Before the San Carlos rose on this spot, children's voices filled the air. Phoenix's first school opened here in 1874 - a modest four-room adobe that grew with the frontier town. The school expanded in 1879 and again in subsequent years, educating generations of Phoenix children until authorities condemned it in 1916. Then came the devastating 1918 Spanish flu epidemic, which claimed the lives of many local children. When guests report seeing a weeping girl of six or seven in their rooms at night, believers connect her to those lost students - a child forever searching for the schoolhouse that once stood here.

The Babbitt family, whose descendants would include future Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt, purchased this land in 1919 with dreams of a grand hotel. Those dreams materialized when Charles Harris and newspaper publisher Dwight Heard formed the Hotel San Carlos Company in 1927. They hired nationally renowned architect George Whitecross Richie to create something special. When the seven-story Italian Renaissance tower opened on March 19, 1928, it represented the cutting edge of desert hospitality. The San Carlos was Phoenix's first air-conditioned building - a revolutionary feature that circulated chilled water through guest rooms and introduced steam heat for winter comfort. At a cost of nearly $850,000, it set a new standard for Arizona luxury.

The San Carlos quickly became the place to stay in Phoenix. Mae West swept through the lobby. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard found refuge from Hollywood here. Marilyn Monroe stayed during her Arizona visits, and singing cowboy Gene Autry was a regular guest. The hotel appears briefly in Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 thriller Psycho, captured in the opening shot as the camera pans across downtown Phoenix - a fitting cameo for a building that would become famous for its own dark mysteries. Competition arrived in 1929 when the Westward Ho opened nearby, attracting Jack Dempsey and John F. Kennedy, but the San Carlos held its own, cultivating a loyal following of stars and travelers who appreciated its intimate scale.

When Dwight Heard died in 1929, Charles Harris took sole management of the hotel, moving his family into the rooftop penthouse. Through the Great Depression, Harris worked tirelessly to keep the San Carlos operating while other businesses collapsed around him. His widow Elsie finally sold the property in 1967 to an investment group, but they struggled. In 1970, Gregory Melikian purchased the San Carlos, beginning a restoration that would span decades. The Melikian family invested over a million dollars in a 2003 renovation, earning the hotel membership in Historic Hotels of America. Today it stands as a boutique survivor amid glass towers, six blocks from Chase Field and minutes from Symphony Hall.

The Travel Channel dedicated a segment of World Travels to the hotel's supernatural reputation, premiering on January 19, 2004. Beyond Leone Jensen's persistent presence, staff report strange occurrences throughout the building - cold spots, flickering lights, the sense of being watched. Another death occurred on December 9, 2004, when an unidentified man fell from the roof. Whether the hauntings are genuine phenomena or clever marketing remains a subject of spirited debate. What's certain is that the San Carlos occupies a unique place in Phoenix history - a building that witnessed the city transform from desert outpost to major metropolis, carrying within its walls the echoes of everyone who passed through, from wide-eyed schoolchildren to golden-age movie stars to those who never quite left.