Prescott Arizona
Hassayampa Inn
Home of a distraught spirit who suicided and is ashamed.
Though still grieving, this spirit finds ways
to be entertained, like eavesdropping.
Other spirits look and wait for loved ones
while enjoying this structure and their memories.
DESCRIPTION
“The warmth and romance of the historic Southwest comes to Life in this Jewel of the County.”
This glorious, 1927 historic four story, brick luxury hotel has long been described as “a haven for sophisticated guests seeking a sense of pampered well being.”
“Hassayampa Inn transports you back to the “roaring twenties” with its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture and Italianate features.”
The Hassayampa Inn has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since November of 1979. NRHP states; “Architecturally the building is the best preserved and largest example of the Mission Revival and Italian Renaissance Revival Styles in Prescott, and is significant as having been designed by noted southwestern architects Trost and Trost of El Paso, Texas.”
Looking at the outside, it is a relatively large, simple structure, with ornamentation and stylistic features applied to the facades.
Stepping into the lobby is like going back in time to 1927. The rather large lobby/sitting room has lovely hand-painted ceilings, a large fireplace, and many comfortable chairs and other early 20th century furniture. Their website shares, “Every inch of our hotel exudes classic character and charm. From the hand-painted lobby ceiling and dramatic wall murals to the quirky vintage elevator and etched glass and embossed copper panels.”
Inside, the craftsmanship can be seen in the detailing, such as the ceramic tiled wainscotting and ornate designs painted on the beamed ceilings.
The main dining rooms are off to the left as you enter from the street entrance. Formal dining in the inn’s upscale Peacock restaurant features high quality food served in an original Art Deco setting blended nicely with “a touch of modern and chic ambience” that was added in the Hassayampa Inn’s major 2014 restoration and renovation.
For informal meals, there is also a cafe with a more relaxed atmosphere in the very back of the building for those who prefer this type of dining. You can enter it from the street. Next to the cafe is the Hassayampa Bar. On the other side of the main front door to the hotel, at the end of the structure, there is the Hassayampa Wedding Venue office.
At the north end of this stately lobby is the staircase leading up to the second, third, and fourth floors. The second and third floors have sixty-eight guest rooms, while the fourth floor houses the very haunted Grand Balcony Suite 426. The rooms blend the historical decor that includes antiques, with modern perks that today’s upscale guests expect; including wifi internet and wide screen TVs.
Things to do on campus include in-house entertainment, including live jazz performed in the cozy Hassayampa lobby bar. If you enjoy a good work-out, there is a fitness center.
As many upscale hotels do to fully put their building to work, Hassayampa Inn offers unique spaces for “one-of-a-kind setting for conferences, meetings and elegant weddings.” The Marina Ballroom is a beautiful area to host a variety of events. The rooftop terrace and the courtyard patio are also very popular for all sorts of social events.
HISTORY
After the beautiful Congress Hotel burned to the ground in 1923, the need for an upscale, replacement for the well-to-do became urgent. Besides providing a high end destination for business travelers to Prescott, Prescott was becoming quite the vacation Mecca for folks sweltering in the summer heat in Tucson, Scottsdale and Phoenix, to say nothing of the well-to do locals with money to spend in town as well. This economic possibility for growth in tourism was a strong incentive to see this project through.
“Prescott in the 1920s had become “a most exclusive vacation retreat destination. Prescott enjoys cooler weather which makes it the perfect location to have such an inviting place to find a reprieve from hot temperatures, 100 degrees and more!”
Four years after the destruction of The Congress Hotel, the Hassayampa Inn was built on the same lot where the Congress Hotel once proudly stood.
The first effort to raise funds was spearheaded by prominent Prescott folks who got together and formed the Hassayampa Hotel Co. with the hopes of raising money to build a “proper modern hotel,” but the company was poorly run and was not successful.
The second effort to raise money was instigated by the members of the Prescott Kiwanis Club. The Kiwanis asked individuals to buy one dollar shares of this new hotel, and were able to raise 150,000 dollars this way.
Although the Prescott Kiwanis Club failed to get a secondary loan, the Hassayampa Hotel Co. members got to work and found a bank willing to give them a loan. Thanks to their efforts the Hassayampa Hotel Company, the Hassayampa Hotel became a reality.
Architects Trost and Trost of El Paso, Texas, were the winners of the design competition that followed. This talented duo “played a significant role in the architectural evolution of both New Mexico and Arizona.”
Once built, the Hassayampa Inn soon fulfilled the dreams of the people of Prescott, becoming a favorite for well-to-do summer travelers, looking for relief from the sizzling hot weather which is a mainstay in the Valley of the Sun.
