Hotel Sorrento

History

Drawing curious travelers and wide-eyed gold diggers alike, the Sorrento opened on First Hill in 1909, just in time for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. The architect Harlan Thomas designed it as a seven-story luxury hotel in what HistoryLink calls an eclectic Italianate style, a lavish Italian oasis on a Seattle hill. Until the end of the 1960s, its top-floor dining room was known for views over Elliott Bay to the Olympic Mountains. Seattle named it a city landmark in 2010.

Hauntings & Lore

It’s claimed the ghost of Alice B. Toklas, Gertrude Stein’s partner, haunts the Sorrento, and she has a favorite room.

Alice B. Toklas on the Fourth Floor

Some say her ghost wanders the fourth-floor halls. KOMO, republishing seattlepi.com in 2016, reported guests seeing her in the hallway in white, lights dimming, and drinks moving in the Dunbar Room. It named her favorite: “Room 408 — for an unknown reason — seems to be her favorite.”

Ask for room 408.