There are plenty of hotels in Los Angeles and it is hardly surprising. After all, the city is visited by many businessmen, tourists, and migrant workers who stay in local inns. Today we will talk about the Cecil Hotel, which reputation is rather controversial. What happened is that over the years of its operation, dozens of guests have died here. Some people perished in an accident, while others became victims of criminals. Many suicides have been recorded there. Read more about the mysterious Cecil Hotel on the website losangeles1.one with the reference to realt.onliner.by.
History of the hotel construction
The Cecil Hotel was decided to be built in downtown Los Angeles. Construction began in 1921 and lasted three years. Three well-known hoteliers invested more than one billion dollars in the project, which was a whole lot of money at that time. The 14-story building had 700 rooms. Los Angeles developed rapidly, and the city needed a modern hotel fund. At first, the hotel was designed for businessmen who often visited the metropolis. However, man proposes and God disposes, because a few years later, the country faced the Great Depression. Wealthy guests became rare visitors. Instead, migrant laborers, looking for seasonal part-time jobs came to the city.
The first tragedy at the hotel
The first tragedy at the Cecil happened in the winter of 1927. A 52-year-old guest shot himself in one of the rooms. He did it because he could not get through the divorce and decided to commit suicide. After this incident, suicides occurred regularly in the hotel. Relatively new Cecil attracted people with existential problems such as divorce, workplace conflicts, financial troubles, etc. Many guests chose to end their life exactly in this establishment. But the hotel is known not only for a number of suicides. Here are some of the events that took place in the Cecil rooms and nearby:
- In 1944, a 19-year-old girl gave birth to a child in the room. She assumed the baby was dead and decided to get rid of the newborn child.
- A double tragedy occurred in 1962. The body of a 27-year-old guy fell on a 65-year-old man who was just passing by the hotel. The guy took his life by jumping from the window on the ninth floor.
- In 1964, a murdered and raped woman was found in one of the suites, which was also robbed. Law enforcement agencies were never able to identify a criminal.
There were scores of such tragic cases. The hotel was also a refuge for the serial killer Richard Ramirez, nicknamed by journalists the “Night Stalker,” who stayed there for several weeks. He is convicted of a couple dozen violent murders.
Attempts to clear the name
All these years, management has tried to restore the hotel’s reputation, but the next murder or suicide shattered all attempts. In 2011, part of Cecil’s building was reconstructed and described as a hotel for young budget tourists. In 2014, hotelier Richard Born purchased the establishment and planned to completely renovate it. The project was appraised at 100 million dollars. Unfortunately, this plan failed due to the development of coronavirus infection.
However, in 2021, the hotel got a new start. It was converted into a municipal housing complex, which opened its doors to low-income residents of Los Angeles. About 600 citizens live in the building. As for the district, new high-rise buildings are gradually appearing here and infrastructure is developing.
The Cecil Hotel is a popular establishment in LA. Still, it is known not for good service or luxurious suites but for the large number of tragedies that happened on its territory.
We hope that this information was useful for you and you learned more about your hometown.