Haunted Hotels in Arizona: 18 Places to Stay with a Ghost Story
Copper camps, territorial grand hotels and a lodge on the rim of the Grand Canyon: these are the Arizona hotels where guests keep reporting company after dark.
Arizona’s haunted hotels follow its mining and railroad booms. Bisbee, Jerome and Douglas built grand hotels on copper money, Flagstaff and Prescott built theirs for travelers on the railroad and Route 66, and Tombstone still runs on the legend of 1881. We have checked every hotel below against its own website and published sources, noted which ones sell a named haunted room, and kept the ghost stories as stories. Hotels marked with a Haunted Rooms event are places where we have run ghost hunts; see our Arizona ghost hunts for new dates.
$ · Under $150Haunted room bookableGhost tours or eventsHotel embraces its ghosts
Address 311 E Congress St, Tucson, AZ 85701
Where to look Rooms 242, 220, 214 and 212 on the second floor, and the lobby staircase
Reported ghosts The woman in the white dress, Vince the veteran, a Victorian gentleman and a locksmith's apprentice
Booking the haunted room Contact the hotel to reserve Rooms 242, 220, 214 or 212, which it lists as its haunted rooms.
Hotel Congress opened in 1919 for passengers on the Southern Pacific line, and it is still the heart of downtown Tucson with Club Congress, the Cup Cafe and Tiger’s Tap Room downstairs. Its most famous night came in January 1934, when a basement fire forced out guests including members of the John Dillinger gang; firefighters recognized them and police caught Dillinger within days. The fire destroyed the elevator, so you climb a flight of stairs to the rooms.
The hotel sells its ghosts openly. Its Haunted Rooms page lists Room 242 (a woman in a white dress, linked to a guest who died by suicide), Room 220 (Vince, a veteran who lived there from 1965 to 2001 and still hides butter knives), Room 214 (a gentleman at the window) and Room 212 (a door that unlocks itself). It also runs seasonal 30-minute Haunted Hotel Tours.
Haunted Rooms tip: Call the hotel to reserve Room 242 or 220, and take the seasonal haunted tour first.
$ · Under $150Haunted room bookableHotel embraces its ghosts
Address 11 Howell Ave, Bisbee, AZ 85603
Where to look Room 315 (Julia Lowell), Room 412 (Billy's Room), the fourth floor and the main staircase
Reported ghosts Julia Lowell, a boy called Billy and a cigar-smoking gentleman in a top hat
Booking the haunted room Room 315 (Julia Lowell) and Room 412 (Billy's Room) are sold as named rooms on the hotel's website.
The Copper Queen opened in February 1902, built by the Copper Queen mining company (later part of Phelps Dodge) to impress investors visiting the mine across the street. It calls itself the longest continuously operating hotel in Arizona, and it still feels like it: real keys, a grand staircase, claw-foot tubs and rooms named after guests such as John Wayne, Teddy Roosevelt and Harry Houdini. It was listed for sale in 2024 but has kept taking guests.
Local guides say as many as 16 spirits share the building. The famous three are Julia Lowell, a woman of the evening said to have taken her own life after a client rejected her, a little boy called Billy, said to have drowned in the San Pedro River, and a tall gentleman who leaves the smell of cigar smoke on the fourth floor. The hotel now sells Room 315 as the Julia Lowell room and Room 412 as Billy’s Room.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book Room 315 or Room 412 by name through the hotel’s own site, then read the ghost journals at the front desk.
$$ · $150 to $300Haunted room bookableHotel embraces its ghosts
Address 100 N San Francisco St, Flagstaff, AZ 86001
Where to look Rooms 210, 220, 305 and 306, the Cocktail Lounge and the basement
Reported ghosts The Phantom Bellboy, the Meat Man, the lady in the rocking chair and two women of the night
Booking the haunted room The hotel publishes its haunted room numbers; request 305, 306 or 220 directly with the hotel.
