Mile Marker 53: Hotel San Carlos

Join Drifter & Gypsie as they try to find a place to park a hearse in downtown Phoenix Arizona then spend the night in the historic & haunted Hotel San Carlos.

You can check out the Dead History talking about the hotel HERE.

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Transcript

Key: Drifter, Male voice. Gypsie, Female voice

Uplifting rock/western tune plays for 15 seconds, music begins to taper down then:

(Drifter) Welcome to the Rebel At Large Adventure Podcast. I’m Drifter

(Gypsie) And I’m  Gypsie

(Drifter) Talking about Ghost towns,

(Gypsie) Graveyards,

(Drifter) Outlaws, Heroes

(Gypsie) And Ladies of the night.

Music tapers to an end

(Drifter) Howdy folks, Thanks for joining us for yet another adventure. Today we are taking you to the southwest where the average high in July is 106 degrees, and you can feel the asphalt squish beneath your feet.

(Gypsie) In October of last year we were on a 10 day trip celebrating our birthdays, and getting ready to be married in Tombstone Arizona. On the trip down we spent one of the nights in Phoenix Arizona and stayed at the infamous Hotel San Carlos in downtown.  We had heard stories of it being haunted and figured we would check it out ourselves and see how haunted it really was. Before we get into the haunts of the hotel as well as our experience there, let's tell you about the hotel and the land it was built on. 

(Drifter) Settlers came to the Phoenix area in the 1860’s to provide supplies for the miners, a fort was built to protect the town people and streets were established. In 1873 the town folk built a school at the far end of the city center, they wanted to keep the children away from the rough and tough miners. At the time the school was built Phoenix had 16 saloons, four dance halls, two monte banks, and one faro table. Another reason the area was decided on was the Native Americans worshiped a god of learning on the site. 

(Gypsie) The school was opened on November 10, 1873 it was an adobe building that was 20 by 30 feet and 16 feet tall. There were three windows on each side, with large double doors at one end of the building. A fireplace was located at the other end of the building. A well was dug the following year to provide fresh water for the kids. As the town grew and more children began moving to the area the small adobe structure was replaced with a larger building. In 1879 or 1880 a two-story brick building was erected, it had four rooms and a bell tower. By 1893 the building was not large enough for the children and it was expanded to 16 rooms. The town was growing at such a fast pace and people were now living outside of the downtown area. In order to serve the children better, new schools were built all along the edge of downtown, and by 1919 the Old Central School was abandoned and put up for sale.  For almost a quarter century the school house provided an education for the town children. 

(Drifter) The entire block was purchased by Dwight Heard. He had plans to build a unique county building. The county building was built in a different area of town but Heard held on to the land. As the town of Phoenix slowly started turning into a tourist town Heard decided to use the land for something else, he wanted to build the finest hotel in the city and provide a luxury place for travelers to stay when they came to visit. 

(Gypsie) Dwight Heard came to the area in 1895. Prior to that he and his wife Maie Barlett were living in Chicago. When Dwight was diagnosed with lung ailments he doctor advised him to move to a drier climate. The couple settled in and got to work helping the town of Phoenix transform into what it is today. He became one of the largest landowners in the Salt River Valley. The family also raised prized cattle south of Phoenix. He grew his own alfalfa as well as citrus trees and cotton. Heard became the president of the Arizona Cotton Growers’ association and helped make the Arizona cotton growers industry competitive. In 1912 he purchased the Arizona Republican and moved the printing into his own printing building. 

(Drifter) Heard partnered up with Charles Harries and the two worked with architect George Whitecross Ritchie from Los Angeles to design a fireproof hotel. Construction for Hotel San Carlos started on August 18, 1927 with the general contractor Kinne and Westerhouse in charge, they too were from Los Angeles. The grand opening for the hotel was held on March 19, 1928. The building is designed in a Renaissance Revival-style and is seven stories tall. It has 144 guest rooms with 84 outside-view rooms and 60 interior rooms. It has a penthouse and an apartment for servants. All of the furniture of the hotel was provided by The Dorris-Heyman Furniture Company, which was a local business.

