Hotel Monte Vista, Flagstaff

Located in the middle of downtown, the historic Monte Vista looks great on the outside and now sports a new coffee shop/bar. On a recent trip, I was initially impressed but a visit to our room proved disappointing. The decor featured wild colors and decor, and was somewhat tacky. Our room - on the second floor - was just above the coffee shop/bar. With no door separating the 2nd floor hotel rooms from the bar below, the noise in our hotel room was very loud until 2 a.m. When I complained at the front desk about the noise (i.e., could they turn the noise down particularly given there were about 5 people in the bar, I was told that there was nothing they could do and that I should have somehow known (i.e., it was my fault) that the room would be noisy because of its above-the-bar locale. A good location was overcome by lack of sleep and surly front desk staff.

I was told that the Hotel Monte Vista was a great place to stay and had been frequented by people such as Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable and recently Sir Paul McCartney. I was given the "Freddy Mercury Suite". That sounded nice. I was told that I would not be disturbed by the trains nearby and could count on a restful night sleep. I opened the door to the suite and was appalled at what I saw. The walls were painted purple! The only table in the room was covered with a cheap gold gauze material. The shower was broken and noisy and there was a shattered guitar hung on one of the walls. The furniture was of the cheapest, poorest quality I have ever seen and there was a ceramic sculpture of a monkey in one corner. The floor was dusty. I stayed there for three hours and couldn't take it any more. I demanded my money back. To my surprise, I was given a complete refund. For the same price you can get an excellent suite of rooms at the Embassey Suites where the rooms are3 clean, comfortable and reasonably priced. Avoid the Hotel Monte Vista!

What a disappointment. After visiting historic hotels in Durango CO and Denver CO this was quite a let down. Started off by not being able to find a parking place, then was unpleasantly surprised at the sparseness of the room, and incredibly small towels. Final straw however was the mouse who spent the night running along our floorboard, before we gave in and let him have the room at 6AM.

The location in town is great inspite of the train noise. Although the hotel is old, it is far from charming. Other than celebrity pictures on some of the room doors there were no stories about them or evidence that they stayed here. Our deluxe room was worn but large with a very comfortable mattress and many mirrors but only one plug. The 2x2 foot shower which alternately sprayed scalding and freezing water, the dirty floors, the paint chipped walls, the unfriendly staff and the suspicious characters hanging around the bar and entrance made our stay uncomfortable. In addition we had difficulty with reservations. They were unable to take a reservation 3 months in advance so we called back 1 month in advance and were guaranteed at rate. Two days prior to our arrival the hotel called and changed the room rate blaming the error on a staff member who no longer worked there. The most disturbing thing was the 48 hr cancellation notice and the contract which we were required to sign guaranteeing a 4 day stay.

This is a bar with a hotel part of it. The rooms were small and unkept, but the drunks kept us up all night

Stay at your own risk. Management would not return my call to discuss this issue. When I called back (4 times) to speak with someone, they were rude and denied the possibility of having a bed bug problem. I got 3 bites on the back of my arm the night I stayed there. Some how they got in either my suit case or on my clothes and I brought bed bugs back to my home. It has been a nightmare.

This is a cool old hotel in Flag with a great bar and coffee shop and a wonderful feel. Unfortunately, they charged our credit card 4 times for our one night stay, and after talking with their staff by phone for days after our stay, they still couldn't figure out how to refund the charges, so we ended up having to file claims with the bank for unauthorized charges- definitely not how we wanted to spend our vacation. Also, the elevator was broken and there were no screens in the windows.

My girlfriend and I came up to Flagstaff for homecoming. We stayed at the Monte V for two nights. The original reservation was set for two nights at $80. We received 1 night at $110. We left the morning after the first night and didn't return till that evening to find our room had been given to someone else and our stuff had been taken out of our room. The manager was "down the street" and came back to tell us all rooms were full. We eventually got a room for the night which was an upgrade for the same price but the lounge and train made sleeping difficult.

Really noisey Air conditioning! Window was screwed shut! Didn't see any sprinklers incase of fire! Most Staff were rude! The Lodge in Williams was so much better. Nicer town. Hardly any train noise! much better rooms, better price, nicer staff!

Overwhelming stench in room! Similiar to dead animal or intense mildew. Cold unfriendly room. Arrived after dark on Amtrak so finding another room would have been difficult I slept with my clothes on to minimize contact. View from window was not a "Mountain View" but the top of an old roof and the back of some old buildings. The staff was evasive, unresponsive and clearly reflective of the management. I consider it a swindle. Avoid like the plague!