The Hotel Weatherford

An downtown Flagstaff landmark provides lodging, food and great entertainment.

For those living in Flagstaff, the Weatherford Hotel is an easily recognized downtown landmark. Rising just off Heritage Square in downtown Flagstaff, the unmistakable historic Hotel Weatherford is built of native red sandstone and wrapped in white balconies.  The historic Flagstaff hotel was saved from the wrecking ball by Henry Taylor and his brother Lloyd, who purchased the hotel in May 1975.  Henry Taylor and his wife, Pamela “Sam” Green, brought the Weatherford back to its original, grand appearance over of 30 years of slow and meticulous restoration.

The Weatherford was built, commencing in 1898, opening in 1890, by John W. Weatherford who arrived in Flagstaff in 1887. In the decade prior to construction, Weatherford demonstrated success raising livestock and as owner of a general store. During 1910 and 1911, just west of the Hotel Weatherford, Weatherford built the Majestic Opera House, which was destroyed in a collapse after a heavy winter storm in 1915, but was rebuilt and opened as The Orpheum Theater in 1917.  The Orpheum stands alongside the Hotel Weatherford as a center of current downtown Flagstaff entertainment events.

Possibly the most renown guest at the Weatherford Hotel was novelist Zane Grey, who became a frequent hotel guest in the years after 1908. After his first visit to the Grand Canyon, Grey became enraptured with the Southwest and wrote popular adventure novels and stories about the American frontier. Today, an elegant bar room and ballroom are named in Grey’s honor on the Flagstaff hotel’s third floor.

In 1978, The Weatherford became an international youth hostel, and visitors from around the world came and stayed, making The Weatherford central to their visits to the astounding region surrounding Flagstaff.  The hostel remained open until the mid-1990s.

A 1929, a fire had burned the balconies off the building, but they have been restored to their original state. Seventy-six years after the fire, the distinctive copper cupola or “witches cap” was restored to the structure in, so today The Weatherford has the same appearance it had upon opening.

Fine dining was established at the Weatherford in 1990, and the main dining room is one of the coziest places to enjoy dinner in downtown Flagstaff. Winter evenings feature the dining room fireplace.  Summer visitors can enjoy dining on the sidewalk in front of the hotel.

Charly’s Pub in the Weatherford is a downtown Flagstaff hot spot for music and entertainment. In a casual, laid back atmosphere local friends meet and tourists come to see Flagstaff and regional talent perform.

The intersection of Leroux and Aspen has become Flagstaff’s “Times Square” each New Year’s Eve. The coming of the New Year is celebrated at the Flagstaff Pine Cone Dropat midnight on January 31^st, when thousands of revelers – families and people of all ages — gather to cheer as a giant, electrically-lit pine cone drops from the roof of the Weatherford with a countdown to the New Year.

Living in Flagstaff is great! The Weatherford is just one of Flagstaff’s gems.

When you’re ready to give living in Flagstaff a try, start here: Flagstaff’s best real estate website and source for information about living in Flagstaff.