(Gypsie) The hotel was state-of-the-art for its time when completed, it was the first hotel in Phoenix to offer air-cooling in the summer, and steam heat in the winter which they still use today. Each room had a water tap that provided 24 hour a day ice cold water that came from the well that was built when the school was there. The building was even equipped with a hand operated elevator. Because of the modern amenities the hotel offered they were able to charge a dollar more than the other three hotels in the area making a stay at the hotel cost 3.50 a night (Drifter) (about $60 a night today). 

(Gypsie) Charles Harris sent out formal invitations for the March 20th opening. On the invitation it states that (Drifter) “a half million dollar hotel offering its guests the utmost in luxury and comfort.” (Gypsie) It continues on saying (Drifter) “the social life of the hotel guests will center around the outdoor SunRoom, the Dancing and Card Rooms as well as the Palm room.” (Gypsie) Another article I read said the cost to build the hotel was an estimated 350,000 dollars, which would be nearly $6M today.

(Drifter) By the following year the hotel began to suffer, the country was going through the depression and people were no longer traveling for pleasure. The hotel suffered again when on March 19, 1929, a year to the day of the grand opening, Dwight Heard suffered a heart attack and passed away. Charles Harris then took over the hotel and did the best he could to keep it running. Harris and his family also moved into the penthouse so that he could manage it better. 

(Gypsie) The hotel tried everything it could to hold on to its elegance. On the July 26, 1931 menu the hotel restaurant offered a dinner meal for 1.25 (Drifter) (Around $24 today) (Gypsie) they had 5 appetizers to choose from that ranged from an Arizona orange and grapefruit cocktail to Chicken a la Sontag. I tried to find out what Chicken a la Songtag is and the only thing I could find was recipes for Chicken a la King, so I have no idea what Chicken a la Sontag is. The main entree was six different options you could get: Fried Filet of Sole, Cold Ox Tongue or half a spring chicken. They offered 5 sides, nine desserts and the most interesting dessert on the menu we saw was iced cantaloupe, golden glow or watermelon. And lastly they had five beverages to choose from: your standard tea, coffee or buttermilk, that sounds terrible to drink.

(Drifter) World War 2 brought new life to the hotel with servicemen from Luke Air Force Base staying at the hotel during layovers. They were able to make so much money from this that in 1953 they added a three story addition on the west side of the building as well as a rooftop swimming pool. The sign outfront of the building was replaced with a bolder, black neon one. The canopies on the street were removed and a metal overhang was placed all around the building.

(Gypsie) The Harris family maintained ownership of the hotel until around  1967 when they sold it. The Downtown area of Phoenix was starting to fail, families were no longer coming downtown to shop because local stores were opening up in the neighborhoods. And tourism began to slow for them as well, people traveling wanted to spend time at more upscale hotels where they had spas and golfing. The feeling of downtown Phoenix was changing, it was once a thriving spot of entertainment but with all the theaters closing and buildings being torn down travelers were losing interest in the downtown area. 

(Drifter) In 1973 Gregory Melikian purchased the hotel and wanted to bring new life to it. He moved to the area in 1969 and with threats of the hotel being torn down, Gregory wanted to save it. The hotel was in a good spot located across the street from the new Valley National Bank Building but it just needed someone to love it, and Gregory was the man. When he purchased the hotel, rooms were going for 3.50 (Gypsie) (about $28 bucks) and they also offered hourly rates. Gregory and his family got to work cleaning up the hotel, painting every room, putting new furniture inside the rooms and stabilized the building. They replaced the furniture in the lobby as well as the light fixtures. While renovating the building they found some old original paintings in the basement and those can now be seen in the lobby area. 

(Gypsie) The penthouse that was once the home for Charles Harris and his family sat vacant for almost 10 years. The Melikian’s renovated it turning it into 12 suites. It was said that at one point the penthouse was also used to house someone in federal witness protection. Today the penthouse is closed off and they do not let anyone up there. 

