Tag Archives: haunted hotel

The Haunted Radisson Hotel – Tucson

Text –

R – “Okay, so it was May, and I was in Arizona. We (himself and his co-workers) were staying in a hotel because we lived in Glendale Arizona but were in Tuscon for work. I just got off of work and went to go take a shower. I shower, hop out grab a towel, look in the mirror and all I see is a little girl staring back at me. She had blonde hair and was wearing a blue shirt. I could see it vividly. Then I wiped my face and eyes and she was gone. I went downstairs to the desk and asked if this hotel was haunted. The worker said he didn’t think so, so I followed up asking if someone had died in the hotel. The worker then said plenty of people had died in this hotel, so I asked if a little girl died in the hotel. The worker said no just older people. So, I asked if there were any murders and the worker quickly said that he could not answer the question. I looked it up and found out that a lot of workers have reported hearing child-like giggling when alone.”

Interviewer – “What did you do after that incident?”

R – “Of course, I slept in my coworker’s room because I am not dealing with that.”

Context –

This story occurs in The Radisson in Tucson Arizona a few years back. R, 29, is originally from Washington State but has since moved to numerous states and countries due to being in the Air Force. This story takes place during one of his work trips for the Air Force.

Analysis –

After hearing about this encounter, I researched The Radisson Hotel in Tucson and found plenty of recounts of paranormal occurrences and murders. Others have encountered similar experiences including TVs and lights chaotically flickering like someone is playing with them, or crying sounds heard in the ballroom. However, I was not able to find a claim that fully supports R’s event of a little girl. Despite not finding exact matching claims I think that R was speaking his truth about the situation due to him normally being a paranormal skeptic and similar stories.

Hotel Cecil and Elisa Lam

Context:
The informant is a 20 year old female college student at USC. The performance took place in her dorm room.

Text:
Informant: About 10 years ago, there was a girl who died in a hotel right around here in downtown LA. The footage of her acting weirdly in the elevator was all over the Internet. Some people said that she was possessed by demon and other said that she’s crazy. Her body was later found in the water tank at the hotel couple months later. I don’t really know if they’ve figured out what happened to her, but people said that the hotel has been haunted ever since.

Analysis:
The death of Elisa Lam is one of the famous unsolved mystery that happened in Los Angeles. The legend of haunted places often occurred after peculiar death or suicide. Because of the Internet, the legend has spread worldwide. The building has been renovated into affordable housing complex to help the local unhoused population, though most of the rooms remain empty (https://www.latimes.com/california/cecil-hotel-housing-vouchers-latt-123). The history of the hotel is extremely bothering, see link https://thecrimewire.com/multifarious/Los-Angeles-Cecil-Hotel. The video mentioned by informant, see link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TjVBpyTeZM (trigger warning: unsettling scene)

The Haunted Hotel Cecil

Main Piece: 

The following is transcribed from a conversation between the informant, identified as BH, and myself, identified as GK.

BH: There is this hotel right by USC called “Hotel Cecil” that is supposedly haunted. There have supposedly been a ton of deaths in the hotel. The one that I can remember, is that there was a woman who was staying there, and she suddenly went missing for two weeks. No one knew where she had gone and the hotel said she never checked out. During this time many of the other hotel guests were complaining about an eery smell in the hallways. They also identified that the water coming out of the sinks and showers was brown. This lead to one of the hotel employees to check out the water tank, which is unreachable for hotel guests. Once they gained access, they found the women’s dead body. 

GK: Did they ever identify the killer

BH: Not that I know of. And it’s weird because the part of the hotel where the body was found is unreachable for guests and most employees.

GK: Have you ever stepped foot in the hotel?

BH: I have but very quickly. I just wanted to check it out while I was in the area. The first thing I noticed was that the lighting in the lobby was very dim. And the emptiness of the lobby was really creepy. I had to step out because I was pretty scared. Even when observing the hotel from the outside, you could detect the ominous presence to it. 

Background: The informant, who is a 24 year old USC graduate, likes this story because he was a film major and really enjoys a good mystery like the one he told me. He had originally heard this story from a friend of his while the two of them were eating dinner at a restaurant a block away from the hotel. He was so intrigued by it, that he read up on it right when he returned home. And eventually went to check the inside of the hotel out himself later on.

Context: The informant and I discussed this story on the way to dinner when we drove past the hotel. 

My Thoughts: This story told by the informant truly intrigued me because I love to hear creepy stories like that. I find it interesting that the hotel is still open today despite the fact that it has a haunted reputation. It also makes me wonder who would stay there. I feel as if some of the people who stay there want want to see if the legend is true. This speaks to a certain curiosity we all have as human beings as some of us want to get out of our comfort zone and possibly experience something that might frighten us. Just like the informant did when he stepped foot in the hotel. I also read an article on it, which talks about some of the other legends that are connected to the hotel. After reading it, a part of me wants to go and check it out myself!

Erickson, Steve. “Spending A Night at the Cecil Hotel, Where Serial Killers and Eerie Deaths Abound Los Angeles Magazine.” Los Angeles Magazine, 28 Oct. 2016, www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/spending-a-night-at-the-cecil-hotel-where-serial-killers-and-eerie-deaths-abound/.

The Lady in White at La Quinta Resort

Context:

The informant is a 45-year-old man and of Mexican ethnicity. The informant is my uncle on my mother’s side. On a trip to Palm Springs, my parents, uncle and aunt, who is referred to as YV in this piece, stayed at the La Quinta Resort for a weekend. On arrival, my uncle experienced something unusual.

Main Piece:

Okay, so we arrived at La Quinta resort at night. We parked curbside about 30 feet from our cottage. Your mum and dad were already inside. YV and I were unloading our bags from the car and I grabbed my things and was walking slowly towards the cottage looking down to the walkway. When I looked forward, I noticed an image of a woman standing near a tree about 40 ft away. She was wearing all white and she had long, black hair. I looked back to see if YV was looking in the same direction, but she was still getting her things from the car.  I quickly turned to where I had seen this woman, but she had disappeared. A shiver ran down my spine. I didn’t immediately tell YV of what I had just seen because I had a feeling she’d freak out.  Unbeknownst to me, YV later showed me a coffee mug she bought from hotel as a souvenir.  The woman on the mug is the woman I saw that night. Again, I felt that same shiver run down my back.

Background:

This is a personal experience that my uncle witnessed firsthand. Prior to this experience, he had no knowledge of hauntings or stories surrounding the Resort.

Notes:

There are similar stories told by other guests who have stayed at the resort regarding ghosts and hearing ghostly voices. A security guard working one night claimed to have seen a ghostly woman walking across the tennis courts at the hotel. Many stories describe experiences within the hotel rooms and bungalows. My aunt YV, experienced something in her room the same night my uncle saw the ghost woman. YV’s description matches the descriptions that other guests have had as well.

 

For more accounts of ghostly experiences at the La Quinta Resort, check this out:

La Quinta Resort and Club

The Haunted Hotel del Coronado

Piece:

Interviewer: “Can you try and explain the story of the haunted Hotel del Coronado?”

Informant: “To be honest I’m not sure how much I remember, but Hotel del Coronado is a uhh… historic hotel on Coronado island near San Diego. I’ve been there once as a kid but I mainly remember people around my elementary school saying that it was haunted and that there was some connection to Bloody Mary or something. Maybe there was a girl who went to the hotel and didn’t come back? Anyways, I don’t believe the stories but whenever I hear the song ‘Hotel California’ I think of that hotel in Coronado. There are definitely some lyrics in that song that deal with being haunted, so I’ve always wondered if there is a connection there… Probably not, but it is interesting to think about.”

Background:

The informant knew about the haunted hotel from his peers in elementary school and his visit to the location. He does not personally believe the stories that it is truly haunted.

Context:

This description came in a phone conversation I had with the informant while we were discussing childhood stories and songs.

Thoughts:

I found the informants connection to the popular Eagles song ‘Hotel California’ very interesting, so I went ahead and researched some of the lyrics of that song, where there were indeed references to not being able to leave the hotel, which is eerily similar to the informants description of the girl never returning from the hotel. While it is unlikely the two are explicitly connected, I think the similarities showcase the archetypal nature of legends like ghost stories and haunted hotels; even if the buildings being discussed are not the same, the stories behind their haunted nature probably stem from a common archetype. Furthermore, I did some research into the legend of the haunted Hotel del Coronado, and found that the hotel itself is even advertising its haunted nature, showcasing how this urban legend has been commercialized in the name of tourism by the hotel itself.

Annotation:

For the “canon” version of the story behind the haunted hotel provided by the hotel’s website, see the hotel’s website:

“Ghostly Goings-On at the Hotel del Coronado.” Hotel del Coronado, Hilton, hoteldel.com/press/ghostly-goings-hotel-del-coronado/. Accessed 23 Apr. 2019.