Pictures from Phoenix and sometimes from the surrounding cities that make up the "Valley of the Sun"
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Touring the Hotel
Last Friday evening, I joined some friends for a special tour of the Arizona Biltmore Hotel. You might remember that I featured this hotel a few weeks ago when I was posting my 10-year anniversary photos. The hotel did a special offer of a 45 minute tour and two drinks for $20. so we signed up. I took the above photo from inside the hotel looking out toward the front. You can see the backs of the two sprites I featured in my post a couple of weeks ago.
The tour took us into some rooms that I hadn't seen before. This room has a secret history. It was where they served drinks during prohibition and you had to know it was there to get in. Our guide told us some great stories about how the hotel was raided on a regular basis so that everything looked above board however, they had a secret signal that warned them when a raid would happen. All, no doubt, conveniently arranged.
This room was once the hotel library. Today it's used as a meeting room and a sort of museum full of historic photographs of the hotel throughout the years. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and will probably do it again sometime in the future. There must be hundreds of stories to learn about this place. I have some more photos that I'll post next week.
I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today. I found a hidden garden inside a museum in Santa Fe.
That is nice , I like those tours, you always get such interesting stories.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't I love to see all those photos and hear the stories! Now I have to check your links, esp. the one of Santa Fe!
ReplyDeleteI have never had a tour like that. So interesting! I am wondering if those tours are organized in this city. I will google it. : )
ReplyDeleteI recognised the Sprites straight away Sharon.. how fascinating to see these special rooms. I see a few Art Deco touches there ☺
ReplyDeleteWhat a great opportunity! And $20 seems more than fair -- that's close to the cost of the drinks alone!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to have the tour, Sharon! I would love it!
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice tour and the price seems right.
ReplyDeleteThe former library particularly appeals to me.
ReplyDeleteI live the looks of the place. I didn't know they did tours.
ReplyDeleteA special tour of a prominent local hotel? That would be fun. I would sign up.
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