“Completed in just ten months, the beautiful Hassayampa Inn, then known as the ‘Hassayampa Hotel,’ quickly became the finest facility of its kind in all of Arizona’s Central Highlands. Word of its magnificence quickly spread throughout America, attracting hundreds of patrons every year.”
“Some of the world’s most prominent luminaries arrived at the hotel, such as the likes of D.H. Lawrence, Greta Garbo, Will Rogers, and Tom Mix. In later years, other noteworthy individuals to stay at the Hassayampa Inn have included Clark Gable, Steve McQueen, and Georgia O’Keeffe.”
Apparently, some spirits also stay, trying to find what they need and desire; peace from a seemingly eternal restlessness as they work out what is keeping them in this world.
HISTORY OF MANIFESTATIONS
The spirits of children who died from disease or accident, sometimes search in the place where they last saw their parents, trying to find them, even while they try to have fun as well.
Monteleone Hotel, LA (A little boy who died here of a disease still looks for his parents, much to the surprise of hotel guests).
Westover Plantation House, LA (The spirit of a little girl looks for her mother here).
Old Faithful Inn, WY (The spirit of a young boy who drowned tearfully looks for his parents).Hassayampa Inn, AZ (The spirit of a young Chinese boy looks for his parents; his mother was probably a maid here, and his dad may have cooked in the kitchen).
Hassayampa Inn, AZ (The spirit of a young Chinese boy looks for his parents; his mother was probably a maid here, and his dad may have cooked in the kitchen).
Suicide caused by emotional pain over betrayal or loss doesn’t bring peace to tortured souls. Even as spirits, they still feel their loss. They often have regret for their rash actions in life.
Hotel Adolphus, TX (A bride-to-be hung herself at the hotel after her beloved got cold feet and didn’t show up for the wedding).
17 Hundred 90 Inn, GA (A young house maid was seduced by a sailor who told her he would come back for her. When she discovered that she was pregnant, and was then abandoned by this jerk, she killed herself).
Vendome Inn, AZ (When the supposedly loving husband of a TB ridden wife disappeared after telling her that he was leaving to get her medicine, she starved herself to death in her grief. It is not known whether this was because he just abandoned her, or met with foul play).
Hassayampa Inn, AZ (In 1927, a young, newly married couple checked into the Hassayampa Inn’s Grand Balcony 4th floor Suite for a romantic honeymoon. That same evening, the husband supposedly left his beloved to go out to buy some smokes. He either met with foul play or decided to take off, leaving his new bride Faith alone and distraught. Three days of being alone took a toll on Faith and she hung herself from the balcony, in clear sight of Gurley Street).
People who suffer bitter disappointment from a lost relationship sometimes just soldier on, finding a feeling of satisfaction from other elements of their life, but never quite heal from their loss. They wait as spirits for promises to be fulfilled in their favorite structure in this world.
Magnolia’s Vineyard Restaurant, PA (A female spirit waits patiently for her Confederate soldier beloved to return from the Civil War, while being her pleasant and helpful self to whoever sets up a business here).
Longfellow Wayside Inn, MA (The spirit of Jerusha Howe is the hostess of this inn while she waits for her British beloved who said he would return to her but was unable to do so).
Westover Plantation House, VA (Evelyn Byrd fell in love with a British gentleman. Her father suspected the gentleman’s intentions and forbade the marriage. Evelyn’s heart was permanently broken. Instead of marrying, she strove to be the ultimate hostess of the plantation house and found a fulfillment that helped her put her broken heart aside. She is still taking care of the spirits who reside there and the living as well; perhaps waiting to see if her beloved will come back in spirit form).
Hassayampa Inn, AZ (The theory is that a Hassayampa Inn doorman had fallen in love with a woman and they may have been planning to elope after his shift, but she got cold feet and never showed up. He just soldiered on with life, focusing on a job that he loved, still hoping that she would come back some day).
Restless spirits seek their favorite earthly abodes to try to find peace by remembering their great memories and so enjoy it as much as they can as spirits; either as guests or employees.
Kahler Grand Hotel, MN (The spirit of a violently murdered woman still tries to find some peace remembering all the great times she had here; trying to make up for her horrible end).
Monmouth, Plantation, MS (The spirit of General John Quitman finds relief from his anger at his poisoning and how his mansion was allowed to deteriorate. He helps the new owners run their bed and breakfast, while enjoying the restored mansion).
Captain Benson Bailey House Museum, NE (The spirit of Captain Bailey finds some peace by staying in the family’s forever home, while trying to resolve his anger at himself for not figuring out that it was his neighbor who poisoned both his wife and himself).
