Creepy Hotel in LA

[Stavros]

This gruesome account of a murder in an LA hotel threw me, as I have stayed at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles, where a woman's body was found in a water cistern on the roof.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-water-did-have-a-funny-taste-body-is-found-in-water-tank-at-cursed-cecil-hotel-8504729.html

I arrived from San Diego around lunchtime in August 1983 and it was intensely hot; so I walked around the Main St/South St area and saw this hotel and walked in, only finding out later from a taxi driver it was 'skid row' -although I am led to believe this area has been smartened up in recent years. The hotel staff who spoke in a foreign accent I could not place, checked my passport and filled out a form which spelt my name incorrectly, and recorded my address in West Germany, which so completely puzzled me I didn't know how to explain to them I was from the UK; I suspect they could not read English. My room was on, I think, the 30th floor where the grubby, deathly silence of the corridors resembled a scene from a David Lynch movie; in the room, in which the air conditioning didn't work, the toilet malfunctioned and emitted a foul odour, which I sincerely hope was not that of a rotting corpse. As I loathed LA when I visited it on that occasion, I headed north to San Francisco as soon as I could.

What is the worst hotel you have stayed in, and what was it like?

[Dino Velvet]

I'm not a big traveler but I stayed in a horrible shithole outside of Dallas in Carrolltown. Stayed there for a week and heard plenty of yelling and a good beating outside one night. I stayed in my room with my Akita and Mini-14 minding my own business.

Stavros, next time you come out here, call first. Don't stay at The Cecil or anyplace that seems like The Cecil. Don't wanna find you as Chicken Of The Sea like the other broad.

[Wendy Summers]

Apparently James Darling WAS staying in that hotel... at least according to his twitter.

[ed_jaxon]

I was on a business trip going from Raleigh to Charlotte and could not find a room. I ended up staying at a four hour motel just outside of Charlotte and the room was terrible. Dirty bug infested and dudes kept trying my doorknob to se if it was open. Finally I got off the covers cuz there was no way I was getting in that bed, packed up my shit and went down to the outdoor checkout where the guy is behind a bulletproof window.

Some sucker came up behind me and grabbed my briefcase and bolted for a car down the block. I caught him as he pulled off and hit him in the eye but the bag was gone. Nothing of value in it but had my plane ticket for a visit to Chicago that was a bitch to replace.

[bluesoul]

the creepiest hotel i've ever stayed in was the hotel oloffson in port-au-prince haiti. it was a former gothic gingerbread farmhouse during the 1800s and now resembles a crumbling former slavemaster's mansion- complete with the occasional and rarely spotted hotel staff dressed in almost colonial style help garments.

every thursday night there is a voodoo show put together by the owners (a husband and wife team that also fancy themselves as voodoo priests). half way during the show, this young boy painted in what looked like shoe polish from head to toe walked around the audience with a huge snake in his mouth looking for donations. meanwhile, a woman on stage bit a live chicken's head off.

during my stay, there was next to nobody at the hotel yet they swept around the pool every morning, despite there being no water inside and all the overgrown weeds were watered regularly. at night, you'd hear random gunfire echoing from the city.

i ended up meeting this lovely french girl working as a journalist who arrived about 3 days after we were there. the first thing she said was "this place reminds me of kigali"

for those of you that don't know, kigali was the scene of a mass genocide in the mid 90s

another place i stayed at that was creepy was somatheeram ayurveda resort in kerala india. the place had a very cult-like hippy atmosphere and heavily promotes some kind of tantric yoga by having a bunch of women come every 2 days to rub oil all over your body.

[Stavros]

I'm not a big traveler but I stayed in a horrible shithole outside of Dallas in Carrolltown. Stayed there for a week and heard plenty of yelling and a good beating outside one night. I stayed in my room with my Akita and Mini-14 minding my own business.

Stavros, next time you come out here, call first. Don't stay at The Cecil or anyplace that seems like The Cecil. Don't wanna find you as Chicken Of The Sea like the other broad.

There was no internet in those days and guides, like Frommer's USA on $1 a day were not very good, and I didn't have a fixed itinerary -and whatever 'Chicken of the Sea' might be, please keep it to yourself!'

