Is Westward Ho In Phoenix, AZ Haunted?

There is a place in downtown Phoenix called Westward Ho, and one time is was a luxury hotel. Opened in 1928, it was the city's first high rise resort, where all the very important, and famous people gathered at. Marilyn Monroe actually rented the Penthouse, which was the 16th floor year round.

"When the Hotel Westward Ho opened in 1928, it instantly became a Phoenix landmark. As the city’s first high-rise resort, it symbolized all things lavish, swank, deluxe. Well-heeled locals and Hollywood stars roamed its hallways and ballrooms. Clarke Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Al Capone, and Martin Luther King were among the famous and infamous on the guest list.
By the 1970s, the Westward Ho had fallen into neglect. The property was purchased by a group of investors and eventually converted into a federally subsidized housing project. Today, the Westward Ho is home for disabled adults and low-income seniors. These residents may be less famous that their predecessors, but they’re no less colorful. Full of character, rich in history, rife with personality – all true of the Westward Ho itself and those who call it home.
- by Troy Aossey"

Underneath the Hotel was known to be a parking garage for the hotel, a bowling alley, and a few other things, however at some point this caved in, and most people from Phoenix know that Al Capone's car was caught under there. While looking for some information about the old hotel I found the Wikipedia had a page about it being under the National Register of Historic Places for the US.

"Westward Ho is a skyscraper located at 618 North Central Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona, formerly occupied by a hotel of the same name. When completed in 1927, the 208-foot (63 m) hotel was the tallest building in Arizona, a title it held until 1960.
The Westward Ho was one of the city's premier luxury hotels until it closed in 1979. In 1981, the sixteen-story building was converted to housing for senior citizens, and the building was thoroughly remodeled between 2003 and 2004 at a cost of over $8 million USD.

Contrary to popular belief, the Westward Ho does not appear in the opening sequence of Alfred Hitchcock's film Psycho. In the original, the camera zooms in on the downtown Hotel Jefferson, which still stands, although in modified form. In the Gus Van Sant 1998 remake of Psycho, the camera zooms into a window on the 8th floor of the Westward Ho. But when Marion Crane (Anne Heche) leaves the room, the number on the door is 514.
Westward Ho currently supports a large radio transmitter antenna, mounted asymmetrically, which reaches a height more than twice that of the building itself. The antenna was used by KPHO-TV from its 1949 sign-on until 1960 when KPHO moved its transmitter to South Mountain."

As far as the antenna, it is still used today. The residents of Westward Ho, are able to watch movies on a certain channel. They also are able to connect to that for cable, and Internet, which they have a very nice computer room for the residents there. Another reason the antenna wasn't moved was that because the building became part of the US National Register of Historic Places, therefore they had to leave the ugly antenna too.


The building itself is just a beautiful building, inside and out, and now very well taken care of, back in 1979 the hotel was closed, and it fell into disrepair until 1981 when it was bought, and "thoroughly remodeled between 2003 and 2004 at a cost of over $8 million USD." The hotel was remodeled to fit the needs of the senior citizens, and disabled. However many of the people who live there now see, and feel different things, and believe wholehearted that the building is in fact haunted by the former occupants of the luxury hotel. I actually got a taste of this myself, since I wanted to find out what the 16th floor looked like, so took the evaluator up there. They hadn't quite finished with the remodel up there, and there was no air conditioning there. It was the middle of the summer so very hot there, accept while standing there, I felt this freezing cold air blow through, and the curtains moved. For a place that was pretty stuffy, that was quite strange. I wanted out of there, I am no Ghost Hunter. As I peered down the old stairwell, I thought I saw a ghostly white figure floating near by.

Because of the architecture of this building, I thought I would add some really grand pictures of the inside of the building, and some of these have been restored to their original state.

If you look closely, there is gold leafing around the columns, and also the ceiling, however, they just painted over the gold, which was flaking off. Everything else is original from when they first built the building in the 1920's. The second pictures is just a different view of the same room, however, taken from the first stairwell. People who stayed here definitely lived in the lap of luxury. Another fact that is known by many of the residents today, is that Roy Rodgers stayed here, with his horse Trigger, and Trigger walked up the stairs to his room.
This is the original fountain, which is in the main room of the hotel as you walk in. Not too many people use this though, it is also said to be haunted.

There are two Touring places, that will take you on a Ghost Tour for a price: The Ghosts of Phoenix Tour and SpiritKeep Ghost Walks Or Tours:Hotel Westward Ho Ghosts Tour. The cost is $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for children 12 and under, and the Tour groups must be limited size of 30-40 guests. Now this is for "The Ghosts Of Phoenix Tour". They tell you this on their page to contact them, "Hear the stories about the famous Westward Ho building. Haunted sightings given to us from the residents that live there. The tour will give you historical information as well as a general knowledge of ghost hunting and paranormal investigations." You see it is today's residents that know all the stories, and have seen the different things, whether be day or night. The reason I know so much about Westward Ho, is my cousin lived there for awhile, and I stayed with her for a short period of time, seeing many things. I never did get any photos, which I do regret. Besides the different cold spots, I saw white silhouettes, orbs, and just figures standing there. Many residents have spoken about their apartments being haunted, and things happening in them. Mostly the sightings have been in the older part of the building, on the upper floors.

The Ghost Hunters have frequented the hotel, and bring all their equipment with them. There are two groups here in Arizona, know as the MVD Ghostchasers from Phoenix and Bisbee, AZ, and the second, the Arizona Paranormal Investigations, which the director has written a book entitled, "Sleeping with Ghosts!" by Debe Branning which is a guide of all guides to haunted hotels in Arizona. It kind of reminds me of Scooby Doo, and his group.

There are other hotels that are assumed to be haunted in Phoenix, and maybe I might write about another. I wrote about this one, because I have seen things for myself, and YES, I do believe it is haunted, as many other residents that still live there today do also.

This is a photo that the The Ghosts of Phoenix Tour took, and you see the orbs in this picture. This is the well area, I guess in the basement. They call this the Vortex.


Just another picture of the well area, with many Orbs around.