Sunday, February 5, 2023

Greetings from The Hotel Monte Vista

His Lordship and I had the pleasure of staying at the Hotel Monte Vista in Flagstaff recently. Once favored by the film stars of the 1930's and 1940's, the Monty V is a bit of an aging old diva.

Still it boast no less than 7 ghosts. Here is a bit of the back story. 

Room 220 is where the meat man lived in the 1980s.  The long term tenant was a bit eccentric as he enjoyed hanging bits of meat from the ceiling fixtures.  When he passed, his corpse wasn’t found for three days.  After the room was cleaned, a staff person entered to find the bed sheets askew and the TV blaring.   The TV still comes on by itself from time to time.


Room 305 held another long term tenant, an elderly lady who used to sit in her rocking chair by the window and watch people go by.  After she died, the chair allegedly began moving by itself and staff have reported seeing the woman’s ghostly apparition sitting there.
The haunting history of room 306 dates back to the 1940s when two prostitutes were brought there, murdered, and thrown from the third floor window. Today,  hotel staff claimed the spirits of these two ladies of easy virtue continue to haunt room 306 and the hallways on the third floor.

Guests of 306 have reported a sense of uneasiness, as if someone was watching them.  Men have been particularly harassed by the ghosts.  Some have also reported feeling of being strangled as wells as scratches on their appendages.

The hallways are said to be haunted by a small boy and his mother.

A phantom bellhop is also rumored to knock on the door of room 210 and utter room service.  John Wayne himself once claimed to have such an encounter with this ghost.

 

Finally the cocktail lounge is allegedly  haunted by the spirit of a bank robber. In the 1970s, it was reported that three men had robbed a local bank and one was shot during the escape. Despite their cohorts life threatening injury, the trio stopped by the Monte Vista Lounge for a round of drinks. The injured robber died in the bar before he could even finish his first beverage.

Staff of Monte Vista Lounge now claim that the bar is haunted. Barstools and drinks have been seen moving on their own while a eerie, coarse voice saying “Good Morning” can be heard from time to time.

His Lordship and I stayed in room 309 and were not haunted except by the drunken voices of college students on a Friday night. 





6 comments:

  1. What great ghost stories! And if John Wayne once encountered the phantom bellhop, it must be true! John Wayne wouldn't lie, would he?

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  2. If I get room 306, do I have to pay extra for scratches on my appendages?

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    1. I suppose that will depend on which appendage it is Mike.

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  3. If that many people have died in the hotel, I'm not sure ghosts are the biggest concern. There must be something insalubrious or at least unlucky about it. I don't think of ghosts as particularly scary (what could they do to hurt you?), but I'd prefer not to become one.

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    1. I guess Flagstaff was be a pretty rough and ready western town with a large red light district back in the day. Currently though, it is occupied by a lot of college kids from Northern Arizona University and gobs of tourists from Phoenix so I think your chances of perishing would pretty much be on par with any other American tourist city.

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