[Stavros]

the creepiest hotel i've ever stayed in was the hotel oloffson in port-au-prince haiti. it was a former gothic gingerbread farmhouse during the 1800s and now resembles a crumbling former slavemaster's mansion- complete with the occasional and rarely spotted hotel staff dressed in almost colonial style help garments.

every thursday night there is a voodoo show put together by the owners (a husband and wife team that also fancy themselves as voodoo priests). half way during the show, this young boy painted in what looked like shoe polish from head to toe walked around the audience with a huge snake in his mouth looking for donations. meanwhile, a woman on stage bit a live chicken's head off.

during my stay, there was next to nobody at the hotel yet they swept around the pool every morning, despite there being no water inside and all the overgrown weeds were watered regularly. at night, you'd hear random gunfire echoing from the city.

i ended up meeting this lovely french girl working as a journalist who arrived about 3 days after we were there. the first thing she said was "this place reminds me of kigali"

for those of you that don't know, kigali was the scene of a mass genocide in the mid 90s

another place i stayed at that was creepy was somatheeram ayurveda resort in kerala india. the place had a very cult-like hippy atmosphere and heavily promotes some kind of tantric yoga by having a bunch of women come every 2 days to rub oil all over your body.

Sounds like material for novels and films!

[JerseyMike]

The horror which is the Hotel Carter. Built in 1930. On 43rd by Times Square. At least 8 deaths have taken place inside.

http://youtu.be/SgBE1L8_WUs Part One

http://youtu.be/bCQ8_LkkaW0 Part Two

[EvaCassini]

The hotel I am still residing in Reseda. Last night as I was camming to raise some money so we can return home next week, Jamie and I heard a group of guys in the room next to us. We heard someone getting brutally beaten to the point of groaning out of shear pain. Cursing, street talk, and the sounds of fists meeting face. We were paranoid, so we called the front desk so that the cops could be called.

Didn't hear the cops, but a phone call to their room. The noise turned into laughter and louder street talk. Then we started hearing struggling again and again. Like gang mob noises you would hear from "Godfather" and "Goodfellas". Wasn't fun to hear and it really messed up my cam show, but I guess that's LA for ya ...

[broncofan]

I stayed at a hotel one time in Buffalo and someone next door was murdered apparently by bludgeoning. I woke up the next morning and the police knocked on my door, asked a few questions, searched my room because I allowed them, and then cordoned off the room next door. I didn't hear anything from the night before and told them that. I actually went back there about a year later and I think they put me in the room where said murder occurred:). Not quite as interesting as what Bluesoul describes because I was unaware of all of it. They never caught the guy and I was Mr. see no evil hear no evil.

[TSLexiWade]

I have stayed at this hotel... NEVER AGAIN!

[irvin66]

this is some scary shit.....:hide-1:

[Dino Velvet]

this is some scary shit.....:hide-1:

Any weird shit up there you wanna mention? Hear 'em arguing and shivering at the same time fighting over the blanket.

[sukumvit boy]

"Chicken of the sea",indeed!
Dino,you some crazy,funny motherfucker!

[fivekatz]

I have stayed in some real shit holes for the night but dollar for dollar the most shocking experience I had was of all places the St. Regis in NYC in 2000 before its renovation.

There were literally holes in the plaster, an over powering smell of mold, a bed with broken bed springs and a spacious 95 sq ft room with a dark view of an alley.

Now the address was impressive enough being Central Park was right across the street but it was the worst $385 I spent in a night.

And there was an equally horrid Howard Johnson's in Hauppauge. NY (Long Island) but the shag carpet, mold, broken down bed and crappy linens at $65 did not give me the same feeling of rip off.

Needless to say after that a stopped using the corporate travel agent for resrvations when visiting the Tri-State (greater NYC area) on business.

[Stavros]

I have stayed in some real shit holes for the night but dollar for dollar the most shocking experience I had was of all places the St. Regis in NYC in 2000 before its renovation.

There were literally holes in the plaster, an over powering smell of mold, a bed with broken bed springs and a spacious 95 sq ft room with a dark view of an alley.

Now the address was impressive enough being Central Park was right across the street but it was the worst $385 I spent in a night.

And there was an equally horrid Howard Johnson's in Hauppauge. NY (Long Island) but the shag carpet, mold, broken down bed and crappy linens at $65 did not give me the same feeling of rip off.

Needless to say after that a stopped using the corporate travel agent for resrvations when visiting the Tri-State (greater NYC area) on business.


