the TV series Fame. Those are the years the ghost-minded point to first. In 1986 the Dirty Dancing production took over, and Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey stayed here while the crew shot at Lake Lure, staircase scenes included.
The hauntings are unusually specific. Room 217 is said to keep a woman murdered there in the 1930s; Paranormal Scene Investigators, a group out of Forest City, recorded a woman's scream in the room on two separate occasions and found the two recordings nearly identical. Staff have taken a figure in the dining room for Morse himself, and an events manager's photo from a November party shows an unexplained figure standing behind an ice sculpture. Ridgeline Investment Partners bought the property in 2024 with renovation plans meant to keep the historic character, and the operation — the original 1927 hotel plus the Beachside Motor Lodge and three cabins — kept its doors open after Helene tore through the gorge next door that same fall.
What it's like
The inn faces Lake Lure Beach across Memorial Highway, and the lobby sets the tone: original antiques and artwork, dark wood, and a staff long since accustomed to ghost questions. You don't need a room key — the public rooms can be browsed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and most people build the evening around dinner at the Veranda followed by the Moose & Goose Lounge just off the lobby. Overnighters after the full experience can book direct at 828-625-2525 and ask for Room 217 by number, availability permitting; light sleepers may prefer literally any other room. The Irongate Spa is temporarily closed, so this is currently a hotel-restaurant-bar-ghost operation. Expect construction traffic in the gorge, and very quiet off-season weeknights.
The move: Call 828-625-2525 and ask for Room 217 by number if it's open — or just drive out for dinner at the Veranda, move to the Moose & Goose for a nightcap, and cross the road for a walk on Lake Lure Beach while you compare notes on the dining room's extra guest.
📍 Before you go Book direct at 828-625-2525 or lakelurenc.com. The direct route from Asheville on US-64/74A through Bat Cave and Chimney Rock reopened in summer 2026 on a temporary alignment — expect construction until the permanent road is done around 2028, or route through Hendersonville. The Irongate Spa is temporarily closed, but the hotel, Veranda restaurant, and Moose & Goose Lounge are open, and the lobby's antiques and public rooms can be browsed 9am to 5pm even if you're not staying.
- 📍 Lake Lure
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 2771 Memorial Hwy, Lake Lure, NC 28746
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Lake Lure Flowering Bridge Gardens — It's minutes up the same Memorial Highway, free and open around the clock, and walking twenty replanted garden plots beside a river crossing Helene erased makes a sober counterweight to a hotel bar.
- Brown Mountain Lights Overlook (NC 181) — The outdoor version of the same impulse — a free roadside pull-off east of Asheville where the unexplained thing is a century of drifting lights and the company of regulars with their own sighting stories.
- The NuWray Hotel — The other half of a haunted-hotel comparison, in the opposite direction: North Carolina's oldest continuously operating hotel, freshly restored, with its ghost lore in the guest rooms and its bourbon list in the old basement laundry.
More weird in Asheville
Good to know
How do I actually get there from Asheville right now?
The direct route on US-64/74A through Bat Cave and Chimney Rock reopened in summer 2026 on a temporary alignment, so plan for construction until the permanent road is finished around 2028. If you'd rather not sit in it, route south through Hendersonville instead.
Can I visit if I'm not staying the night?
Yes. The lobby and public rooms are open to browse from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the Veranda restaurant and Moose & Goose Lounge are open to non-guests — dinner plus a nightcap and a walk on Lake Lure Beach across the road is the standard non-guest version.
Can I request Room 217?
Ask for it by number when you book direct at 828-625-2525. It's a working guest room in a 69-room hotel, so it comes down to whether it's free on your date — there's no separate ghost package to buy.
Is the spa open?
No. The Irongate Spa is temporarily closed until further notice, per the inn's own site. The hotel, restaurant, and lounge are unaffected.
Is the whole property one building?
No — the operation covers the original 1927 hotel, the Beachside Motor Lodge, and three private cabins. The antiques, the dining room, and the ghost stories are all attached to the 1927 building, so book there if that's what you came for.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: lakelurenc.com · southernspiritguide.org · aroundlakelure.com
📷 We made a card for this one on Instagram →
last checked: 2026-08-25