The Monte Vista opened on New Year’s Day 1927, paid for by local investors and a donation from novelist Zane Grey, and its rooftop neon sign is still a Flagstaff landmark. Hollywood stars filming westerns near Sedona stayed here in the 1940s and 1950s, from John Wayne to Bing Crosby, and the hotel has named rooms after them. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Few hotels publish their ghosts in such detail. The hotel says Room 305 is its most active, with a woman seen in the rocking chair by the window; Room 306 is tied to two women said to have been killed there in the 1940s; and Room 220 belongs to the “Meat Man,” a boarder who hung raw meat from the chandelier. A phantom bellboy knocks and calls “room service”; John Wayne is said to have heard him.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book Room 305 or 220 by phone, then have a drink in the Cocktail Lounge where the dancing couple is said to appear.
$$ · $150 to $300Haunted room bookableHotel embraces its ghostsPet friendly
Address 122 E Gurley St, Prescott, AZ 86301
Where to look The balcony suite under the bell tower (often given as Room 426), the kitchen and the hallways
Reported ghosts Faith, a young bride, plus a child and an old night watchman
Booking the haunted room Request the balcony suite (Faith's suite, often listed as Room 426) directly with the inn.
The Hassayampa Inn opened in 1927 as Prescott’s grand hotel, and the restored brick landmark still has the feel of a 1920s motor-age inn. It has 67 rooms, the recently renovated Peacock Room restaurant, dog-friendly rooms and a bell tower over the corner. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and stands in the downtown historic district, a block from the courthouse plaza.
The inn tells its own ghost story. In 1927 a very young bride, usually called Faith, checked into a balcony suite with her much older husband. He went out for cigarettes and never came back; after three days she took her own life. Staff and guests describe a young woman crying at the foot of a bed or walking the halls in a pink gown, the smell of flowers and kitchen burners going out on their own.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask for the balcony suite beneath the tower when you book, and have breakfast in the Peacock Room.
Where to look The 1926 Otis elevator and basement, the second and third floors and the stairwells
Reported ghosts Claude "Scotty" Harvey, a woman in white and a small boy
The Jerome Grand sits high above the old copper town in the Spanish Mission style building the United Verde Copper Company opened as its hospital in the late 1920s. The hospital closed in 1950 as mining wound down, the building stood empty for decades, and the Altherr family reopened it as a hotel in 1996. The 1926 Otis elevator still runs, and the Asylum restaurant sits on the top floor with views across the Verde Valley.
Its best-known ghost story centers on Claude “Scotty” Harvey, a maintenance man found dead beneath the elevator in 1935. The inquest called it an accident; local storytellers have never been sure. Guests report a shadowy man near the elevator and basement, a woman in white, a bearded old miner on the second and third floors, a boy of about six and coughing from empty rooms. The hotel has appeared on Ghost Adventures.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book a valley-side room on an upper floor and take the stairs past the old elevator late at night.
$$ · $150 to $300Haunted room bookableHotel embraces its ghostsHaunted Rooms ghost hunts
Address 107 W Allen St, Tombstone, AZ 85638
Where to look The Soiled Dove and Fallen Angel rooms, which keep their 1881 layout
Reported ghosts A miner said to have died outside, and spirits that brush past guests at night
Booking the haunted room Rooms are named and booked individually with the B&B; the Soiled Dove and Fallen Angel keep their 1881 layout.
This white clapboard house was a working brothel in Tombstone’s red-light district during the silver boom; local lore links it to Big Nose Kate. In 1923 it was moved to West Allen Street to save it from demolition when a school was built. Owner Susan Sinsley runs it as a bed and breakfast with rooms named for the women who worked there, such as Calico Queen and Shady Lady, a hot breakfast, a seasonal pool and a hot tub.
Each room has a logbook for guests’ experiences. The owner says the spirits rearrange small things or brush against people at night and are never frightening; a handful of guests have still left on arrival. The best-known story is of a miner who died in a fight outside and is said to make advances toward women. Haunted Rooms has run ghost hunt sleepovers here.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book the Soiled Dove or Fallen Angel for the original 1881 layout, and read the room logbook before bed.
Booking the haunted room Ask for Room 16, the room tied to Abby, when you book with the hotel (928-776-0900); room requests are not guaranteed.
Rancher Jack Jones built the Vendome on Cortez Street in 1917 to ease a local housing shortage, advertising 30 rooms and 16 baths. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Prescott’s only unaltered two-story early 20th century tourist hotel. A 1980s restoration kept the claw-foot tubs, cast iron radiators and the lobby’s old call-bell annunciator, and the BarVendome now serves drinks off the lobby.
Its ghost is Abby. The story says she came to Prescott for her tuberculosis, lost the hotel with her husband but stayed on as a guest, and in 1921 locked herself in Room 16 with her cat Noble after he went out and never returned. Staff report footsteps and the service bell ringing for the empty room. Local historian Parker Anderson notes most guests in Room 16 sleep soundly.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book Room 16 directly with the hotel and listen for the old service bell.
