Plains Hotel, Cheyenne, Guide du visiteur et quoi faire à proximité

The Plains Hotel is a historic hotel on Central Avenue in downtown Cheyenne, Wyoming, which opened in 1911. It belongs to the era when Cheyenne was a railroad and cattle town finding its polish, and it is now better known locally for its ghost stories than for its guest list.

The story behind it

The Plains Hotel opened in 1911 as a statement of elegance for a city that still had a frontier edge. It stands on Central Avenue, close to the railroad heart of Cheyenne, and it has stayed part of the downtown streetscape ever since.

Its best-known tale is a legend rather than a documented record. The story goes that a newlywed couple on their honeymoon took a room on the fourth floor. The groom went down to the lounge and fell into conversation with another woman. His bride, left waiting upstairs, went looking for him, and the night ended in a shooting that left three people dead. Since then, the retelling says, staff have heard laughing and crying from the honeymoon suite, and a man in early 1900s clothes has been seen on the fourth floor and in the basement. Treat it as local folklore, but it is the reason many visitors stop to look up at the building.

What to look for

• The hotel's early twentieth-century frontage on Central Avenue, which still reads as a grand address among the downtown blocks.
• The upper floors, especially the fourth, where the ghost story is said to have played out.
• The way the hotel sits within easy reach of the historic railroad district, a reminder of why Cheyenne needed a smart hotel in the first place.
• The street-level entrance and signage, where you can picture the arrival of rail travelers in the years after 1911.

Tips for your visit

• Allow 10 to 15 minutes to see the outside and read the setting, longer if you plan to step into the lobby.
• It is a working hotel, so check what is open to non-guests before you go inside.
• Evening light and a quieter street make the ghost story easier to picture, though daytime is better for looking at the building itself.
• Pair it with a walk through downtown Cheyenne, since the historic railroad area is only a short stroll away.

See it on a quest

Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in Cheyenne passes the Plains Hotel as one stop on a longer walk through downtown. You reach each place on foot, the app tells you about it as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle in what is in front of you. The mystery theme suits a building with a shadowy past. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group.

Cheyenne Detective Mystery: Infiltrate a Secret Society. also takes you past the hotel. You move between stops in the area at your own pace, hear the story of each place, and work out a puzzle on the spot. It is a good way to see the Plains Hotel as part of its neighborhood. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group.