Monte Vista Hotel Coffee Shop
Flagstaff, AZ Photo courtesy Rod Holcomb
Near the main boulevard in the Route 66 town of Flagstaff, the Monte Vista Hotel has been a landmark sight for over 80 years. Built in 1926, the Hotel Monte Vista was originally named the Community Hotel until a contest winner renamed it to what it is today. The hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Check out the Pioneer Hotel that still rises above downtown Tucson, although it has not welcomed overnight guests in many years. Designed by architect Roy Place, the 11-story Spanish Revival hotel opened in 1929 as one of Tucson’s first skyscrapers. 02-07
The hotel quickly became a center of local social life, with an enormous ballroom and prominent guests such as Eleanor Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson.
Tragedy struck on December 20, 1970, when a fire spread through an open stairway and killed 29 people. The hotel was later repaired and converted into offices, and a lobby plaque honors the victims.
UPDATE: The building remains open as The Pioneer, with offices and ground-floor businesses. Its restored 1929 ballroom reopened to the public in December 2024, exactly 54 years after the fire. 09-26
Cochise Hotel (Closed)
Cochise, AZ Photo courtesy Gorb70
Here's the Cochise Hotel that looks like a place where the old railroad days never quite ended. Built across from the Southern Pacific depot, the adobe hotel has welcomed travelers to the small town of Cochise since 1882. 02-07
Railroad telegrapher John Rath opened the hotel for train crews and passengers. It later housed the local telegraph office, post office, and Wells Fargo office. “Big Nose Kate” Horony, best known for her relationship with Doc Holliday, reportedly worked here as a cook beginning in 1899.
The hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and is commonly described as Arizona’s oldest surviving railroad hotel.
UPDATE: The Cochise Hotel survives as a private residence, small museum, and historic bed-and-breakfast available primarily by advance appointment. 09-26
Pueblo Hotel
Tucson, AZ Photo courtesy Gorb70
The Pueblo Hotel features one of Tucson’s more playful pieces of roadside neon. A diving girl appears ready to leap from her board into the advertised swimming pool below. It is quite a promise to make from the side of an old downtown building. 03-07
The Mission Revival structure was originally constructed between 1902 and 1904 as the Willard Hotel. It was designed by regional architect Henry C. Trost, while future Tucson mayor and architect Henry Jaastad reportedly helped frame the building as a young carpenter.
A close up of the sign
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The property became the Pueblo Hotel and Apartments during the 1940s. Its neon marquee was created in two stages by Tucson’s Acme Neon Company. The main hotel sign arrived first, followed by the “Swimming Pool” lettering and animated diving girl when the pool was installed in 1955. She has been frozen in mid-dive ever since.
The Pueblo continued welcoming guests until 1984. After sitting vacant, the old hotel was restored between 1991 and 1993 and converted into offices. The courtyard swimming pool was filled in during the work, so anyone following the neon diver today will not find much of a splash landing.
The sign received a Tucson Historic Landmark Sign designation and was restored by Cook & Co. Signmakers in 2012.
A shot of the building as well
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
UPDATE: The Pueblo Hotel sign still stands tall as of Summer 2010. The Pueblo originally was known as The Willard Hotel back in the early 20th Century. The hotel changed its name to the Pueblo Hotel in 1944 and the sign was added in the 1950's. The hotel closed down in 1984.The building is now home to law offices. 09-10
UPDATE: The former Pueblo Hotel remains repurposed for commercial and educational use. Its swimming pool is gone, but the restored diving-girl neon survives and continues to light up this corner of downtown Tucson. 09-26
Glenwood Hotel (Closed)
Tucson, AZ
Photo courtesy Gorb70
Glenwood Hotel is an old Tucson landmark with a rooftop sign that still stands tall above the two-story building. Located in the Armory Park Historic District, the former hotel has been part of this downtown neighborhood since Arizona was still a territory. 03-07
Built in 1908, the Glenwood features Romanesque Revival architecture with arched windows, thick brick walls, recessed porches, and a decorative cornice running along the roofline. Portions of the interior were constructed with volcanic rock quarried near the base of Sentinel Peak, better known around Tucson as “A” Mountain.
The building is a contributing property within the Armory Park Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Although its days as a hotel eventually ended, the Glenwood remained in use. For about 14 years, it housed offices and storage space for the Arizona Theatre Company.
Glenwood Hotel
Tucson, AZ
Photo courtesy Gorb70
Developers purchased the building from the theater company in 2021 and began the complicated job of turning the aging hotel into six residential condominiums. The renovation preserved many surviving features, including old brick archways, the location of the original main staircase, and a pyramid-shaped glass skylight. The rooms are considerably larger these days, but the old hotel character can still be found throughout the building.
The large rooftop sign framework also survived the conversion. It no longer advertises rooms to travelers, but it continues to give the Glenwood a recognizable outline along the Tucson skyline.
UPDATE: The former Glenwood Hotel has been restored as The Glenwood, a six-unit condominium property. The 1908 building, its historic architectural details, and the familiar rooftop sign remain intact. 09-26
Near the main boulevard in the Route 66 town of Flagstaff, the 
Pioneer Hotel
Cochise Hotel (Closed)
Pueblo Hotel
A close up of the sign
A shot of the building as well
Glenwood Hotel (Closed)
Glenwood Hotel
