8 Hotel Secret Histories That Are Scarier Than Any Horror Movie

The Crescent Hotel's history literally keeps me up at night if I think about it too long.

Before reading, please be informed that the following depicts accounts of people who committed severe crimes. Mentions of death, murder, SA, and suicide are included. Reader discretion is advised.

1. Congress Plaza Hotel (Chicago, Illinois)

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Adele Langer, a Czech-Jewish refugee, came to America with her two young sons. They checked into the Congress Plaza Hotel in August of 1929, anticipating her husband to soon reunite with them. When weeks passed by and her husband still didn't show, it was reported that Langer was growing more and more stressed along with the inability to find a job. It's said that she pushed her sons from the 12th-story window before jumping out herself. Although, her six-year-old son's body was never carried to the morgue, leaving many to speculate that he remains at the hotel as a ghost.

As of today, Room 1252, where the scene happened, is sealed off from the public as it's said to be "too haunted." It's so haunted that the doorknob was removed and the door traps were glued completely shut. 

2. L'Hôtel d'Alsace (Paris, France)

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In Victorian times, the gay community was often tortured and sentenced under the law. This happened to playwright Oscar Wilde after the UK law found him guilty of having an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas. In 1897, Wilde fled the UK for France, where he booked a room he couldn't afford at L'Hôtel d'Alsace. Sensing his death could be soon, he ordered the most expensive champagne during his stay, claiming that “Alas, I am dying beyond my means.” He later died of acute meningitis in November 1900.

His death provided good publicity for the hotel, which is now simply referred to as L'Hôtel.

3. The Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles, California)

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The Cecil Hotel opened in the 1920s with target customers being international businessmen and middle-class travelers. But, with the hit of the Great Depression in 1929, the Cecil became a place for cheap room rentals for both long-term and short-term tenants. Within the next ten years, four tenants had taken their own lives at the hotel.

The hotel has 14 floors, which explains why there have been at least eight people to fall to their death. Not all of these were proven to be suicides, as some of them could've been "accidental" according to city records. The last person to fall to their death from the building was in 2015.

In September 1944, a 19-year-old woman gave birth to her child in one of the hotel's bathrooms and threw them out the window. She didn't know she was pregnant and thought the child was stillbirth; coroners confirmed they were alive at the time of birth, but the woman received no prison time on reason of insanity. 

On January 9, 1947, Elizabeth Short, known as "The Black Dahlia" went missing. Her body was found six days later brutally mutilated in a lot miles from the hotel. It's never been confirmed, but there were reported sightings of her at the hotel/hotel bar days before.

Serial killer Richard Ramirez paid $14 a night to stay at the Cecil while he was actively on his killing spree. He was known to dispose of his bloody clothes in the hotel dumpster and take the elevator up to his room naked.

On January 26, 2013, Elisa Lam, a traveling Canadian student, stayed in a hostel-style room with roommates at the hotel. There were later comments from them that her behavior was abnormal, so she moved to a single room. She was declared missing by January 31, when she didn't check out or speak with her parents. The only security footage from the hotel showing Lam's whereabouts was a tape showing her scared of something out of frame while on the elevator. Weeks later, other guests complained about the water's taste and color, only for a hotel employee to find Lam's body in a water tank on top of the building. Her death was ruled an accidental drowning.

4. Hotel Saint Vincent (New Orleans, Louisiana)

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Hotel Saint Vincent is over 160 years old, as it was first opened as Saint Vincent's Infant Asylum in 1861. It housed orphaned children during the Civil War, most of whom were never reunited with their parents.

The building operated as a budget hotel in the 1990s before becoming the trendy and eccentric hotel it is today.

5. Chateau Marmont (Hollywood, California)

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During their marriage, Desi Arnaz often cheated on Lucille Ball and every time she found out, he would book a room at the Marmont. This was a regular occurrence, and one time, while the couple was fighting on his suite's terrace, Lucille tossed his suitcase and a ton of money apparently flew out.

In the late 1960s, a newly wedded Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate lived in the hotel before she was pregnant. Once she was pregnant and got closer to her due date, she wanted to move into a better environment for the child. Six months after their move from the hotel, the Manson murders took place.

John Belushi had checked into the hotel in February 1982 and by March 5, he was found unconscious in his room from an overdose. The hotel had its next death in 2004 when fashion photographer Helmut Newton had a heart attack while driving out of the hotel garage and crashed into a wall.

The New York Times published an article in 2017 that detailed the hotel owner, Andre Balazs', involvement in sexual assault cases from the #MeToo movement. They later published articles that pointed to famous photographers, like Mario Testino, using their rooms at the hotel to commit sexual assault.

6. The Stanley Hotel (Estes Park, Colorado)

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The hotel was opened in 1909 by Freelan Oscar Stanley, who found that the mountain air seemed to cure his tuberculosis. Only two years after its opening, the hotel suffered a flood and the power went out. Stanley decided to install a gas lantern in each room so guests had a light, but this caused a gas buildup in Room 217. The head housekeeper, Elizabeth Wilson, had entered the room with a lit candle, starting a huge explosion where she was tossed down to the dining room on the first floor.

Wilson survived and came back to work after she woke up from her coma and continued to work at the hotel until 1950. It's said her spirit is trapped in the hotel and haunts the room. The Stanley Hotel was once visited by Stephen King and his wife, which provided him inspiration for his novel The Shining.

7. Hotel Henry (Buffalo, New York)

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The building was built in 1872 and originally opened as Buffalo NY State Asylum for the Insane in 1880. It was designed to be well-lit with sunlight and have compassionate employees for the patients. But as the facility grew to house hundreds of patients, the living conditions plummeted. It closed as a hospital in the 1970s and later phase one of the hotel remodel went underway. 

It's now an 88-room hotel with wide corridors used for special events.

8. Lastly, The Crescent Hotel (Eureka Springs, Arkansas)

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The Crescent Hotel first opened doors in 1886 as a luxury hotel filled with a large dining hall, swimming pool, lavish furniture, and courts for croquet and tennis. Then from 1908 to 1924, the building was used as Crescent College and Conservatory for Young Women, while still operating as a resort during the summers. After 16 years, the college was forced to close down due to financial problems, but six years later opened up again as a junior college from 1930 to 1934.

It wasn't opened again until 1937 when Norman Baker bought the property to turn it into a cancer hospital and claimed he could make anyone leave "cancer-free." But Baker in fact had no medical training or licenses. He didn't directly kill any patients in his care, but his scam treatments expedited their deaths and worsened their pain.

The hotel went through many owners throughout the next couple of decades until it was bought by Marty and Elise Roenigk who converted the hotel back to its original resort infrastructure and added in a luxury spa.

Do you know of a hotel with a dark or creepy past? Let us know in the comments below!