(Drifter) Along with remodeling the hotel he also opened back up the restaurant. This time it was called The Copper Door. They offered an all you can eat taco bar for 1 dollar (Gypsie) (close to $7 bucks). (Drifter) You could also get french onion soup, a BLT, and a black forest sandwich. For dinner they had filet mignon or top sirloin for 7.95 (Gypsie) (around $52 bucks). (Drifter) They eventually had to do away with the taco bar when homeless people would come in and pay the dollar then stuff their pockets full of food and leave! 

(Gypsie) With all the new renovations and restaurant opening back up Gregory was able to raise the room rates from 3.50 to 5.00 (Drifter) ($28 to $33) (Gypsie) then within 12 months it was raised to 14.50 (Drifter) ($86 bucks). (Gypsie) He even partnered up with Travelodge in an attempt to bring in more guests, but after a short time working with them he realized the hotel did not fit in with the requirements they wanted and dropped the deal with them. In 1979 Gregory sold the hotel but he still carried the mortgage. During this time the elevator was converted to an automatic push button, eliminating the need for a bellman. The Melikian family could not stay away from the hotel and in 1990 they took ownership of it back.  They also added two meeting rooms on the second floor when they cut the walls down of ten rooms and combined them into two large rooms.  

(Drifter) With Gregory back in charge of the hotel he got to work making a deal to bring Seamus McCaffrey Irish Pub to the building. The pub was doing so well that they ended up expanding it adding more areas to sit. (Gypsie) We ate there when we stayed at the hotel and we sat in the new section of the pub. The food was great and the drink selection was extensive. (Drifter) Gypsie had a hard time deciding what to drink and the waitress ended up bringing her a special drink, (Gypsie)  which was delightful. 

(Gypsie) In 1996 the Melikian’s sold the hotel again for a second time but the sale did not last long and they purchased the hotel back from them in August of 2001. With the family back in charge they got back to work renovating the building again. The lobby had terrible carpet in it, they tried to clean it up but that wasn’t working, they made the decision to tear it up and found the original marble/terrazzo floor. They cleaned it up and it is still there to this day. When we walked in and saw the floor we couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. They also converted the well downstairs to run the a/c system. It is now covered up and has a pump over it to pull the water out. In 1983 The hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

(Drifter) We wanted to stay at the hotel for several reasons. Two big ones being it is an old iconic hotel, and it is haunted. We are not avid ghost hunters but we do enjoy spending time in haunted places to see if we can find anything, or anything finds us. Though we did not experience any hauntings while we were there we still did have a great time. The Hotel San Carlos is located at 202 Central Ave. It's basically on the corner of Central Ave and Monroe street. (Gypsie) When we went to the hotel I thought that maybe Monroe street was named after Marilyn Monroe since she stayed at the hotel but I have since found the street name was there long before she stayed at the hotel. 

(Drifter) Arriving at the hotel was a bit of a stressful situation for us, we were in the hearse and the GPS kept trying to get us to flip a U in the middle of the street, no way we were going to do that in a hearse. Gypsie ended up having to guide us around town while looking at the map to avoid the one way streets that would not put us in front of the hotel. (Gypsie) So if you are going to stay there you need to be heading west on Monroe street so that you can park out front. They have a section in front of the hotel set aside for people to pull into, unload your bags, and check in. (Drifter) Not knowing what to expect Gypsie went inside to check us in and get directions of where to park. 

(Gypsie) The hotel attendant was very helpful and when he realized we were driving the hearse he made sure to inform us that he didn’t think we would fit in the hotel parking structure. He gave us directions to park a few blocks away in a pay to park area, we were not very impressed with this as we ended up paying around 40 dollars to park. It was in an unattended area, and it was right next to the train station. We had to keep walking back to the area to put more money in the machine as well as check on the vehicle, it also would not let us pay for more than 16 hours so we had to leave town extremely early so we didn’t get a ticket. Lesson learned for us: not every town is made for a hearse! Before we left to park the car we unloaded everything we needed for the stay and took it to our room. The hotel attendant then asked us if he could take a picture of the car because his partner is in love with hearses, of course we let him take pictures! 

