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There are plenty of novelty hotels in the world, from an underwater hotel in the Florida Keys, to Sweden's iconic ICEHOTEL and everything in between. However, some hotels are a bit more....demanding of guests, and we're not just talking about room fees.

Plenty of hotels claim to be haunted, with varying degrees of credibility, but the Hotel Richardson in Buffalo is truly unique. There aren't any ghost stories attached—at least none that are openly advertised—but the Richardson has a morbid history all it's own. You see, the Richardson wasn't always a hotel....it used to be a psychiatric hospital.

After the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, Buffalo went from an inconsequential village to one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. The city was flooded with enormous wealth and influence, along with stunning examples of late 19th century architecture.

When a bill was introduced in 1865 for a new psychiatric facility in western New York, Buffalo was one of the top candidates bidding on the hospital. If chosen, Buffalo promised 100 years of free drinking water for future patients. It should come as no surprise that Buffalo was chosen over the alternate cities of Warsaw, Lockport, and Batavia.

Buffalo State Hospital

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Ground was broken in 1871, and within a decade, the Buffalo State Hospital began admitting patients. It wasn't just Buffalo's promise of clean drinking water that put it ahead of the competition. Buffalo also had a prime location for the Kirkbride Plan.

Named after mental health pioneer Thomas Story Kirkbride, the Kirkbride Plan was a treatment plan which took the radical stance that people suffering from mental illness were human just like everyone else. The Kirkbride Plan put a particular emphasis on the importance of fresh air, sunshine, and exercise. Unfortunately, overcrowding and under-funding led to widespread abuse.

Famed architect Henry Hobson Richardson was chosen to design the complex in his signature Richardsonian Romanesque style, while landscaping duo Frederick Law Olmsted and Calbvert Vaux took on the grounds. The result was a beautiful, yet imposing complex of 11 buildings nestled on a pastoral landscape of trees and shrubs.

The Buffalo State Hospital housed patients were nearly 100 years. As mental health treatment evolved, so did the hospital. 100 acres of farmland were sold to a nearby college, drastically cutting down the hospital's grounds. Mental health legislation in the 1960s greatly reduced the number of patients.

By 1974, the last patient was officially discharged from Buffalo State Hospital. The campus was added to the National Register of Historic Places the previous year, so demolishing it wasn't in anyone's best interest. The towers housed office workers for a while before being left to decay for almost 20 years.

A New Lease On Life

Andre Carrotflower on Wikimedia

In 2013, everything changed. The former hospital was still a beautiful building, and it had all those empty rooms lying around. Why not give it a second life?

The Hotel Richardson officially opened in March of 2023. Looking at it now, you would have no idea of the history behind it. The suites are bright and airy, the bar offers top-shelf drinks and Wagyu burgers, and part of the campus has been renovated to include a local history museum.

As far as luxury hotels go, the Richardson doesn't hide its past, but it doesn't stoop to using stories of mental illness and medical abuse as cheap gimmicks either. It's a beautiful hotel with state-of-the-art amenities. The best part is that it's within walking distance from downtown.

Prices start at $153 included. If ghosts are included, they aren't mentioned on the website