Random Strange History Of Los Angeles's Most Infamous Hotels (12 items)

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  (#5) Tropicana Motel

  • Location

  At one time owned by Sandy Koufax, the Tropicana Motel did not have much going for it esthetically, but it made up for it with amazing clientele. Located in West Hollywood on the corner of Santa Monica and West Knoll, it was just a hop, skip, and jump down the road from the Troubadour. As a result, just about every rock band from the '60s through the late '70s set up camp at the famed budget motel. Jim Morrison was often there. Led Zeppelin and the Mamas and the Papas were frequent guests.Tom Waits was a long-term resident. He even broke off a section of the kitchen counter so he could move a piano into the kitchen. The Clash and Blondie had memorable visits. The motel’s restaurant, Duke’s, was a late-night hangout for the after hours crowd. Unfortunately, the location was too good, and it all came to an end in 1987 when the wrecking ball cleared the way for a new and bigger Ramada. 
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  (#1) Knickerbocker Hotel

  • Accommodation

  The Knickerbocker Hotel opened in Hollywood in July of 1929. Famed architect EM Frasier designed the hotel in the Spanish Colonial Style, and it immediately attracted the film industry’s elite. It was perhaps best known for two things – its world class bar, the Lido Room, which hosted live Tango music, and the lobby’s chandelier. The light fixture cost a reported $120,000 in 1925. 

  The Knickerbocker had a lot of ups and downs. It began as one of the hippest hotels in town and hosted celebrities Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe on their honeymoon. However, there are reports of Monroe’s ghost haunting the lobby. Elvis stayed at the Knickerbocker while filming his first movie, Love Me Tender. In some of the more "down" moments for the hotel, director DW Griffith had a stroke in his room at the hotel and died shortly thereafter, and Frances Farmer was dragged kicking and screaming while in a manic stupor from the hotel, institutionalized the next day. Irene Lentz, a costume designer who was deeply bereaved by the death of Gary Cooper, committed suicide by jumping from the building. In the 1960s, the neighborhood began to decline, and the hotel was converted to a Senior Living home. 

  Today, it is best remembered for its association with Harry Houdini. When Houdini died in 1926, he promised his wife Bess that he would visit her from beyond if it were possible. Bess held a séance on Halloween for 10 consecutive years. The tenth and final year was a media sensation – even the Los Angeles Times covered it. The seance was on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel. That night, Houdini failed to reach out to the gathered. As the séance disbanded and the guests began to mingle, the sky opened up and thunder and lightning rained down. They all rushed inside for cover. The next day, they discovered that it did not rain anywhere else in Los Angeles. 
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  (#12) Chateau Marmont Hotel

  • Accommodation

  The Chateau Marmont opened in February of 1929, but it was originally an exclusive apartment building. However, the high rent kept occupancy down during the Depression, and it was sold and converted to a hotel. The fortress-like appearance, large suites, and thick walls made the Chateau Marmont ideal for Hollywood stars of the 1930s to misbehave in during the Motion Picture Code days. The Chateau values its guests' privacy, and employees are sworn to secrecy, but there are thousands of rumors swirling around. It's been said that Howard Hughes peeped on beach bunnies from his room. Jim Morrison once jumped off the roof – so high at the time that he walked away just fine. John Belushi overdosed and died in his suite. More recently, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears have called the place home during their darker days.
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  (#4) Hotel Alexandria

  • Location

  The Hotel Alexandria is located in downtown Los Angeles. It opened in February 1906 and was the nicest hotel in Los Angeles before the Biltmore was built. The Alexandria was so popular that a second building was built, and then a neighboring wing was added. The added wing was on the adjacent property and owned by William Chick. He built the building to connect to the Alexandria – the hallways from the original building were extended onto his new addition, and the add-on rooms were handled just like the rest; the guests checked in at the front desk as usual, etc. 

  In 1938, ownership changed hands, and the hotel became the property of Phil Goldstone . At the time, the add-on wing was owned by William Chick’s daughter. They argued over finances, and Goldstone eventually sent in bricklayers to seal off the original hotel from the Chicks' building. William Chick never planned on running his rooms separately from the main hotel, so there was no lobby or check-in for the wing. To make matters worse, there weren't even stairs connecting the sealed-off floors to each other, and there was no retail space on the ground floor. The phantom wing was completely cut off from the outside world and lay undisturbed until 2012, when it was finally bought and converted to condos.
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  (#11) Hotel Normandie

  • Art Deco

  The Hotel Normandie is best remembered for its association with the novel Under The Volcano. Malcolm Lowry wrote much of his masterpiece during his stay. As Los Angeles continued expanding west, the Normandie fell on hard times. It was remodeled countless times, usually for the worse, and it passed from owner to owner, eventually becoming a long-term single unit residency. Then, in 2010, it was reopened as the country's first cannabis-friendly hotel. It was sold again and remodeled back to its former glory in 2012 and is once again a regular hotel.
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  (#8) Biltmore Hotel

  • Place

  The Biltmore is perhaps Los Angeles’ most elegant hotel. It certainly was upon its opening in 1923. Designed by architectural firm Schultze and Weaver, the building is a synthesis of Italian and Greek Renaissance, with touches of Moorish flavor. It is all designed to pay homage to California’s Castillian heritage. It is a striking building with countless ballrooms and extravagant lobbies. In the Biltmore, the beauty is in the details – gold, vaulted ceilings, frescoes, an ocean-liner-inspired pool and spa. 

  Many of Los Angeles’ great historic hotels went into decline during Prohibition and the Depression. The Biltmore, however, continued on its merry way thanks to its infamous “speakeasy,” the Gold Room. It’s hard to consider it an actual speakeasy when there were double-sided mirrors for the paparazzi. The Gold Room is perhaps the most well-documented speakeasy of its time. The Biltmore’s rich history includes high times like hosting the Academy Awards throughout the '30s and '40s, feeding the crew of Graf Zeppelin on its journey around the world, and hosting the 1960 Democratic National Convention when John F. Kennedy won the primary. In less sunny remembrances, it was also the last place that Elizabeth Short, better known as the Black Dahlia, was seen before her murder in 1947. Troops stayed on the second floor before departing to the Pacific in WWII. Needless to say, many consider the hotel to be extremely haunted.

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