[4] Its plot follows two employees at the Yankee Pedlar Inn who, during its last weekend of operations, attempt to document the alleged supernatural activity in the building.

In the final operating week of the Yankee Pedlar Inn, a once-grand hotel, Claire and Luke are the only employees working.

They were especially interested in Madeline O'Malley, a bride who hanged herself when abandoned at the altar, and whose body was hidden in the basement by the hotel owners.

Claire rushes upstairs to retrieve the elderly man, only to find a suicide note and discovers his body in the bathtub, his wrists slashed, with Madeline's apparition hanging from a rope.

As Luke goes upstairs to find Leanne, Claire hears noises coming from the basement and approaches the stairwell.

The next morning, Luke tells police he heard Claire's screams coming from the cellar but could not open the door to save her.

[6] The Inn staff believed the location to be haunted and this inspired West to write and direct his next film, The Innkeepers.

[14] Ti West narrated and presented his film on the "Get Lit" Winter Party on December 22, 2010, in The Purple Lounge at The Standard Hotel on the Sunset Strip, Hollywood, California.

The website's consensus reads: "It doesn't break any rules of the genre, but The Innkeepers serves as additional proof that Ti West is a young director that discriminating horror fans can trust".

"[17] David Harley of Bloody Disgusting gave the film a score of three out of five, commending the performances but writing that, "once the tone shifts from light-hearted comedy to balls-to-the-wall horror, it makes the two halves feel like separate films [...] in the end the whole is not as great as the sum of its parts.

"[18] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film two out of five stars, calling it "bafflingly bland and unatmospheric", and writing that it "annoyingly fails to do anything with the kooky situation it elaborately establishes, and there are no real shocks or laughs.