Haunted hotel guide · Flagstaff, Arizona
The Haunted Hotel Monte Vista, Flagstaff: The Phantom Bellboy, the Meat Man and Room 305
A 1927 hotel built by the town, with a rooftop neon sign, a Prohibition-era lounge and a list of ghosts so detailed that the hotel publishes the room numbers itself.
Hotel Monte Vista stands on San Francisco Street in downtown Flagstaff, a short walk from Route 66, with its rooftop neon sign glowing over the town. It opened on New Year’s Day 1927, built with money raised from local residents and a donation from the novelist Zane Grey, and it still runs as a historic hotel with a cocktail lounge on the ground floor.
It is also the Arizona hotel most open about its ghosts. On its own website the Monte Vista lists them room by room: the Meat Man in Room 220, the rocking chair in Room 305, two murdered women in Room 306, a phantom bellboy, a crying baby in the basement, a dancing couple in the lounge and a bank robber who never left the bar. That makes it one of the easiest haunted hotels in Arizona to plan a ghost-hunting stay around.
Monte Vista at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 100 N San Francisco St, Flagstaff, AZ 86001
- Opened January 1, 1927, as the Community Hotel; renamed Monte Vista by a 12-year-old contest winner
- Most haunted spots Rooms 220, 305 and 306, the hallway by Room 210, the Cocktail Lounge and the basement
- Best-known ghosts The Phantom Bellboy, the Meat Man, the woman in the rocking chair, the women of the night, the dancing couple and the bank robber
- Booking the haunted room The hotel publishes its haunted room numbers. Call the hotel to request Room 220, 305 or 306.
- Good to know Historic rooms, some small, in a lively downtown with bars nearby. The Cocktail Lounge is busy at night.
The ghosts of Hotel Monte Vista
The Phantom Bellboy
The Monte Vista’s most famous story involves its most famous guest. John Wayne, a regular in the 1940s and 1950s, is said to have asked not to be disturbed, then heard a knock and a voice calling “room service.” When he opened the door, nobody was there. He reportedly found the ghost friendly.
Guests still report the same knock and the same muffled call. Some have seen a bellboy outside Room 210, and housekeepers describe a young man in an old-fashioned red coat with brass buttons walking the halls.
The Meat Man of Room 220
According to the hotel, a long-term boarder in Room 220 in the early 1980s used to hang raw meat from the chandelier. He died in the room and was not found for three days.
Later, a maintenance worker left the empty room with the lights off and the door locked. Minutes later he came back to find the TV blaring and the bed sheets torn apart. Guests in Room 220 still report the TV turning itself on and cold male hands touching them as they sleep.
The rocking chair in Room 305
The hotel calls Room 305 its most active room. Guests and housekeepers report seeing a woman sitting in the rocking chair by the window, the chair moving by itself and knocking coming from inside the closet.
The story is that an elderly woman who lived in the room long-term spent hours sitting at that window. Housekeepers say they sometimes find the chair moved back to it after they have put it elsewhere.
The women of the night in Room 306
The darkest Monte Vista story belongs to Room 306. In the early 1940s, the hotel says, two women working as prostitutes were brought to the room, killed and thrown from the third-floor window.
Guests describe waking with the feeling of being watched, and some male guests say they felt a cold hand over their mouth or throat and could not breathe. We could not find a newspaper record of the killings, so treat the details as hotel legend.
The bank robber, the dancing couple and the baby
In 1970, the hotel says, three men robbed a nearby bank and a guard shot one of them. The wounded man stopped in the Monte Vista lounge for a drink and bled to death there. Staff and patrons report a voice saying “Good morning!” and barstools and drinks that move on their own.
Lounge staff have also seen a transparent couple in formal clothes dancing in the Cocktail Lounge, and in the basement, maintenance and laundry staff report an infant crying where no baby could be.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- Room 305: The hotel’s most active room, with the rocking chair by the window. The first room to ask for.
- Room 220: The Meat Man’s room, with reports of the TV switching itself on and cold hands at night.