Where to look Room 333, the third floor, the basement and the marble staircase
Reported ghosts A boy said to have fallen from Room 333, a headless figure in the basement and an old woman called Sara
The Gadsden opened in 1907 in the copper smelter town of Douglas, burned in 1928 and reopened on a grander scale in 1929. Its lobby is the show: a white marble staircase, gold-leaf columns and a 42-foot Tiffany-style stained glass mural. Legend says Pancho Villa rode his horse up the stairs and chipped the seventh step, though even its own manager has said he cannot confirm it. Owners changed in 2022, and in late 2023 they cut staff and briefly closed the restaurant and bar during a long renovation.
The hotel’s most requested room is Room 333, where a boy is said to have fallen from the window; KGUN 9 has reported a presence there that switches the lamp and TV on and off. Other stories describe a headless figure in the basement, a boy on the mezzanine and an elderly woman called Sara on the upper floors.
Haunted Rooms tip: Check what is open before you go (the renovation is ongoing), then ask whether Room 333 is available.
$ · Under $150Hotel embraces its ghostsHaunted Rooms ghost hunts
Address 26 Sowles Ave, Bisbee, AZ 85603
Where to look The upstairs hallway, the parlor and the old guest rooms
Reported ghosts Nat Anderson, murdered in 1920, and others from the house's boarding days
The Oliver House opened in 1909, just after fire swept through Bisbee, and spent decades as a boarding house for mine staff, railroad men and ballplayers from Warren Ballpark. It became a bed and breakfast in the 1980s and new owners took over in 2023. It is adults only (21+), with vintage rooms, no TVs, several shared bathrooms and big porches looking over town. You can also rent the whole house.
Its ghost story has a real crime at its center: in February 1920 railroad employee Nat Anderson was shot as he returned to his room, and the murder was never solved. Older tellings add a deputy who shot his wife and her lover in the house, and claim more than two dozen deaths here, which no record we found confirms. Guests describe footsteps, cold spots, a moving rocking chair and doors opening by themselves. Haunted Rooms has run ghost hunt sleepovers here.
Haunted Rooms tip: Rent the whole house with friends for the full experience, and read the guest ghost book in the parlor.
Where to look The former Room 54 (now a storage closet), the third floor and the Zane Grey Ballroom
Reported ghosts A honeymoon couple, a woman darting across the ballroom and whispering voices
John W. Weatherford opened his hotel on New Year’s Day 1900, when Arizona was still a territory. Guests over the years included Theodore Roosevelt, William Randolph Hearst, Zane Grey and the painter Thomas Moran. The wraparound balconies were rebuilt during a long restoration, and the building now houses Charly’s Pub, the Gopher Hole and the Zane Grey Ballroom, with its stained glass and an antique bar said to have come from Tombstone.
The best-known story is Room 54. Legend says a couple on their honeymoon died there in the 1930s, and after an employee woke to see a bride and groom at the foot of the bed, the room was turned into a storage closet. Staff and guests still report footsteps and doors locking and unlocking on the third floor. In the ballroom, people describe a woman’s silhouette darting across the floor and the pool table light swaying.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask for a third-floor room near the old Room 54, then finish the night in the Zane Grey Ballroom.
Where to look The seventh floor, the roof and the basement
Reported ghosts Leone Jensen and children heard playing in the halls
Hotel San Carlos held its grand opening in March 1928, an Italian Renaissance high-rise with the first air conditioning in Phoenix, elevators and chilled water piped to the rooms. Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard and Gene Autry all stayed, and the building appears in the opening skyline shot of Hitchcock’s Psycho. The Melikian family has owned it since 1970, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Its ghost is Leone Jensen, a young woman who fell from the roof in May 1928, weeks after the opening; the Arizona Republic covered her death at the time. Guests describe a pale figure in white on the upper floors. The hotel stands on the site of Phoenix’s first school, and night staff have told reporters about guests calling down at 2 or 3 am to complain about children playing in the halls.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask for a seventh-floor room and have a drink on the rooftop bar where Leone’s story ends.
