Ghosts at the Montvale Hotel, Spokane, WA

We have gotten many requests to investigate the oldest boutique hotel in Spokane that started out as a single-room occupancy hotel (SRO) for working-class laborers, the Montvale Hotel, built in 1899 by Judge John W. Binkley [1856–1931] on the West Downtown Historic Transportation Corridor.

So we did a walk-through with Spokesman-Review reporter Cannon Barnett, photographer Jesse Tinsley, Montvale General Manager Zachary Neighbors, and Psychic Medium Jennifer Von Behren to see what we might find at this historic location.

Most old buildings have residual energy left over from all the businesses and people who once occupied the space, but that is not all the Montvale Hotel has.

In Room 310, Jennifer saw a female spirit by the window who was killed on the street a long time ago. Her name is possibly Katelyn, and she jokingly said that she has been there "too long" and is a "permanent guest" at the hotel.

She likes the building and likes to make noise, "mess" with the TV, and move things to "freak" people out. She also goes to the next room and down to the kitchen. She liked to use the "Dead Bell" electronic device to communicate with us. Her energy is good.

According to Zachary Neighbors, there has been one death in this room, and people have reported the lights turning on by themselves.

In Room 203, similar issues have been reported.

Psychic Medium Jennifer Von Behren feels that a man died in this room from a possible heart attack.

She picked up a male spirit there who would use the electronic devices to communicate with us.

Rooms 307 and 219 have also had some activity, according to Zachary Neighbors.

The Montvale Hotel is owned by Jerry and Patty Dicker, who purchased it in 2015. They also own the two buildings next to the Montvale, the Music City Building and the old IOOF Lodge building, now the Montvale Event Center.

Zachary Neighbors took us down to the basement, which is used mainly for storage and contains items from the IOOF Lodge.

In the IOOF Lodge building basement area, Jennifer saw two male spirits, one of whom she had seen earlier in the shower area.

The spirits were in a corner area that had a single chair. Zachary Neighbors felt that the chair belonged to someone, so he had never moved it.

The two male spirits were drinking buddies. One of them had worked there. James, the younger male wearing overalls, had been there since the 1910s. He died from hitting his head after someone pushed him in 1918. He had been a smuggler for booze and had used the tunnels, which are now sealed. He likes the company and jokingly said, "He could be a snuggler too." He was anxious to use the equipment to communicate with us.

The older male spirit doesn't like people going down there, but he was OK with us being there. He used to be a bartender and is very much a flirt with no filter who also likes blondes.

Both spirits seemed to like the attention and told us that they would be OK with us bringing them little booze bottles and cigarettes, though the older male spirit prefers "Luckies" cigars.

He passed away from a possible heart attack or lung and breathing issues.

In the IOOF Lodge basement area, Jennifer also saw a skittish female spirit at the top of the stairwell who likes to touch people's hair, something that Zachary Neighbors had felt before down there, thinking it was cobwebs, but he never saw any. The female spirit confirmed that it had been her.

The Montvale Hotel also has two restaurants: Gilded Unicorn in the basement and the Griffin Tavern, a British-style gastropub with Spokane's only self-pour beer wall.

Neither restaurant was included in the walk-through, but I had Psychic Medium Jennifer Von Behren and Psychic Medium Jane Stewart from ghost411.net podcast read the energy from the pictures I later took of each place.

Both psychics picked up a female spirit on the stairway going down to the Gilded Unicorn. Jane picked up another female as well who did not belong to the building. Jennifer saw two female spirits talking by the fireplace. One was wearing a dress from the '30s, and the other one was not from this building.

Jane could hear children, and the female spirit by the stairwell confirmed that there is a little boy in the building who likes to run up and down the stairs.

Both psychics saw a male spirit in the Gilded Unicorn kitchen area. Jane believed he used to work there. Jennifer felt that he likes to "mess" with people.

Jane believes that the male and one of the female spirits are "stationary." Other spirits come in from the street.

In the Griffin Tavern, Jane sees a young male spirit with short brown hair. He is sickly looking, possibly due to drugs.

Jennifer saw two male spirits in the private dining room talking to each other. One of them looked like the male spirit from the IOOF basement she saw. She also saw a male spirit behind the bar.

Psychic Medium Jane Stewart did a walk-through of the Montvale Hotel's main areas a couple of years ago with the Boo Crew Case Files podcast. Be sure to check it out.

Not all the spirits hang out in one place all the time. It is common, especially in the downtown area, for them to roam.

Sometimes they like the energy of the building and decide to stay.

No room is necessarily haunted just because it has activity.

Some spirits follow people into the rooms from elsewhere.

The Montvale Hotel is an excellent, beautiful, and comfortable hotel close to downtown entertainment. It is well worth a stay.

We would like to thank General Manager Zachary Neighbors for allowing us to walk through this beautiful hotel and for all of his help. Also, thank you to Cannon Barnett and Jesse Tinsley for setting it up. You can also find an article from this walk-through in the Spokesman-Review on Oct. 31, 2025.

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