(Drifter) When we finally made it back from the parking lot to the hotel we spent some time exploring the hotel a bit. (Gypsie) I was super excited to see the rooftop pool that Marilyn Monroe once swam in. The pool is very secluded and private and I could see why she would love to come and swim in the pool. (Drifter) She would stay in the same room every time she came into town, it was on the third floor and is the last room by the exit to the pool. This way she could sneak out to the pool and swim in the middle of the night without being seen. 

(Gypsie) Marilyn Monroe was not the only famous person to spend time at the Hotel San Carlos. Gorge Raft who starred in the 1932 movie Scarface stayed there. Betty Grable who was America's pin-up girl, actress, dancer, and singer once stayed here. Carole Lombard stayed here during the 1930’s and she would book a room next to Clark Gable before the two of them were married. Clark liked to stay in room 412 because he had a great view of Central Avenue and Monroe Street. His floor was elevated enough people could not see into his room yet low enough to the street that he could people watch. Mae West also stayed here, she was a beautiful blond who got her start in vaudeville at a young age and worked her way into Hollywood later in life but was a success.  In 1938 Arizona Senator Henry F. Ashurst stayed at the hotel in room 223 he spent a total of 43.77 for his week-long stay, which would be just shy of $1k today. 

(Drifter) When we checked in we told the hotel attended that we were on our way to get married and that we were spending the night here so that we could explore the hotel and maybe see some ghosts. He told us a few ghostly experiences he had on his own right in the hotel lobby and told us that if we wanted to come back later he would take us to the basement and show us the well. (Gypsie) There was no way we were going to miss out on that opportunity. (Drifter) We got some dinner next door, had some drinks and headed back to see the basement. The basement looks like a standard basement in a hotel with old furniture stacked up along the sides and creepy old pictures hanging on the walls. The well today is nothing spectacular to see, its all covered up and has a pump on top of it, they use the water as part of the a/c system and you no longer have cold water from the well going to the rooms. We didn’t see or hear anything out of the ordinary but it was still exciting to be down there. 

(Gypsie) Some people claim that when they are in the basement and it is quiet they can hear the sounds of children laughing and running around. The story of the children comes from when the school was the original adobe building, three Native American children were playing ball in the school field. Their ball fell down the well and they went after it. The water at the bottom of the well was moving too quickly for them and all three were drowned. In 1927 when the school floor was being dug up the remains of the children were found. Today they still hang around the hotel laughing and playing. 

(Drifter) The most famous ghost the hotel has is that of Leone Jenson. On May 5, 1928, 22 year old Leone checked into the hotel. Two days later on May 7th at 2:45 am, only 49 days after the hotel had been opened, Leone climbed to the seventh floor and jumped to her death. A female scream was heard by one of the guests right before Leone jumped. Her body was found on the Monroe Street side of the building. The newspaper reports say that (Gypsie) “she lay on the sidewalk in as neat a position as if she had lain down to rest.”  (Drifter) Guests at the hotel have stated they have been awoken by a woman in white, she only stays about 10 to 15 seconds and then she disappears. folks have said they have seen her walking in the hallway, again only for a short time before she is gone. There are stories of guests hearing someone knocking on their door and when they open it there is no one there. 

(Gypsie) The legend about Leone Jensen and her death is that she came to Phoenix from California to meet her fiance. She checked into the hotel and was staying in room 720.  When she arrived in town she found out that her fiance did not love her anymore. She was so upset by this that she jumped to her death. Other stories say that her fiance pushed her while others say her fiance’s lover pushed her. 

