Haunted hotel guide · Anchorage, Alaska
Inlet Tower Hotel & Suites, Anchorage: The Laughing Girl and the Elevator Ghost
One of Anchorage’s first high-rises, built in the 1950s as apartments and still standing after the 1964 earthquake. Staff and guests tell of a little girl laughing on the ground floor and a man who rides the elevator.
The Inlet Tower is the tall striped building on West 12th Avenue at L Street, on the edge of downtown Anchorage by the Delaney Park Strip. Built in 1951 and 1952 as an apartment block, it was one of the city’s first high-rises, and today it is a hotel with suites and kitchenettes, the PubHouse gastropub downstairs and views over Cook Inlet and the Chugach Mountains from the upper floors.
Its ghost stories are told by staff and passed on by guests. A little girl is heard laughing as she runs and plays on the ground floor, and a man said to be a repairman killed in an elevator accident rides the elevator up and down, or walks in through the front entrance and vanishes. There are no official records of either death, so this is lore rather than history, but it is lore with a long run in Anchorage. For more, see our guide to haunted hotels in Alaska.
Inlet Tower at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 1020 West 12th Avenue, Anchorage, AK 99501
- Built 1951 to 1952 as apartments; later converted to a hotel
- Most haunted spots The ground floor, the hallways and the elevator
- Best-known ghosts A laughing little girl; a repairman said to ride the elevator
- Booking the haunted room No room is singled out. The stories belong to the public areas
- Good to know Kitchenette in every room, free parking and a free shuttle to the airport or railroad depot
The ghosts of the Inlet Tower
The little girl on the ground floor
The story told most often is of a child. Staff and guests describe hearing a little girl laughing as she runs and plays on the ground floor, and some say they have seen her in the hallways. She is never described as sad or frightening, just a child at play in a building where, for decades, families lived in apartments.
Nobody has put a name to her, and no record of a child dying in the building has been found. Some guests think she may simply be an echo of the families who called the tower home in the 1950s and 1960s.
The repairman in the elevator
The second story is about a man. He is said to have been a repairman killed in an accident with the building’s elevator, and guests and staff describe him riding the elevator up and down, up and down, with nobody pressing the buttons. Others say he walks in through the main entrance and disappears before he reaches the desk.
Again, there are no official records of any such death. Local reporting on Alaska’s haunted hotels notes this plainly, and we found nothing to change that. Old elevators in a 14-story tower in an earthquake zone have plenty of reasons to move on their own, but the story has stuck.
A building that rode out the quake
Part of what gives the tower its reputation is its age and what it has been through. When the Great Alaska Earthquake struck on Good Friday 1964, the Inlet Tower was badly damaged, but unlike its near twin, McKinley Tower, it stayed occupied throughout. People have lived and slept in this building through almost every chapter of modern Anchorage.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- The ground floor: Where the little girl is heard laughing and playing.
- The elevator: Said to travel up and down with no one inside.
- The front entrance: Where a man is seen walking in and vanishing.
- High floors facing the inlet: No ghosts reported, but the best views of Cook Inlet and the mountains.
History of Inlet Tower Hotel & Suites
Anchorage had a serious housing shortage after World War II, as military build-up and the railroad brought thousands of new people to town. The Inlet Tower was one answer: a 14-story apartment building put up in 1951 and 1952 by a Seattle contracting firm in partnership with local businessmen Al Swalling and Jack Clawson, at a cost of more than a million dollars. It was designed by Seattle architect Earl Morrison, who also designed McKinley Tower, its near twin a few blocks away, and for many years it was known as the 1200 L Apartment Building.
Its corner windows, strong vertical lines and two-tone paint made it stand out in a low-rise frontier city. When the 1964 earthquake hit, it was badly damaged but stayed continuously occupied, while McKinley Tower had to be vacated.
The building was later converted from apartments into a hotel, which explains the suites and kitchenettes. Today it hosts concerts and events on its east lawn, and its PubHouse gastropub is popular with locals as well as guests.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Ask for a high floor facing the inlet; the ghost stories are on the ground floor, but the views are up top.
- Use the kitchenette to save money on longer stays, and the free shuttle for the airport or railroad depot.
- Take the elevator late at night and see if it stops where you did not ask it to.
- Walk to the Historic Anchorage Hotel on E Street, about 20 minutes away, to read its ghost log.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Historic Anchorage Hotel: Anchorage’s most haunted hotel, with a ghost log at the desk
- Haunted hotels in Alaska: Including Hotel Captain Cook a few blocks north
- Haunted places in Alaska: More of the state’s ghost stories
- Haunted hotels in Alaska
Stayed in one of these hotels? Tell us what happened
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.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Inlet Tower Hotel in Anchorage haunted?
Staff and guests tell of a little girl heard laughing on the ground floor and a man said to be a repairman who rides the elevator. There are no official records of either death.
How old is the Inlet Tower in Anchorage?
It was built in 1951 and 1952 as an apartment building, one of Anchorage’s first high-rises, and later converted into a hotel.
Did the Inlet Tower survive the 1964 earthquake?
Yes. It was badly damaged but stayed occupied throughout, unlike McKinley Tower.
Do Inlet Tower rooms have kitchens?
Every room has a kitchenette, which makes it popular for longer stays.
What other haunted hotels are in Anchorage?
The Historic Anchorage Hotel, famous for its ghost log, and Hotel Captain Cook, with its locked restroom stall.
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.
- SAH Archipedia: Inlet Tower Hotel and Suites
- Wikipedia: List of tallest buildings in Anchorage
- Alaska.org: Inlet Tower Hotel
- Alaska Business: Transcendental Travels, haunted hotels (2019)
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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.
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