Prescott, Arizona landmark among the most haunted hotels in U.S.

Arizona has no shortage of haunted places. But this October, two historic resorts are getting some special attention for their ghostly guests.

Historic Hotels of America, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, recently released its 2025 list of the Most Haunted Hotels, and Arizona is well-represented this year.

The list is arranged chronologically, so the Tubac Golf Resort and Spa in Tubac, which has a history that dates back to the 18th century, is high on the list.

Historic Hotels of America notes, “The modern history of Tubac Golf Resort and Spa in Tubac, Arizona, can be traced back to 1789, when the Spanish crown granted hundreds of acres of land to Don Toribio de Otero for his family to settle. The resort is located on the former Otero cattle ranch, operated by generations of Oteros before they were forced to sell, and the core of the estate was reinvented as a luxury resort in the 1950s.

“Harkening back to the days of the Otero Family, employees and guests have claimed to hear, see and experience unexplainable activity. In recent decades, resort guests have reported at least four unique ghosts, including a boy, a lady in gray, a very active gentleman and a cowboy. Some of these spirits are believed to date back to the early days of the resort when it was the Otero Ranch.

“The paranormal activity has been investigated by the Phoenix Arizona Paranormal Society. Guests can learn more about the Tubac hauntings in “Haunted Otero: Ghost Tales From the American Southwest” (2014) by Diana Hinojosa-DeLugan, who has given ghost tours of Tubac Golf Resort and Spa. Tubac Golf Resort and Spa was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2008 and dates to 1789.”

Further down the list is Hassayampa Inn in Prescott. Historic Hotels of America reports, “Hassayampa Inn in Prescott, Arizona, has a reputation as an active haunt, with a variety of unexplained experiences reported since it opened in 1927.

“Most of its paranormal tales involve a ghost that many have called Faith. Legend has it that soon after the hotel opened, a bride (Faith) and her newlywed husband checked into Hassayampa Inn on their honeymoon. According to the story, Faith’s husband went out to buy cigarettes and never returned. Faith waited for three days and then took her own life in despair. Since then, countless hotel guests and employees have reported encounters with a young woman throughout the hotel, crying at the end of a bed, dressed in a pink gown in the hallway, and appearing and disappearing from guestrooms.

“One housekeeper saw a woman by a bed, holding flowers and crying. When asked if she needed help, the woman vanished. Kitchen staff have reported feeling Faith’s presence in the kitchen, right before the burners on the stove suddenly went out. Others have reported strange cold spots in Faith’s honeymoon suite. Frequently, the smell of flowers emanates from the empty room. Others have experienced lights or the television turning on in the middle of the night, or waking to find their toothbrushes missing. However, Faith never threatens in these encounters; the heartbroken ghost simply appears to be unable to move on from her anguish.

“One recent guest, a young man, said that he sensed someone in his room when he awoke. He drifted off to sleep and awoke to someone hugging him. Then he asked if there had been incidents of ghostly encounters at the hotel. ‘Oh, that’s just Faith,’ the front desk clerk said. Hassayampa Inn was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 1996.”

For the full list of this year’s most haunted hotels, visit the Historic Hotels of America website.