Address 5532 N Palo Cristi Rd, Paradise Valley, AZ 85253
Where to look LON's restaurant and wine cellar, the casitas, the pool bridge and the parking lot
Reported ghosts Cowboy artist Lon Megargee, a lady in a pink gown and children at play
The Hermosa Inn began in the mid 1930s as Casa Hermosa, the adobe home and studio of cowboy artist Alonzo “Lon” Megargee, who rented rooms to guests to pay the bills and was forced to sell in 1941. Today it is a 43-casita boutique hotel in Paradise Valley, on the Phoenix border near 32nd Street and Camelback, and Megargee’s old studio is the restaurant that carries his name, LON’s.
Staff joke that “Lon did it” whenever candlesticks fall or bottles break. A maid reportedly quit after seeing a cowboy reflected in a mirror behind her, guests describe a woman in a flowing pink gown crossing the bridge by the pool, and night staff talk of children playing in the parking lot. In 2016 the inn handed October guests a self-guided list of its own ghost stories.
Haunted Rooms tip: Have a drink in LON’s Last Drop, Megargee’s old studio, and ask the bartender which story is the latest.
Where to look The Cleopatra Hill room and the hallway outside the Verde View Room
Reported ghosts A playful female spirit and a man seen in the upstairs hall
Booking the haunted room Rooms are named, so you can request the Cleopatra Hill room when booking with the inn.
The Ghost City Inn is a small bed and breakfast in a wooden house built around 1890 as a boarding house for the mine’s middle managers. Over the years it was home to the Garcia family for half a century and also served as a restaurant, a spiritual retreat and an art gallery before a 1994 restoration turned it into an inn. Its long verandas look out over the Verde Valley, and the floors still slope the way old Jerome floors do.
Despite the name, the inn itself does not lean on ghost stories. Published accounts say a female spirit is most often met in the Cleopatra Hill room and a male figure has been seen in the hallway outside the Verde View Room. Guests also describe doors slamming on their own and voices when no one else is in the house.
Haunted Rooms tip: Request the Cleopatra Hill room and spend the evening on the veranda watching the lights of the valley.
Where to look The third floor, the front stairs and the Pirl A. Ward marker in the parking lot
Reported ghosts Fred Harvey and a figure in a black cape
El Tovar opened in January 1905 about 20 feet from the South Rim, a log and stone lodge designed by Santa Fe Railway architect Charles Whittlesey and run by the Fred Harvey Company. It has 78 rooms, many of them suites, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987. It is run by the park concessioner, so book through Grand Canyon Lodges rather than the usual sites.
The favorite story is that Fred Harvey himself, who died in 1901, still greets guests on the third floor around the holidays and invites them to a party that does not exist. A figure in a black cape is said to walk from the hotel past the marker reading “Pirl A. Ward: 1879-1934” and vanish behind Hopi House. The marker is often called a Harvey Girl’s grave; Ward was actually a long-time construction worker.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book months ahead through the park lodges, and ask for a third-floor room for a December stay.
Where to look Rooms 1, 2 and 4 above the Spirit Room bar
Reported ghosts Whispering women, an old man coughing and an unseen growling dog
David Connor opened his brick hotel on Main Street in the late 1890s with 20 rooms, a saloon, card rooms and billiards. Fire burned it out in 1898 and he rebuilt it within a year as one of the best hotels in the territory. It closed by 1931, ran as a budget hotel in the 1960s and 1970s, shut again over safety violations and was restored in the 2000s. Today its rooms sit above the Spirit Room, one of Jerome’s best-known bars.
Three rooms carry the stories. In Room 1, the first guest after the restoration is said to have heard women whispering and laughing and spent the night in his van. Guests in Room 2 report small objects moving, and Room 4 is linked to an old man coughing and the growl of a dog that is never there. Expect noise from the bar below on weekends.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask for Room 1, 2 or 4 when you book, and go midweek if you want to hear anything other than live music.
Where to look The upstairs suites, Rooms 2 and 3 and the Victorian Suite
Reported ghosts Quiet men downstairs, a young woman in Victorian dress upstairs
The Bisbee Grand dates to 1906, when it was built on Main Street for mining executives passing through town. It closed and was restored in the late 1980s as a Victorian hotel with antique-filled rooms and suites, and today it bills itself as a hotel, saloon and music venue. There are 13 rooms upstairs above the Western saloon, so it is lively in the evening.
The ghosts here are said to be quiet ones. Published accounts describe male figures seen downstairs and female figures upstairs who appear but rarely make a sound. The most repeated story is of a young woman in Victorian clothes, sometimes carrying a tray, seen in or near Rooms 2 and 3. Guests in the Victorian Suite have also written about doors moving and a bed shaking in the early hours.
