Prescott's 1901 Whiskey Row hotel built on brick salvaged from the 1900 fire, listed as last address on 32 death certificates
205 W Gurley St, Prescott, AZ 86301
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Hotel rooms available for overnight stays; rates vary. Check website for current pricing.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic multi-story hotel with elevator; downtown Prescott location on Whiskey Row
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1901 · Built on Site of 1900 Whiskey Row Fire · Salvaged Fire Brick Construction · 32 Death Certificates / Last Known Address · Prescott Territorial Era Landmark
Prescott's Whiskey Row, the stretch of saloons and hotels along Montezuma and Gurley Streets that anchored the territorial capital's social life, burned on July 14, 1900. The Hotel Burke at the corner of Gurley Street was advertised as fireproof; it was not. The fire consumed the Burke and most of the surrounding block.
John Duke bought the site and commissioned a new hotel. Construction used the salvaged brick from the fire's ruins — most of the bricks cleaned, stacked, and incorporated into the new walls — and the Hotel St. Michael opened June 1, 1901. The three-story brick building, designed by D.W. Millard in the Second Renaissance Revival style, had 110 rooms, 55,000 square feet, and a stone basement. It was the most modern hotel in Yavapai County at opening.
Noted guests over the following decades included Wyatt Earp, Tom Mix, Zane Grey, and Theodore Roosevelt. The hotel's register tracked a population of transient miners, cowboys, and commercial travelers. As the hotel's role shifted across the twentieth century from grand hotel to rooming house, it accumulated a documented record: 32 death certificates list the Hotel St. Michael as the last known address of the deceased. Most died of illness or accident; the building served as the last stop for people with nowhere else to go.
The hotel is now operated under the Best Western Premier Collection flag. It stands on what was rebuilt as the historic Whiskey Row, where bars and shops have operated continuously since the 1901 reconstruction. The building retains its original exterior and much of its period character.
Sources
The Hotel St. Michael's paranormal reports focus on the third floor and the elevator — structural areas that correspond, in the building's history, to the rooming-house decades when transient lodgers died on-site and the premises served as the last address on three dozen death certificates.
Room 315 is the most reported location in the hotel. Guests who have no prior knowledge of the room's reputation describe the strong scent of floral perfume appearing with no source, audible knocking when no one is at the door, and an unexplained sensation of nausea or unease. A female presence is described in accounts from multiple independent visitors, including a woman reported to be visible briefly in the hallway in period dress before vanishing. Staff familiar with the room's history note they receive unsolicited reports from guests who did not book it for paranormal reasons.
The elevator area generates accounts of whispers, the sensation of being watched, and doors opening without activation. Upper-floor guests describe audible cigar smoke in rooms with no smoking history and the smell of old-style tobacco in areas that have been smoke-free for decades.
Freaky Foot Tours includes the hotel on its Prescott haunted walking route, and the Phoenix Ghosts documentation project has collected accounts from multiple guests and staff over several visits to the building.
Notable Entities
Guests report anomalous activity throughout the hotel, with the third floor — and Room 315 in particular — generating the most frequent accounts. The hotel does not market a separate ghost tour program; the experience is through booking a guest room. Staff are familiar with the history and can provide context.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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