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Hotel San Carlos in Phoenix, AZ


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Located in the Copper Square District in downtown Phoenix, this 7 story Italian Renaissance style Hotel San Carlos, owned by Charles Harris (D 1946) and Dwight D. Heard (D 1929), opened its doors in 1928. Being the first hotel in Phoenix to have air conditioning and elevators, many famous quests stayed there, including Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Carol Lombard, Cary Grant and Mae West. You will find suites dedicated to some of the stars. Whether they stayed in those particular rooms or not is uncertain. In 1967 the Harris family sold San Carlos to an investment group, who in turn sold it to Mr. Gregory Melikian in 1970. The first school building in Phoenix called "Little Adobe", later called the Central Elementary School, sat where San Carlos is today. In the basement one can still find the original well from 1874. San Carlos was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1983. We conducted an investigation at San Carlos along with the girls from S.L.A.S.H., Psychic Medium Jennifer VonBehren, Eric VonBehren and Joe Atredies from the Phoenix Ghost Tours. The most famous ghost in San Carlos is Leone Jensen, who jumped to her death from the roof top in 1928. There are many theories as to why she did it or was it a suicide after all. Whatever the case may be, Jennifer felt a female spirits presence up on the roof top. A female spirit, believed to be Leone, has been seen in various places in the hotel. There was another jumper as well, Bruce Smith, in 2004. Other activity reported include disembodied voices and footsteps, children's voices, feelings of being watched and touched, apparitions and noises in empty hallways and rooms. Joe Atredies has dozens of reports from people ,who took the ghost tour some years ago, who experienced some of the above occurrences. The 7th floor, where Leone Jensen's room 720 is located, is said to have activity. The 2nd floor, where Bruce Smith once stayed, is also active. We didn't experience a lot of activity during our 2 night stay at San Carlos in any area of the hotel. Activity levels can vary from day to day, but we were able to have some flashlight communication worth mentioning on the 2nd floor hallway and in room 722. A female spirit in 722, and a male spirit on the 2nd floor hallway. The fitness room and the conference room, that are said to be active, are located on the 2nd floor. We didn't pick up anything concrete in the fitness room area, but Jennifer sensed a male spirit in the conference room. The fitness room used to be an apartment for a hotel manager, who is said to have killed his family there, but there is no record of that and it's simply not true. Jennifer didn't pick up anything negative anywhere in the hotel. If you provoke the spirits, they can respond in the way that you won't like. Always treat them with respect. The basement is said to have spirits of 3 male children, who supposedly drowned in the old well. Once again there is no proof of that. Jennifer didn't pick up any child energies down there. She did sense a male spirit in his 20's on the ramp, who said that he had been hit in the head. She felt that some mistake had been made and covered up underneath the ramp. We picked up a male voice by the boiler room area. We picked up possible EVP's in other areas, but due to the noises from outside and other guests, they are not solid evidence. Up on the roof top in the penthouse, where the Harris family once lived in, Jennifer picked up an older male spirit. The old bar area of the hotel is called a "ghost lounge" . The security guard heard the furniture being moved in an empty room and went to check on it. As he entered the room, he saw that 3 chairs had been moved in the middle of the floor. This happened twice. Some of the other rooms with reported activity are 312,301,603,220 and 321. One has to keep in mind, that just because someone had an experience in a certain room, doesn't mean that you will. People who are sensitive to paranormal, will always experience more than those who aren't, or those who are not open to it. So just because someone says the hotel is haunted, is no reason for you to not stay there. We book haunted rooms everywhere we go, and most times nothing happens. The hotel rooms at San Carlos were comfortable, except the shower didn't work in one of the rooms, but the hotel staff gladly offered another room for us in place. We want to thank Angela Hentz for allowing us to investigate at San Carlos, even tho' they no longer offer ghost tours. Also thanks to our tour guide Dennis, for taking us around the hotel and for all the great stories, Thank you Joe Atredies of Phoenix Ghost Tours for joining us and for your insight and information. Check out their Facebook site for tours in Phoenix.


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