Hotel Monte Vista is the haunted stay that fits a Grand Canyon road trip, and one of the most atmospheric small historic hotels in the West. When Flagstaff wanted a first-class hotel in the 1920s, the town raised the money by public subscription in a matter of weeks, with the novelist Zane Grey among the donors, and the Monte Vista opened on New Year's Day 1927 on the corner of Aspen and San Francisco Streets, just off what became Route 66. It became the place Hollywood stayed when Westerns filmed in northern Arizona, and many of its rooms are named for the stars who are said to have slept in them. The ghost list is long and well loved: a phantom bellboy who knocks, a woman in a rocking chair, a pair of ladies of the evening said to have been thrown from a window, and a bank robber who died in the bar, among others, all part of the lore the hotel shares in its ghost stories. The hotel is unpretentious and characterful rather than luxurious: rooms are period-styled and on the smaller side, the building is old with creaks to match, and downtown Flagstaff's bars and restaurants are on the doorstep. The Rendezvous cocktail bar in the lobby is a local favorite, and the Grand Canyon's South Rim is about 90 minutes north. Fit: haunted-stay seekers on a budget, road-trippers, friend groups and couples who want a lively downtown base.
The history
The community-funded hotel was a symbol of Flagstaff's ambition in the railroad and lumber era, and its years as Hollywood's northern Arizona headquarters gave it a glamour that the room names still advertise. It has hosted travelers continuously through the Route 66 decades, and its ghost reputation has grown with every generation of guests who leave a story behind. The hotel's own history is specific: fundraising began in April 1926 and raised about $200,000 within a month, ground was broken that June and the doors opened on January 1, 1927.
In its first year Mary Costigan, said to be the first American woman licensed to broadcast on radio, hosted a daily show from Room 105, and the lounge ran as a speakeasy during Prohibition. Guests over the years are said to include John Wayne, Bing Crosby, Gary Cooper, Spencer Tracy, Jane Russell and Harry Truman.
Room craft
Ask for one of the rooms associated with the ghost stories if that is the point of the trip, or a quieter room away from the street if sleep comes first; downtown Flagstaff is lively at night. Have a drink at the Rendezvous, and walk the historic downtown and the railroad district. The rooms tied to the lore: Room 210, the Zane Grey room, is linked to the knocking phantom bellboy; Room 220 to a long-term boarder who died there and whose coughing is still reported; Room 305 to the woman in the rocking chair, which is said to return to the window however often staff move it; and the lounge to a bank robber said to have died there after a 1970s holdup.
Practicals
Corner of Aspen Avenue and San Francisco Street, downtown Flagstaff; Grand Canyon South Rim about 90 minutes; Sedona about 45 minutes. Fit: a Grand Canyon trip with a haunted night, and the northern anchor of a haunted Arizona loop with Boothill and the Copper Queen in the south.
Why stay here
- ✓Opened 1927, just off Route 66
- ✓Rooms named for Hollywood guests
- ✓Rendezvous cocktail bar
- ✓On-site lounge dining
- ✓Hotel ghost stories
- ✓Walk to downtown Flagstaff
- ✓Grand Canyon 90 minutes away
- ✓Historic railroad district nearby
Good questions
Is Hotel Monte Vista haunted?+
It has one of the longest ghost lists of any Western hotel, including a knocking phantom bellboy and a woman in a rocking chair. The hotel shares the stories with guests; ask at the desk about Rooms 210, 220 and 305.
Is it a good base for the Grand Canyon?+
Yes. The South Rim is about 90 minutes north, and Sedona about 45 minutes south.
Is it quiet?+
It is in the heart of lively downtown Flagstaff, so ask for a room away from the street if you are a light sleeper.