$385!!! Did you get breakfast with that?

[Females+Shemales]

There's a Vegas hotel. I can't remember which one since its been so long, but its on the Strip. I swear the hallway reminds me of the one from "The Shining." or a scene out of that other horror movie "The Grudge". Creepy shit, man!

[fivekatz]

$385!!! Did you get breakfast with that?Nope. That's NYC for you. I got smart and went through Hotwire, three stars plus would cost about $200-$225 a night in mid-town and varied from Hyatt Grand Central to Roosevelt Hotel and once on a flier the Waldorf.

[sukumvit boy]

The horror which is the Hotel Carter. Built in 1930. On 43rd by Times Square. At least 8 deaths have taken place inside.

http://youtu.be/SgBE1L8_WUs Part One

http://youtu.be/bCQ8_LkkaW0 Part Two

Nice work,JerseyMike.

[Rusty Eldora]

Not the worst but it felt totally haunted. I'm somebody that at times will do a night or two in an Antique B&B, or the old school Ryokan (Japanese Inn). Looking at the website for the Queen Mary in Long Beach, it looked pretty cool and kept up. With the special at the time it looked good with the twist of seeing the old ship. Did 2 nights there last month.

Well the ship feels haunted, like a set from the Titanic. The first night I don't think there were 30 cars in the lot, some more the 2nd night. The room and beds were pretty good but very funky. Really lousy cell reception as you are inside a tin can. We were actually a bit jumpy at how creepy it was.

As my GF said PASS as in Pass it up.

[robertlouis]

Paris. No names as the hotel is, amazingly in light of the story that follows, still my residence of choice when I go there.

It's one of those long-established family-run belle epoque hotels near the Champs-Elysees with about 50 rooms, providing quality bed and breakfast accommodation and ideally placed for the main business district. I had been staying there for years and had got to know the family very well.

It was a sultry night in high summer, and I'd opened the curtains to let in some air. I woke suddenly to hear a constant loud buzzing, and could feel something moving on the bed and on me. Switching on the lamp, the sight that greeted me was like something from a horror film. Every single surface in the room - walls, ceiling, counterpane, lampshade, my clothes, the pillow, my face - was crawling with those flying ants - the ones that appear on thundery days and tend to walk rather than fly, roughly the size of the average housefly. I leapt out of bed, probably screaming, and realised that I was squashing hundreds of them with every step - they were about an inch deep on the carpet. Eventually, I looked over to where the ancient radiator met the wall, where what looked exactly like a torrent of oil was pouring through - they were coming through a gap in the heating system. I got to the door and ran all four floors to the reception where the night porter looked just as horrified as I was still covered in the itchy, crawling little bastards. Thankfully, even in that state, my French was good enough to explain what had happened, so leaving me with a bottle of (medicinal) cognac from the bar, he called the owners in their flat on the top floor and bravely rushed upstairs carrying a broom.

Next thing, Mme La Patronne appeared in her dressing gown and curling papers, cooing all the while, "Ah monsieur, nous sommes si desoles, dommage, quel catastrophe!" I'd had a fair slug or two of the brandy by then, but she ushered me upstairs to where the staff had prepared me a room in the family apartment and had already drawn me a hot bath.

So I ended up, traumatised, scratching incessantly, mildly pissed and drinking camomile tea while the family sat around solicitously murmuring soothing words en francais.

I slept for a long time - there may have been something in the tea - and woke to discover that the proprietress had called my office to explain, every item of my clothes had either been laundered or dry-cleaned, the entire floor had been sealed off while the pest control folks were in and had the place fumigated. It turned out that two pigeons had died after climbing through a hole into the roofspace and it was their rotting carcases that had attracted the flies to lay their larvae there. Meanwhile the hole had been sealed when the roof was fixed, but with the pigeons inside.

So there you go folks - is that Edgar Allan Poe enough for you?

And the postscript - I haven't had to pay for accommodation in Paris since, the family remain close friends, but nothing will ever persuade me to stay on the fourth floor, and certainly not in Room 43.

[Stavros]

Now that could indeed be from a David Lynch film! Sounds horrific, but also a rare event. Did you write a song about it?

[robertlouis]

Now that could indeed be from a David Lynch film! Sounds horrific, but also a rare event. Did you write a song about it?

Yup. Sold it to Alice Cooper..... :banana: