An 1889 Victorian hotel on the second and third floors of the N.D. Hill Building in Port Townsend, recently rebranded from The Waterstreet Hotel under new ownership.
635 Water St, Port Townsend, WA 98368
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
From approximately $115 per night; rebranded property under new ownership.
Access
Limited Access
Historic building with hotel on upper two floors; access via stairs.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1889 · Contributing property to the Port Townsend Historic District (NHL 1977) · Occupies the upper floors of the 1889 N.D. Hill Building · Recently rebranded from The Waterstreet Hotel to The Monarch Hotel
The N.D. Hill Building at 635 Water Street was completed in 1889 during Port Townsend's brief boom, when speculative construction filled the waterfront commercial district with brick blocks designed to anchor what the city expected to be a major Pacific shipping terminus. The expected railroad never arrived; the building, like its neighbors, transitioned through a series of commercial uses across the 20th century.
The upper floors operated for years as The Waterstreet Hotel, marketing the old-world character of the Victorian seaport with panoramic Strait of Juan de Fuca and Olympic Mountain views. As confirmed by Booking.com, Yelp, and the hotel's own current site, the property has recently been rebranded as The Monarch Hotel, with new owners upgrading rooms while preserving the building's historic character.
The N.D. Hill Building is a contributing property to the Port Townsend Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.
Sources
Paranormal lore at the property — first reported under the Waterstreet Hotel name and now carried forward under the Monarch — is aggregated across WA Haunted Houses, Haunted Places, FrightFind's Port Townsend haunted-hotels roundup, and TripAdvisor guest reviews. Accounts describe three documented deaths in the building's long commercial history and ghosts said to remain, including men in 19th-century top hats walking the hallways at night who reportedly vanish through walls when approached.
Additional anecdotal reports describe photographs taken in the hallways containing orbs, guests reporting disembodied footsteps, and individual TripAdvisor reviews describing 'phone chargers and lamps unplugging on their own' and a 'tall, hazy outline of a figure by the bed.' The accounts are characteristic of long-running Victorian commercial-block lore — multiple secondhand reports across the property's history but limited primary documentation.
The operating rebrand from Waterstreet Hotel to Monarch Hotel is now reflected on the hotel's own site, on Booking.com, on Hotel.com.au, and on the new owners' 'monarchsuites.com' booking platform — operating status is settled as actively booking guests.
Notable Entities
Stay overnight in a renovated room in the 1889 N.D. Hill Building. Guests have historically reported paranormal experiences including disembodied footsteps and reported apparitions of men in top hats.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Port Townsend, WA
Built in 1889 by retired sea captain Henry L. Tibbals during Port Townsend's Victorian boom, the building has served many purposes; it operated 1925-1933 as the 'Palace of Sweets,' a combination hotel and brothel. Today it is a restored boutique hotel inside the Port Townsend Historic District (a National Historic Landmark).
Port Townsend, WA
The Bishop Block was erected in 1890 by William H. Bishop, a British sailor who jumped ship in 1853 and became a leading Port Townsend builder after retiring there in 1889. The building has housed a cigar store, a tavern, a U.S. Navy WWII rooming house, and since 1980 a hotel.
Port Townsend, WA
Charles Eisenbeis, Port Townsend's first mayor and a prominent German-born businessman, built Manresa Castle in 1892 as his family residence. The 30-room, three-story structure was designed in a Prussian-influenced Victorian style to overlook the Puget Sound. Following the Eisenbeis family's tenure, the building served as a Jesuit training college from approximately 1927 to 1968, then was converted into a hotel in 1968 and renamed Manresa Castle.