The Cecil Hotel: Downtown LA's House of Death

Origins and the Fall from Grace

The Cecil Hotel was constructed in 1924 by hotelier William Banks Hanner, who invested $1 million in the 700-room Beaux Arts-style building at 640 South Main Street in downtown Los Angeles. Designed with a marble lobby, stained-glass windows, and imported palm trees, the Cecil was intended as a luxury destination for traveling businesspeople. However, the Great Depression arrived within years of its opening and the hotel never fully recovered. By the 1930s, it had begun its long decline into one of the city's most dangerous addresses, situated in the heart of what would become Skid Row.

A Documented Record of Death

The Cecil's recorded history of tragedy is extensive and well-documented in Los Angeles Times archives. At least 16 deaths — suicides, murders, and unexplained incidents — are on record at the property spanning the 1930s through the 2010s. The hotel's darkest chapter began in the 1980s when Richard Ramirez, the serial killer known as the "Night Stalker" who was convicted of 13 murders, used a top-floor room as his base of operations during his 1984–1985 killing spree. Ramirez was known to return to the hotel after his attacks, discarding bloody clothing in the dumpsters outside.

Jack Unterweger and 1991

In 1991, Austrian writer and convicted murderer Jack Unterweger — released from prison on parole — traveled to Los Angeles specifically to stay at the Cecil, reportedly drawn by its connection to Ramirez. During his stay, Unterweger murdered three women in Los Angeles, strangling each victim with their own bra straps. He was extradited, convicted, and died by suicide in prison. Both Unterweger's choosing of the Cecil and his crimes are thoroughly documented in LAPD case files and international trial transcripts.

The Elisa Lam Mystery (2013)

In February 2013, Elisa Lam, a 21-year-old Canadian student from Vancouver, checked into the Cecil. She disappeared, and three weeks later her naked body was discovered inside one of the rooftop water cisterns — the same tanks supplying water to guest rooms. Before her disappearance, hotel security cameras captured footage of Lam behaving erratically in the hotel elevator: hiding, pressing multiple buttons, and appearing to communicate with someone unseen. The footage was released publicly by LAPD and went viral internationally. The Los Angeles County coroner ruled her death accidental drowning, with bipolar disorder listed as a significant condition. The case was re-examined in the 2021 Netflix documentary series Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel.

The Cecil Today

After multiple rebranding attempts — including a stint as the "Stay on Main" hostel — the Cecil Hotel was converted into an affordable housing complex in December 2021. Despite the change in use, the building's history continues to attract paranormal researchers, historians, and true crime enthusiasts. A 2023 Los Angeles Times investigation documented the building's deteriorating conditions, including mold, water damage, and structural concerns — as if the property's troubled history refuses to stay buried.