Hotel Monte Vista

The Hotel Monte Vista rises above the corner of Aspen and San Francisco Streets in downtown Flagstaff, Arizona, just off the historic Route 66. Opened in 1927 after a community fundraising drive that reportedly included a contribution from the novelist Zane Grey, the four-storey hotel was built to give the growing town first-class accommodation. Its neon rooftop sign is a local landmark, and over the decades the hotel hosted film stars working on Westerns shot in the surrounding high country.

As a long-established downtown hotel, the Monte Vista features prominently in local ghost tradition. Guests and staff have reported unexplained sounds, moving objects and fleeting presences associated with particular rooms, and the hotel openly embraces this reputation in the names and stories attached to some of its suites. These accounts are anecdotal and subjective, offered as folklore rather than documented fact.

The hotel's real interest lies in its place in Flagstaff's history: a Jazz Age civic project, a Route 66 survivor and a working piece of the town's cultural fabric. Approached for that heritage, and for its period character, it rewards visitors well beyond the ghost stories.

The Hotel Monte Vista is a privately operated historic hotel, open year-round to overnight guests, with a lounge and ground-floor businesses. It is a working commercial hotel rather than a museum, so there is no general admission; access to guest floors is for patrons.

Visitors curious about the building's history and atmosphere are best served by booking a room or visiting the public lounge, and are asked to respect other guests, staff and the surrounding downtown neighbourhood.