On The Plus Side, The Rooms Are Cheap

Whenever I go to Los Angeles, I stay at the Cecil Hotel. It’s walking distance to the convention center that holds E3 and the Spike VGA, and it’s on a couple of bus lines. I really love the faded old-Hollywood glamour in the rundown lobby, there are gorgeous marble columns and an old-fashioned awning over a once-stylish doorway, even if the rooms are bit dorm-like.  I especially love it because now that I’ve stayed there several times, so it feels like “my” hotel.

YOU KNOW WHO ELSE LIKES MY HOTEL? MURDERERS!

I was reading the news yesterday when I saw a creepy headline about a girl’s body found in the water tank at her hotel. I’m usually a bit of a baby about potentially gross articles, but I had to click because the associated photos were familiar pictures of the Cecil. That story led me to other stories about the Cecil’s history, and then to this Slate article about how to tell if you’re staying in a murder hotel. The author actually suggests Googling “Cecil Hotel” and “serial killers”, and then points out that ONE OF THE RESIDENT SERIAL KILLERS didn’t actually kill his victims in the building. Very reassuring.

By the way, don’t actually Google it, or you’ll find this Guardian article listing the people who’ve committed suicide by jumping out windows in the Cecil.

“My” hotel is apparently notorious for unsolved murders, suicides, and serial killers, but I wrote about how annoying it is that you have to walk down to lobby for good wifi reception.