Est. 1926 · Key West's Tallest Building (1926) · Hemingway, Williams, and Truman Connection · Documented Roof Deaths · Elevator Shaft Fatality
The La Concha Hotel was built at 430 Duval Street in 1926, at six stories the tallest structure in Key West at the time. Its rooftop observation deck became a community landmark and a draw for famous visitors throughout the 20th century. Ernest Hemingway, who lived in Key West intermittently from 1928 to 1940, drank at the bar. Tennessee Williams, who lived in Key West for decades, completed the final draft of A Streetcar Named Desire at the hotel. President Harry Truman, who maintained the 'Little White House' in Key West, was also among its guests.
Over the hotel's 95 years of operation, more than a dozen people died by jumping from the roof. No single incident drove this pattern; the deaths accumulated across decades and represent the most consistently documented element of the building's dark history. The roof remains accessible to guests as an observation point.
In the 1980s, during a New Year's Eve post-celebration cleanup, a busboy on the fifth floor backed into an open elevator shaft and fell to his death. The circumstances of the open shaft were never fully explained. The fifth floor has since become the focus of most paranormal accounts from staff and guests.
The hotel operated under the Crowne Plaza brand before Ashford Hospitality Trust announced in December 2024 that it had completed a $35 million renovation and conversion to the Marriott Autograph Collection. The property reopened as La Concha Key West, Autograph Collection, managed by Remington Hospitality.
Sources
- https://ghostcitytours.com/key-west/haunted-key-west/la-concha-hotel/
- https://www.ghostsandgravestones.com/key-west/ghostly-tales-of-la-concha-hotel
- https://southernmostghosts.com/the-haunted-la-concha-hotel/
Elevator stopping at fifth floor with no passengerBellhop apparition on fifth floorCries from elevator shaftMoving objects in Hemingway SuiteAppliances activating autonomouslyDisappearing drinks at bar
Paranormal accounts from La Concha concentrate on the fifth floor, where the busboy died in the 1980s. Guests and staff report the elevator stopping at the fifth floor with no one inside, the doors opening onto an empty corridor, and then continuing without a passenger having boarded. A figure described as a young man in hotel uniform — the bellhop — has been reported by multiple witnesses wheeling a cart along the fifth-floor corridor before turning toward the elevator and vanishing. Late at night, voices or cries have been reported emanating from the elevator shaft itself.
The Hemingway Suite carries its own documented reports: objects moved from their placed positions overnight, the television and bathroom faucets activating without apparent cause, and the bedding disturbed in ways guests describe as inconsistent with normal settling. These accounts have circulated widely enough that the hotel acknowledges the suite's reputation.
At the bar, a spirit reputed to have a preference for chardonnay has been reported by staff who describe drinks disappearing from patron glasses or tables without explanation. Whether this is genuine paranormal activity or the more mundane Key West bar experience is a matter of perspective.
The dignity framing here matters: the deaths from the roof represent real human tragedies across many decades. The hotel's official communications and responsible ghost-tour operators present these deaths without romanticizing the act or the circumstances, and this account follows the same standard.
Notable Entities
Fifth-floor busboy