- Room 306: The room of the two murdered women. Not for the faint-hearted, especially male guests, by most accounts.
- Room 210 and its hallway: Zane Grey’s room, and where the Phantom Bellboy has been seen outside the door.
- The Cocktail Lounge: Home to the dancing couple and the bank robber. Free to visit even if you stay elsewhere.
History of Hotel Monte Vista
In the 1920s Flagstaff wanted a first-class hotel. Fundraising started in April 1926, and within a month local citizens, along with a donation from Zane Grey, had raised about $200,000. Ground was broken that June, and the 73-room hotel opened on New Year’s Day 1927 as the Community Hotel. A 12-year-old won the contest to rename it Monte Vista, mountain view.
The plans took in the old post office and the building that had housed the Coconino Sun newspaper, which became the Cocktail Lounge. That lounge opened during Prohibition under cover of a newspaper business and, by local account, hid a bootlegging operation and speakeasy until officers shut it down in 1931. It reopened legally in 1933. Basement access also connects the hotel to tunnels under downtown that, according to local lore, sheltered opium dens and stills.
In 1929 Mary Costigan, said to be the second woman in the world licensed to broadcast on radio, moved her station KFXY into the hotel. In the 1930s a light on the roof flashed as an emergency signal for the town, and the neon sign that replaced it is still a landmark.
In the 1940s and 1950s more than 100 westerns were filmed around Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon, and the stars stayed here: John Wayne, Jane Russell, Gary Cooper, Spencer Tracy and Bing Crosby among them. Later guests included Bob Hope, Michael J. Fox and Michael Stipe, and the hotel lists rooms by the famous people who stayed in them. It was publicly held until a private investor bought it in the early 1960s, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Call the hotel to request Room 305, 220 or 306; booking sites usually sell room types, not numbers.
- Have a drink in the Cocktail Lounge late in the evening and ask staff about the dancing couple.
- Take a Flagstaff ghost walk: Freaky Foot Tours runs a downtown haunted history tour that covers the Monte Vista and the Weatherford.
- The Weatherford Hotel is two blocks away; stay one night in each.
- Flagstaff sits at nearly 7,000 feet. Winter nights are cold and snowy, so pack accordingly.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Weatherford Hotel, Flagstaff: Room 54 and the Zane Grey Ballroom, two blocks away
- El Tovar Hotel, Grand Canyon: Fred Harvey’s ghost on the South Rim, about 80 miles north
- Haunted hotels in Jerome: the Jerome Grand, Connor Hotel and Ghost City Inn
- Hassayampa Inn, Prescott: Faith in the balcony suite
- Haunted hotels in Arizona
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 Hotel Monte Vista haunted?
The hotel itself says so and publishes its ghost stories room by room. Guests and staff have reported a phantom bellboy, a rocking chair that moves, a TV that switches itself on and a dancing couple in the lounge.
What is the most haunted room at Hotel Monte Vista?
The hotel calls Room 305, with its rocking chair by the window, its most active room. Rooms 220 and 306 are close behind.
Did John Wayne see a ghost at Hotel Monte Vista?
The story told by the hotel and Discover Flagstaff is that he heard a knock and a voice calling “room service,” but found nobody at the door. He reportedly said the ghost was friendly.
Can you request a haunted room at Hotel Monte Vista?
Yes. Because the hotel publishes the room numbers, you can call and ask for Room 305, 220 or 306.
When did Hotel Monte Vista open?
On New Year’s Day 1927, funded by local residents and a donation from Zane Grey.
Are there ghost tours in Flagstaff?
Yes. Freaky Foot Tours runs nightly downtown haunted history walks that include the Monte Vista and the Weatherford Hotel.
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.
- Hotel Monte Vista (official site)
- About and ghost stories (Hotel Monte Vista)
- Flagstaff keeps its history alive and freaky (Discover Flagstaff)
- Haunted ghost stories abound in iconic Flagstaff buildings (Arizona Daily Sun)
- Sleeping With Ghosts in Arizona (Legends of America)
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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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