Is the Cecil Hotel still open? (2023)

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Is the Cecil Hotel still open?

The Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles is one of the most famous hotels in the country, with a sordid history that includes suspicious deaths, unsolved murders and at least two serial killer occupants. For some adventure seekers and ghost hunters, the hotel's past is a draw. But is Cecil still open?

In a word, no, with a caveat. The Cecil Hotel, renamed Stay On Main, is no longer open to guests, but some longtime tenants still lived there a few years ago.

So what exactly is going on with the building? When and why was it closed? The answers require a look back at the hotel's history and location in downtown Los Angeles.

The History of the Hotel Cecil

The former hotel at 640 S. Main Street in Los Angeles, California was built in 1924 by W.B. Hanner, a daring hotelier who planned to create one of America's most luxurious boutique destinations. Three years later, it opened as "The Cecil" and had quite a glamorous reputation until the Great Depression, when the hotel began a dramatic decline.

suicides and murders

A series of gruesome suicides took place in Cecil from the 1930s to the 1960s. This included guests slitting their throats, jumping out of windows and poisoning themselves. There have also been several murders, the most notorious being the most brutal unsolved murder of Goldie Osgood in 1964.

Over decades, the cumulative impact of these disturbing tragedies eroded Cecil's reputation and earnings.

Elizabeth Short, The Murder Of The Black Dahlia

Another infamous Cecil-related murder is that of Elizabeth Short, who allegedly visited the hotel shortly before her public death.

The story of the Black Dahlia and Cecil Hotel has come to an end.expose, although the place where his mutilated body was found is right next to Main Street. Last but not least, the rumor added to the dark mythology that seemed to curse the once luxurious hotel.

Richard Ramirez, The Night Stalker

If you're the type of person who googles Cecil's story, you're probably also the type of person who knows about her.Ricardo Ramirez🇧🇷 If not, that's the scoop on Ramirez and his connection to Cecil.stayed theresometime during his horrific massacre in Los Angeles, from the spring of 1984 to the summer of 1985.

Serial Killer Jack Unterweger

Speaking of serial killers,Austrian journalist Jack Unterwegerhe also stayed at the hotel in the early 1990s while researching and writing about Los Angeles crime and sex workers.

His tenure at Cecil came just a few years after he was released from an Austrian prison where he was serving a reduced sentence for murder. Once in Los Angeles, he immediately started killing again. His victims were all sex workers.

The mysterious death of Elisa Lam

Perhaps the most famous blow to Cecil's reputation came in early 2013, when one of his guests,Elisa Lam disappearedduring your stay.

After Elisha wasfound deadA few weeks later, in one of the hotel's water tanks, his story spawned countless conspiracy theories, Reddit threads, and YouTube videos, many of which paid little attention to the victim himself.

While some have speculated that Elisa was involved in an assassination attempt with a possible cover-up, others have dissected Lam's state of mind and even invoked paranormal influences. In the end, her death was ruled an accident.

Skid Row and its impact on Cecil

Another aspect of the Cecil Hotel's legacy is its proximity to the Skid Row area of ​​downtown Los Angeles. This area contains one of the largest homeless populations in the country and is generally considered ahumanitarian crisis.

Skid Row is just a few blocks from the Cecil Hotel, creating a downtown environment that is both a bustling business district and a place of extreme poverty. Attempts to control and gentrify the neighborhood paid off for years.ineffective municipal policy, legislation and police.

Though Cecil operated alongside Skid Row for decades, it has continued, transforming its image from a stopover for well-heeled business travelers into an affordable short-term option for commuters. Unfortunately, the 600-room hotel couldn't keep up.

From the lack of air conditioning to a plethora of known security issues, the hotel has gained a reputation for shady behavior and violence. In 2011 it was renamed Stay On Main and remained open as a hotel with a few micro-apartments. Even so, I still got absolutely terrible reviews for customer service on sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor.

bad customer service

Nothing scares me more than poor customer service, especially when it comes to a place to spend the night. And boy, has Cecil ever had bad customer service reviews?

after the majorityTrusted Google Reviews(some of which are just mini-blogs about the Elisa Lam case), the hotel has consistently received negative reviews due to loud parties, thin walls, bed bugs, shared bathrooms, and rooms without air conditioning. If you're like me, the idea of ​​spending the summer in Los Angeles without air conditioning is a real nightmare.

Stay on the main road

What time does Stay On Main close? That's hard to say. In 2008, business developer Fred Cordova took over the hotel, trying to capitalize on the rise of gentrification. But the Great Recession got in the way.

In 2014 the hotel was sold to a new owner and accthose scathing Yelp reviews, appears to have been open to the public until late 2016 or early 2017, whenIt has been designated as a historic landmark.It looks like the hotel officially closed to short-term guests in 2017.

cecil's future

Based in New York since 2015Developer named Simon Baronhad leased the Cecil for 99 years, shifting focus from the stately building to a mixed-use facility. Traditionally, these types of projects have included residential, office, and commercial spaces. But who really knows? Like his past, Cecil's future is full of mystery, intrigue and probably more rumor than fact.

However, in the summer of 2020, I received an email from a reader who said, "I live in a building a few doors down [from Cecil]. Lately, I've been seeing some workers come and go and just walk by. Now there are requests for apartments for $900/month".

LA Laut Curved, construction and renovation plans should be complete by mid-fall 2021 and at least some rooms should be move-in ready, but that hasn't happened. The pandemic slowed efforts, and as of late 2022, the Cecil Hotel was still closed to all but the few longtime residents who lived there.

Hopefully, the next phase of 640 Main Street will prove to be an asset to the businesses and neighborhoods that surround it. Until then, the historic legacy of the Cecil Hotel lives on, even if most of its rooms are dark and empty.

More tempting questions about the Cecil Hotel

Is there a movie by Cecil Hotel or Elisa Lam?

There is no film about Hotel Cecil or Elisa Lam. But there should be. In early 2014, it was announced that a film titledthe bringand loosely based on the death of Elisa Lam, it would be produced by Sony Pictures. However, until 2016The project has been kiboshed.

Why was Cecil Hotel/Elisa Lam The Bringing movie cancelled?

While there's no official word on why exactly the 2016 film project was canceled after it was originally announced back in 2014, there's a good chance that by the time production started, people had had enough of Elisa Lam's story, according to the media and various forums. 🇧🇷 he had tactlessly spread rumors about anything from an assassination conspiracy to a paranormal event.

Is there any documentation about Hotel Cecil?

Yes, there is an Investigation Discovery documentary calledhotel horror a cecil,To dieis available to stream on Amazon🇧🇷 The three-episode series explores the mysterious deaths at the hotel.

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