(Drifter) More information about Leone and her death has since come to light. (Gypsie) The Dead History podcast did some great research on her and we will link her blog in the show notes. (Drifter) Leone did not stay in room 720 like many believe she did, rather she stayed on the third floor in a room that does not look out on the street. On May 7th she wrote three letters on the hotel stationery, and placed them in two envelopes. One letter addressed to Jack M. Edwards, Undertaker from Los Angeles stated (Gypsie) “My burden was more than I could carry, so I am coming back home in the way I predicted, but not as a suicide. But this long living agony is too much for me and now having suffered a nervous breakdown I could never go through with it.” (Drifter) The second letter was described as a rambling affair bidding goodbye to her friends in which it stated (Gypsie) “The black and blue marks are from a bell boy who lives at the Adams Hotel.” (Drifter) and the last letter was for the undertaker asking (Gypsie) “Please notify at once Mr. Jack Edwards, undertaker, 936 Venice Boulevard, Los Angeles California and he will by telephone give instructions to have me sent home.”  (Drifter) She asked to be buried in her tan dress and high heel slippers and for them to  play organ music. She continues on saying that she needs a medacure because she has been too sick to take care for anything.  She stated (Gypsie) “Nervous breakdown; here for lung trouble; too weak to walk; lost appetite; doctors make me sick, have had too many. Just another lonesome and ill stranger.” (Drifter) She ends the letter saying (Gypsie) “Goodbye and good luck. Think of me kindly. Darn this hotel pen.” 

(Drifter) To the hotel manager she left instructions on who will take care of her bill and asked them to make sure all her belongings were packed up. She then apologized for only having five dollars and stated her income was to arrive on the 10th but it wasn’t to be.(Gypsie)  I agree with the Dead History in that the letters she left behind do not sound like a heartbroken woman who took her own life. This was a woman who had been sick for quite some time and she came to Phoenix for help, only to get worse. Leone had been in the area for two weeks prior to her death and if she was not getting any better and with no end in sight she very well could have checked into the Hotel San Carlos being the tallest hotel in town and ended her suffering. 

(Drifter) The stories told of the woman in white haunting the hotel also talk about seeing her and then quickly she is gone. We believe that if she was a woman who was murdered, her hautings would be much more different and possibly malicious. Leone was tired, alone, and done fighting with little to no results in her care. Whatever the truth may be we will never know. We went to the hotel and wandered around trying to figure out how she would have gotten from the third floor to the roof. There is access to the roof from the seventh floor, but Charles Harris and his family were living in the penthouse. Though not unlikely that she got to the roof from the seventh floor this way it may have been a little more tricky for her to sneak past the family without being seen. 

(Gypsie) The other option we thought of while we were out at the pool was that she climbed the fire escape to the roof that is located on the side of the building. That to me seems a little more reasonable as she was on the third floor, and though there was not a pool there at the time there was a sun deck. She had been at the hotel for two days, she would have had enough time to figure out how she was going to get on the roof. It would have been easy for her to walk out the side door, climb the stairs and jump. Also if you are out on the pool deck and look down towards the road you are looking at Monroe street and that is where she landed. 

(Drifter) Whatever caused Leona to end her own life we will never know the truth, it’s terribly sad that this young woman was mentally pushed to this point and we hope that she has found peace. While we were at the hotel we never got a visit from Leone or heard any little children but we still had a great time. If you are ever in the Phoenix area and need a place to stay check out Hotel San Carlos, the light rail system has a stop just outside the front door, you are within walking distance to several restaurants and bars, and there are several music venues close by. (Gypsie) We had a great time there and would love to stay again if things work out, but if we do go again we will make sure to take a car that will fit in the parking garage! 

(Drifter) Alrighty, i think that wraps up our visit to the Haunted Hotel San Carlos in Phoenix Arizona.

(Drifter) Dad Joke?

(Drifter) Thank you all again for joining us on our adventures. If you’d like to stay current with us, we are most active on the Instagram, (Gypsie) @rebelatlarge. (Drifter) We post photos of our adventures on our website, (Gypsie) rebelatlarge.com where you’ll also find links to our Patreon, new merch store, email & other social deals.

(Drifter) We’ll talk to ya here in a couple of weeks. (Gypsie) Safe Travels, (Drifter) we’ll see ya down the road.

Begin 30 seconds of the same uplifting Rock/Western tune as the introduction.