Hotel Vendome

Vendome Hotel

230 S Cortez St, Prescott, AZ 86303

In 1917, J.B. Jones, a cowboy-turned-rancher, bought a plot of land in the heart of Prescott and built a two-story, red-brick hotel. He named it Hotel Vendome. Business came easy in those days � people were flocking to Prescott for the mining opportunities and the advertised health benefits of the city's fresh air. The Hotel Vendome is a small hotel in the town of Prescott, Arizona. It was built in 1917. It is situated very close to Prescott's "Famous Whiskey Row." Hotel Vendome has since been through a dozen owners, including a baker, a carpenter and an FBI agent. Some of those owners upheld Jones' vision of running "the classiest place in town," but others fell short. For a while, Hotel Vendome was even considered a flophouse � cheap and rundown. It was the type of place that people usually crossed the street to avoid. In 1983, investors decided to restore the hotel to its former glory, but the project collapsed to the brink of bankruptcy. As a result, the Resolution Trust Corp. took over the renovation, both preserving and modernizing the building. Now, Hotel Vendome, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a point of pride in Prescott. Like many historical buildings, Hotel Vendome is haunted by ghost stories. The most common is about Abby Byr and her cat, Noble. According to the legend, Byr stayed at the hotel in the early 1920s while suffering from severe tuberculosis. One day, her husband left to get her medical attention and never returned. Heartbroken, Abby refused to eat or drink. Eventually, she died with Noble in room 16. But did they ever leave? Room 16 is haunted by the ghosts of Abby Byr and her cat. The story goes that Abby Byr, her husband, and her cat, Noble, were allowed to stay in the room 16 of the hotel for free (or were simply guests at the hotel). After her husband left her there, Abby and Noble both died of starvation in 1921. In some stories on the web Abby is a former owner of the hotel. Regardless, the room is now decorated with the gifts that guests staying at the hotel leave for Abby and Noble. Hotel guests and employees say the benevolent spirit occasionally rearranges objects and messes with lights, fans and faucets. And some people claim they've heard a cat � Noble, perhaps � purring, scratching and meowing in the closet. For more information about the hotel please visit http://www.vendomehotel.com/.