public

Heavily Investigated

Something about the Hotel Monte Vista never quite let go of its guests — and some of them, it seems, never let go of it. Down in the lounge, staff and regulars swear they've heard a cheerful "good morning" from no one at all, and barstools have a habit of sliding on their own; folklore says a bank robber who bled out here in 1970 still considers himself a regular. Up on the second floor, a phantom bellhop is said to knock on room 210, offering service that never arrives — a trick even John Wayne allegedly couldn't explain.

Opened on New Year's Day, 1927, the Hotel Monte Vista was Flagstaff's civic ambition made concrete — literally funded by a community bond and built on the belief that a proper hotel could put the town on the map. It worked. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Monte Vista hosted John Wayne, Bing Crosby, and Harry Truman, and housed one of America's earliest radio stations. It remained the longest publicly held commercial hotel in U.S. history before quietly passing to private hands in the early 1960s. The record is respectable. The reputation, considerably more colorful.