Haunted Rooms tip: Pick one of the upstairs suites and stay up for the saloon’s live music before heading to bed.
Where to look The original adobe rooms, including Rooms 110, 115 and 119
Reported ghosts Unseen hands, shaking beds and a presence that answers questions
The motel at 502 East Fremont, long known as The Tombstone Motel and now trading as Inn History Tombstone, sits in an adobe building that predates the O.K. Corral gunfight. It began as a livery stable, then served as a general store, a lumber yard and living quarters before becoming a motel in the 1940s. It is a two-minute walk to Allen Street.
Under its old name the motel warned guests that it was haunted and that people asked to switch rooms in the middle of the night. Guest accounts name several rooms, including 110, 115 and 119: lights switching on and off, luggage moved while guests were at dinner, beds shaking and a presence answering flashlight questions. One room is linked to a man said to have taken his own life there. These are guest reports, not records.
Haunted Rooms tip: Book under the new name, Inn History Tombstone, and ask the front desk which room they consider most active.
Where to look Rooms 1 to 4 in the original block, especially Room 3 and Room 4 (the Wyatt Earp Room)
Reported ghosts A tall white-haired man in 1950s clothes and a presence that moves guests' things
The Larian is a small 1950s motel on Fremont Street (Highway 80), a block from Allen Street and a short walk to the O.K. Corral, Big Nose Kate’s and the Bird Cage Theatre. Rooms are named for Tombstone characters, it has been recently remodeled, and it is one of the better value stays in town.
Its stories are low key and mostly in the original block, Rooms 1 to 4. Guests have described waking at the same moment in Room 3, the Doc Holliday Room, to the feeling of someone in the room, and belongings vanishing and turning up later right where they were left. In Room 4, the Wyatt Earp Room, guests have reported a large white-haired man in a white shirt and 1950s style clothes, perhaps a past guest who never checked out.
Haunted Rooms tip: Ask for Room 3 or Room 4, then walk to Allen Street for an evening ghost tour.
The 1880 adobe Buford House, with its story of George Daves and the 1888 shooting, closed as a bed and breakfast around 2020 and is no longer listed as lodging. View it from Safford Street, and stay at the Tombstone Bordello instead.
Changes in this update: We added the Hotel Vendome in Prescott, The Oliver House in Bisbee, the Hermosa Inn and the three Tombstone hotels to this statewide list. The Tombstone Motel now trades as Inn History Tombstone. The Buford House has moved to the closed list. We corrected several details, including El Tovar’s Pirl A. Ward marker, which records suggest belongs to a long-time construction worker rather than a Harvey Girl.
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We collect first-hand accounts from guests and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your stay. We read every story before it’s published.
The Copper Queen Hotel in Bisbee is the best known, with Julia Lowell, a boy called Billy and up to 16 reported spirits. The Jerome Grand Hotel, Hotel Monte Vista and Hotel Congress are close rivals.
Which Arizona hotels let you book a haunted room?
The Copper Queen sells Room 315 (Julia Lowell) and Room 412 (Billy’s Room) by name, Hotel Congress takes reservations for Rooms 242, 220, 214 and 212, and you can request Room 16 at the Hotel Vendome, the balcony suite at the Hassayampa Inn and Rooms 305, 306 and 220 at the Monte Vista.
Which haunted hotel in Arizona offers ghost tours?
Hotel Congress in Tucson runs a short Haunted Hotel Tour on Friday evenings. Bisbee, Jerome, Prescott and Tombstone also have nightly walking ghost tours.
Is there a haunted hotel at the Grand Canyon?
Yes. El Tovar, which opened on the South Rim in 1905, is said to be visited by Fred Harvey on the third floor around the holidays.
What are the haunted hotels in Tombstone?
The Tombstone Bordello Bed and Breakfast, Inn History Tombstone (formerly the Tombstone Motel) and the Larian Motel. See our Tombstone haunted hotels guide.
Can you stay at the Buford House in Tombstone?
Not any more. The Buford House stopped operating as a bed and breakfast around 2020 and is no longer listed among Tombstone’s lodgings.
Sources and how we research
Every hotel in this guide is checked against the hotel’s own website, historic register listings and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as the hotels, guests and local historians tell them; we note where a story can’t be confirmed. Read how we rate haunted hotels.
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
Booking links on this page are affiliate links. If you book through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It never affects which hotels we include or how we score them.
