For travelers interested in the paranormal or celebrities, Los Angeles is the place to visit. With its rich history of fame, glamor and young lives cut tragically short, the lore of the City of Angels includes tales of celebrities who never left Tinseltown despite their untimely deaths. The L.A. area offers many hotels rumored to haunted, historic lodgings where believers flock to experience the paranormal first-hand, and maybe even catch a glimpse of a long-dead star.
The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel opened in 1927 and the site of the first two Academy Award ceremonies. The Roosevelt is rumored to be haunted by the spirit of none other than Marilyn Monroe. According to The Daily Mail, guests and staff have reported seeing Monroe's reflection in a mirror in her namesake suite, where she lived for two years. Also, according to a Travels.com article, legend has it that famous Hollywood actor Montgomery Clift, who shot the classic film "From Here To Eternity" at the Roosevelt, inhabits room 928.
The Hollywood Roosevelt
7000 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
323-466-7000
hollywoodroosevelt.com
Another L.A.-area paranormal hotspot is Long Beach's Queen Mary. Once a majestic ocean liner, the Queen Mary was transformed into a permanently docked hotel in 1967. Several ghosts reportedly haunt this hotel, including a young woman in a white dress, a man in a 1930s-era suit, and a young sailor killed in a long-ago fire. According to the Daily Mail, "so many disturbances have been reported in cabin B340 that it is no longer rented out."
Queen Mary
1126 Queens Highway
P.O. Box 1100
Long Beach, CA 90802
800-437-2934
queenmary.com
The Hotel Figueroa was established in 1925 and was once a YWCA residence; today, it serves as "one of downtown Los Angeles' best budget hotels," according to travel web site Legends of America. Legend says that while the identity of Figueroa's resident spirit is unknown, guests report a number of strange occurrences, including TVs turning on by themselves in the night, strange noises emanating from hallways and rooms, and an elevator that stops on floors where no guests, at least none of this world, are waiting when the doors open.
Figueroa Hotel
39 S Figueroa St.
Los Angeles, CA 90015
800-421-9092
figueroahotel.com
Santa Monica's Georgian Hotel, built in 1933 and originally named The Lady Windemere, was designed as intimate getaway for Hollywood's elite, according to Legends of America. During prohibition, the Georgian boasted one of the city's first speakeasies, which became the meeting point for Hollywood studio executives and celebrities like Clark Gable and Fatty Arbuckle. Today, staff and guests report strange phenomena--including voices, footsteps and apparitions--occurring in the hotel restaurant, which once served as the speakeasy.
The Georgian Hotel
1415 Ocean Ave.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
800-538-8147
georgianhotel.com
The secluded Chateau Marmont in Hollywood has long been home to celebrity guests known for their rowdy behavior, according to a TravelandLeisure.com article. Howard Hughes once used binoculars to spy on ladies at the pool, and The Doors' Jim Morrison, drunk and high on cocaine, once fell off the Chateau rooftop. The Chateau's resident poltergeist doesn't appear to be that of any specific celebrity, but its behavior, which includes crawling into bed with female guests, seems in the spirit of the hotel's notoriously degenerate clientele.
Chateau Marmont
8221 Sunset Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90046
323-656-1010
chateaumarmont.com
