Hotel San Carlos

On the corner of Central Avenue and Monroe Street, in the center of downtown Phoenix, is the historic Hotel San Carlos. Local Native Americans once worshipped a god of learning in this same area, and so early white settlers chose the site for the city's first school, the Little Adobe School, in 1873. After the Little Adobe School, the location served as a ballpark, a brick schoolhouse, the Central School, and finally the Hotel San Carlos, which opened in March 1928. The first hotel in Phoenix to boast steam heat, elevators, and air-conditioning, Hotel San Carlos has a remarkable story and has even seen its share of movie stars, including Mae West, Gene Autry, and Marilyn Monroe. Clark Gable always stayed in the same corner room on the fourth floor so he could people-watch. Even the friendly ghost of Leone Jensen, who appears regularly at the foot of the guest beds, has added to the unique legacy and continuing popularity of Hotel San Carlos.

Author Robert Melikian's family has had a vested interest in Hotel San Carlos since 1973. In this entertaining new volume, Melikian showcases the history of this fascinating place through photographs drawn from his family's collection and information gathered in interviews with past employees and guests, as well as with images from such sources as the Arizona State University McLaughlin Collection, the Phoenix Museum of History, and the Arizona Room at the Phoenix Public Library.