Shadows and Ghost Blobs at Savannah’s 17Hundred90 Inn, Room 204

On Wednesday, my husband and I drove to Savannah, Georgia for a night of beer and ghosts. We planned to complete a haunted pub crawl and stay in “the most haunted room” in the “most haunted hotel” in all of Savannah – the 17Hundred90 Inn, Room 204.

The legend, if you recall, involves a heartbroken woman named Anna who hurled herself from Room 204 sometime in the early 1800s. Anna’s spirit reportedly haunts the infamous suite, spooking guests by appearing at the foot at the bed in the middle of the night and moving objects from place to place. Guests have also startled awake to the sound of shattering glass or a frantic pounding at the door. Some say the unnerving events were so frequent a former inn keeper required 204 guests to sign a waiver acknowledging they were ineligible for a refund should they decide to leave early.

Here’s a rundown of our experience.

We arrived at the 17Hundred90 Inn on a bright and sunny afternoon. The three windows in the top left belong to Room 204.

After checking in with the nice woman downstairs (who obviously didn’t buy into the whole ghost thing), we made our way to 204. This creepy mannequin stood in the hallway outside our room. Anna’s story is popular with Savannah tour companies and we saw lots of groups outside. In fact, we heard about Room 204 during our haunted pub crawl later that night. Had we stayed in that evening we totally would have moved the mannequin to mess with people walking by.

I’d seen photos of Room 204 online so I knew it didn’t look creepy or haunted. The room is actually bright, airy, and rather pleasant. Notice the “orb” in the center of the second photo, just over the dresser. 204 came with a glow-in-the-dark Ouija board, which my husband and I briefly tried before he declared it boring and lame.

The inn keepers keep a couple of journals in the room so guests may record their ghostly experiences. I read most of the stories, and the sound of shattering glass in the middle of the night, unexplained thumps and bumps in the hallway outside, cold spots throughout the room, movement on the bed, and a shadowy figure lurking near the bathroom were a few common themes.

Sadly, Anna didn’t reveal herself during our visit. We didn’t hear shattering glass or weird bumps, nor did we see shadowy forms in the middle of the night. I did, however, feel the bed shaking from time to time. It wasn’t dramatic, just kind of unnerving. Per the journal, one man felt something plop on the bed in the middle of the night. He was sure the inn had installed some kind of device to scare guests, but the inn keeper insisted this wasn’t true.

Though my husband and I didn’t see or hear Anna in the room, I did take a couple of interesting photos. The picture below shows a shadow just outside the door to Room 204. The hallway was well lit so I’m not sure what caused this shadow effect. Not only that, but I took another photo just seconds after this one and it looks completely normal.

However, the picture below is my favorite and I didn’t even notice it until I went through my photos earlier today. Here’s another shot of the front of the 17Hundred90 Inn. Notice anything strange?

Here’s a closer look. There’s some sort of orange, blobby thing lurking outside the door to Room 204! Not only that, but it’s in the exact same spot as the mysterious shadow pictured above. I took additional photos of the inn’s exterior before and after this shot, and the blob isn’t in them. Though a reflection is the most obvious explanation, I still find it rather creepy that the shadow and blob appeared in the same spot.

Could this be the window Anna jumped from so long ago? What do you think?

All in all, my husband and I had a great time, obvious ghost or not, and would recommend the 17Hundred90 Inn to anyone visiting Savannah. Plus, Cobblestone Tours’ haunted pub crawl is loads of fun.

Has anyone else had a weird experience at a haunted inn?

Haunted Savannah: The Official Guidebook to Savannah Haunted History Tour