With years of checkered history and a transient clientele from all walks of life, old hotels offer fertile ground for stories of the occult, the otherworldly, and the paranormal to filter down. Newspaper cuttings of deadly crimes mix with urban legends of myth and mystery, and the scene is set for spine-tingling tales of supernatural interest. The Cecil Hotel sits in downtown Los Angeles, and it’s a fine example of the darkness and disturbance that can surround a place – so much so, that The Cecil featured in a Netflix documentary, Crime Scene: Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel.

The Cecil Hotel, Downtown LA 

The fortunes of the Cecil Hotel are inextricably linked to those of Los Angeles itself. The hotel opened its doors in 1927, at a time when traditional streetcars whisked workers and travelers across town in style. Its proximity to the train system made The Cecil a popular place, with elegant interiors reflective of the opulence of the day. The hotel fitted in among the restaurants, theaters, shops, and the hustle and bustle of the busy Spring Street Financial District, and for a time, business was booming. 

But the Great Depression of the 1930s took its toll, and the arrival of the freeways in the 1950s allowed people to live in the suburbs and drive in. This was followed in the 1970s by the downtown area’s demise, when dilapidation and deterioration dominated the hotel’s fortunes. Eventually, the down-and-outs of nearby Skid Row stopped the business traveler and tourist bookings coming in, and the hotel switched roles to become a protected low-income building – accommodating long-term renters down on their luck.  

A Place of Darkness and Desperation 

The Cecil Hotel is widely considered among the most haunted hotels in the world, and has seen so many bizarre accidents, mysterious deaths, premeditated murders, and suicides that many feel it can’t all just be a coincidence. This must indeed be a place of real darkness and evil. 

Not just one, but two different serial killers stayed at this hotel during their crime sprees. Jack Unterweger, an Austrian serial killer, stayed at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles while on a murder spree in the early 1990s. He killed multiple women, including several prostitutes, during his stay at the hotel. Unterweger was eventually arrested, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison for his crimes.

Richard Ramirez showing off the Satanic pentagram on his hand in court

Richard Ramirez, also known as the Night Stalker, was an American serial killer who stayed at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles during his crime spree in the mid-1980s. He killed at least 13 people and committed several other crimes, such as rape and burglary, during this time. Ramirez was known for his terrifying and brutal attacks on his victims, many of whom were asleep in their own homes. He would enter the homes through unlocked windows or doors, and would often bludgeon or shoot his victims. He was eventually captured and convicted, and was sentenced to death in 1989.

No fewer that 16 people have lost their lives within the walls of The Cecil Hotel, and the most captivating of all is the story of 21-year-old Canadian student Elisa Lam – who featured in the Netflix documentary Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel  mentioned earlier. 

Elisa Lam, the Cecil’s Unluckiest Visitor 

Elisa Lam was backpacking round the West Coast back in 2013, when she stepped inside The Cecil in search of a place to rest her head. She planned to stay four nights, but by the time her fourth night had passed, Elisa had disappeared.  

Her dead body was found in the hotel’s water tank, a full two weeks after her planned check-out.  

CCTV from inside the hotel’s elevators showed Elisa exhibiting erratic and bizarre – even psychotic – behavior, which led analysts to theories on her bipolar disorder and state of mind around the time of her passing. The story of her death went viral, and the verdict returned as accidental drowning. But the question marks that still surround her untimely death only add to the mystery.  

Pigeon Goldie 

Pigeon Goldie was the nickname of a certain Mrs. Goldie Osgood – an elderly lady known in the area for feeding the pigeons on Pershing Square in the 1960s. She was one of the residents of The Cecil at the time it served as long-stay accommodation for local people in need of a place to stay.  

Goldie’s body was discovered under the most horrifying circumstances imaginable. Newspaper clippings from the time explain that she was found in her room, assaulted at random and stabbed to death. It’s one of the most disturbing crimes in the Cecil’s checkered history, and one which still remains unsolved all these years later.  

Whether The Cecil Hotel is haunted, or whether the mysteries surrounding the property are merely spun from myth, rumor, and urban legend, is up for debate. But those newspaper clippings don’t lie, and what’s clear is that for anyone who cares to listen, this old place has dark stories to tell. 

For more chilling stories of murder and paranormal activity from the bright lights of LA to the rolling Hollywood Hills, delve into the darker side of Tinseltown on our Hollywood Hauntings blog page. And to see these sites in person, make sure to join our Los Angeles Hauntings Ghost Bus tour. You can also read more on the ghost stories and sad tales of the Cecil Hotel in James Bartlett's excellently-researched Gourmet Ghosts 2 , pick it up from Amazon here.