Hassayampa Inn, AZ (All three spirits who reside here enjoy the inn as a spectral guest, as a spectral employees, and as a playground; trying to find peace to soothe their restlessness).
MANIFESTATIONS
Faith wanders throughout the inn, enjoying this fine hotel, even as she grieves her loss, and feels restless because of her shame. Other spirits as well are restless because of loss and disappointment. All wait to see if their loved ones will visit as spirit people.
Faith’s Personal Appearances
She makes herself known as both an unseen and seen presence, letting the living know she is there.
When the kitchen staff feel her presence, all the stove burners go out at once.
Faith has been seen floating down a hallway wearing a pink gown, disappearing through doors into various rooms.
Faith has startled people by appearing at the end of their beds, crying, and holding flowers.
Faith’s Shame
Faith doesn’t want strangers finding out about how she died.
Faith has also been known to eavesdrop on conversations in the kitchen when she is the topic of conversation.
She has let the living know if she doesn’t like what is being said about what she did.
She once knocked a full coffee cup on a woman holding it when the woman mentioned she was going to the library to find out more about Faith.
Decor Matters
Faith’s favorite place to be is of course the Grand Balcony Suite, 426.
Watch the decor: A hotel employee was in the hallway right outside of the Grand Balcony Suite, and was surprised when a door wreath suddenly flew off the door while a loud pounding came from within the room.
He quickly opened the door but no one living was inside.
It’s Hard to Share Sometimes
Faith sometimes tries to get guests to leave her favorite place, Grand Balcony Suite, 426.
One couple who were spending the night in Suite 426 were rudely awakened at 3 AM when the radio and TV turned on by themselves at full blast.
The couple also found that the lights were turned on and water faucets in the bathroom were running.
Spirit Child
This spirit of a young Chinese boy has been seen running through the hallways.
He has been seen playing around the inn.
People have heard his footsteps going at a gallop.
He may touch the living as he searches for his family.
Still Waiting
The spirit of the Doorman is seen wearing a brown coat, which was once the uniform of the inn’s doorman.
He likes the area by the lobby piano for personal reasons and where he can watch the front door.
The theory is that he is waiting for someone dear to him to meet him in the lobby area.
Perhaps it is his beloved, whom he may have hoped to elope.
Still On the Job
He may be the spirit who taps the living on the shoulder, as he tries to continue in his job in some capacity, at least in his mind.
He may keep an eye on visitors and guests, making sure that they are behaving themselves, especially ghost hunters.
A Reported Personal Appearance
A hostess was closing the dining room when she saw a life-like man in a brown coat sitting in the lobby at a round table.
She asked him if she could turn the lights back on for him.
When she did so, imagine her surprise when he vanished before her eyes.
This may have been a favorite spot of his to sit and relax when on a break or after his shift.
PARANORMAL FINDINGS
Staff, guests and paranormal investigators have had a great many of personal experiences ever since the beginning of this very fine inn.
Hard evidence has been caught as well by investigators. In theOctober 7, 2019 issue of Prescott Living Magazine, it is reported that a California paranormal investigation group, “bent on debunking the hauntings,” did the opposite by having personal experiences and catching hard evidence on tape.
They saw and quite possibly caught on tape the appearance of a shadow figure, saw a clear apparition of the small Chinese boy, and heard his running foot steps. One investigator was tapped on the shoulder.
Among their EVPs they heard a woman, (probably Faith) sigh, and exhale a breath. They also heard a growl from an irritated spirit (probably the door man).
STILL HAUNTED?
Yes indeed!
All three spirits are restless for reasons both different and similar. All have found ways to find some peace.
Faith is still mourning the disappearance of her beloved and is also restless from shame. She may also be staying just in case her beloved comes back. She finds ways to amuse herself while enjoying this building, and claims the Grand Balcony Suite, 426 as her own.
The doorman still loves his job while waiting just in case his dear one decides to show up.
The Chinese boy is still trying to find his family. Though he hasn’t had any success, he resiliently manages to have fun at the same time, in a place where he has enjoyed many good memories.
LOCATION
122 East Gurley Street
Prescott, Arizona 86301
(800) 322-1927
Hassayampa Inn is located on the corner of Gurley and Marina in Prescott.
Our Haunted Paranormal Stories are Written by Julie Carr
SOURCES INCLUDE
- https://www.hassayampainn.com/?utm_source=local-directories&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=travelclick-localconnect
- https://www.historichotels.org/us/hotels-resorts/hassayampa-inn/history.php
- https://prescottlivingmag.com/haunted-prescott/
- https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/79000429_text
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