Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Ghost of Alice B. Toklas Still 'Alive' And Well At Hotel Sorrento

tibbygirl via Creative Commons
Seattle's Hotel Sorrento

At one of Seattle's most historic hotels, one of the city’s most historic ghosts stories remains very persistent.

As the story goes, Hotel Sorrento is the place where the late socialite (and pot brownie creator) Alice B. Toklas has chosen to walk the halls for eternity.

But why the Hotel Sorrento? Toklas spent the bulk of her adult life with Gertrude Stein in Paris, and never actually stepped a living foot in the hotel.

Perhaps it is because she spent many of her childhood years in Seattle (noted in her writing as some of her happiest years), and it is rumored that her childhood house is on the grounds where the Hotel Sorrento now sits.

And who might be the biggest believer that Toklas' presence is taking up residence in the hotel? That would be Hotel Sorrento General Manager Angie Mykel.

Sound Effect host Gabriel Spitzer paid Mykel a visit at the hotel to get her take on this ghost story.

Kevin Kniestedt is a journalist, host and producer who began his career at KNKX in 2003. Over his 17 years with the station, he worked as a full time jazz host, a news host and produced the weekly show Sound Effect. Kevin has conducted or produced hundreds of interviews, has won local and national awards for newscasts and commentary.