The Panama Hotel

📍 The International District, Seattle WA

One of my favorite spots to visit in Seattle is The Panama Hotel.

Built in 1910 in Seattle’s historic Japantown, the Panama Hotel once served Japanese immigrant workers and housed a traditional bathhouse in its basement.

In 1942, when Japanese Americans were forced into internment camps during WWII, families stored their belongings in the hotel’s basement, hoping they would return.

Many never did.

Today, those suitcases and personal items still remain preserved beneath the building, a powerful reminder of a community that was suddenly uprooted.

I first heard about the Panama Hotel from Jamie Ford’s book, “Hotel On The Corner of Bitter and Sweet.” The book tells the fictional tale of two childhood friends growing up in Seattle’s international district who are then separated when WW II breaks out. Even tho the characters and the story are fictional, the book centers on The Panama Hotel and the people who left their belongings there.

Years ago I spent the night at The Panama Hotel and while I 100% think it’s haunted, there was nothing scary about it. It was a mournful energy perhaps of those who were never able to come home and collect the items that meant so much to them.

Today The Panama Hotel houses a tea shop where you can stop in for a drink and snack. There is a glass panel in the floor that’s looks into the basement and you can still see some of the items that were left behind all those years ago.