La Concha Hotel

Key West's first luxurious hotel, built in 1926 with a scenic rooftop bar and decorative marble floors. The tallest building in Key West attracted famous guests including Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams.

La Concha Hotel towers six stories above Duval Street, making it the tallest building in Key West—a distinction that has led to a tragic legacy. In its 95 years of operation, more than a dozen people have taken their lives by leaping from its roof, and many believe their restless spirits still linger.

Built in 1926 at the height of the Florida land boom, La Concha quickly became the place to see and be seen. Ernest Hemingway was a regular at the rooftop bar. Harry S. Truman spent weekends here. Tennessee Williams finished A Streetcar Named Desire while staying at the hotel—a plaque marks his room.

But the building's height also attracted those seeking a final exit. One spirit, known as Fred, was allegedly a corrupt lawyer who leapt from the balcony in a desperate, failed insurance fraud attempt. Guests have reported seeing a man on the balcony pacing frantically, looking over the edge as if contemplating jumping. When security responds, he vanishes.

In the 1980s, a busboy accidentally backed into an open elevator shaft on the fifth floor during cleanup after a New Year's Eve party, plummeting to his death. His spirit now haunts the elevator and fifth-floor hallways. The elevator stops on the fifth floor with no one inside and no input from anyone. His apparition wheels a cart toward the elevator doors, then walks through them and disappears. Late-night cries for help echo in the shaft.

A wine-loving spirit frequents the rooftop bar, stealing guests' chardonnay if they are not watching their drinks—legend says it was drinking chardonnay before taking the plunge and is still searching for one more glass.

The first-floor gift shop has become so active that it is the first stop on many Key West ghost tours.