Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel

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Spirits of the prominent and the ordinary haven’t checked out.

Some are possessive, some are willing to share, and others are on
a mission they cannot fulfill.

 

DESCRIPTION

The Hollywood Roosevelt is described as a Spanish Colonial Revival-styled boutique hotel that rivals any of the upper scale hotels in Los Angeles. It is managed by Thompson Hotels.

roosevelt-paranormalGuests walk into a two-story lobby that is decorated in a rich Spanish style featuring hand-painted beams. The Hollywood Roosevelt today offers a wonderful mix of historical features and cutting edge amenities, that sometimes come along with an extra fee. Some of the pricey perks include: baby-sitting, in-room wifi, cooked-to-order breakfasts, water, in room honor bar, snacks, fitness center, massages and body treatments, Spa Services, Dry Cleaning/Laundry, Safe-deposit box, a rooftop terrance, and many more.

One perk that is popular with upper-income young people (21-30) is the hotel’s trendy nightclub, TEDDY’S. Another draw for this age group are pool parties that a person can buy a ticket to attend.

There are 300 guest rooms and suites, offering a variety of choices. The Hollywood Roosevelt also has 25,000 square feet of conference space and meeting rooms.

Its ballroom (called the Blossom Room) is a popular place for receptions and social events of all kinds, as it has been since 12 story hotel opened. The first two Academy Award banquets were held in the Blossom Room. Many other notable events have been held there too.

 

HISTORY

Named after President Teddy Roosevelt, this luxury hotel was built for the rich and famous: the biggest and brightest Hollywood stars. The Hotel’s Spanish Colonial Revival style was designed by architects Fisher, Lake & Traver.

It was financed by movie stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, and movie mogul Louie B Mayer, among others, at a cost of 2.5 million dollars, which was quite a chunk of change in 1927.

Its grand opening was held on May 15th of that year and offered everything that could possibly please people who expected perks and amenities due to their fame and social class.

Among the many movie stars who stayed there were Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable and Carol Lombard, including the stable of actors and actresses that worked for Louie B Mayer’s film studio.

Some actors and actresses stayed there for a period of time on their way up the ladder of success.

Marilyn Monroe was a resident guest for two years when her modeling career soared. Her first magazine photos were taken pool-side at The Roosevelt Hotel.

In 1952, Montgomery Clift stayed in room 928 while filming the movie, “From Here to Eternity.” While he was there he learned his lines and honed his trumpet skills for this hit film. He received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor. Surely, this was one of the highlights of his life.

But by 1984, The Roosevelt Hotel had become a fixer-upper opportunity. Fortunately its owners stepped up to the plate, and spent a boatload of money, providing a 12-million dollar restoration/renovation budget to save this grand old Hollywood Dame of a hotel. Once more she was a glorious, elegant, historical presence in tinseltown, with modern amenities and perks that the well-to-do enjoy.

New artistic beauty has also been added to the Roosevelt. According to the hotel’s website: “In 1988, British painter David Hockney completed a multi-million dollar mural painted on the bottom of the Tropicana Pool, which has since been hailed as one of Los Angeles’s greatest artistic and architectural marvels. Both the hotel and the pool have been designated Historic-Cultural Monuments by the City’s Cultural heritage Commission.”

In 2005, another major renovation was completed (overseen by Dodd Mitchell). The spirit people who stay here seem to approve of the changes, and continue to enjoy their afterlife.

 

HISTORY OF MANIFESTATIONS

When children die, they are sometimes restless and continue to look for their parents in the last place they saw them while alive.

Monteleone Hotel, LA (A young boy died of a disease and is still looking for his parents amongst the guests).

Old Faithful Inn, WY (The spirit of a little boy who drowned in the lake is breaking the hearts of living guests when he tearfully asks them where his parents are).

Bodie, CA (A young girl was killed accidentally in an accident, and she is still looking for her family, in a notably cheerful way).

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, CA (A little girl spirit who plays here still is looking for her mother).

 

People with emotional and physical problems in this world that lead to death, are sometimes restless when they enter the spirit world. Sometimes, they seek peace by staying in a place where they had success, reliving their memories so they can try to let go of the other failures of their lives.

DuPont Mansion, KY (The spirit of Alfred Victor DuPont has remorse for his denial of his love child and looks for the child in the park. He still has an eye for living ladies, giving them unwanted attention in the family home).

Myrtles Plantation House, LA (A house slave named Chloe, who lost her ear when her master cut it off, baked a birthday cake laced with poison, in hopes of making the children and her mistress sick, but they died instead. Chloe was hung from a tree as punishment. Her spirit is still looking for her mistress, to ask for forgiveness and leniency).

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, CA (The spirits of Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift have found peace here, trying to work out their issues in this favorite place of theirs).

Marilyn Monroe was a troubled, unhappy soul while alive. She used sex, pills and alcohol to ease her deep-seated emotional pain, a result of the unfortunate up-bringing she experienced in a loveless childhood. She needed to see a therapist, but never got help. She accidentally overdosed on pills and alcohol and died suddenly, not able to find a way to work out her pain in this world.

Montgomery Clift was a troubled but talented method actor who fell out of favor with Hollywood because of his addiction to pain killers and alcohol. He first started to self-medicate lightly to control his intestinal issues. He started to use them heavily after his 1958 car accident. This drug use affected his ability to show up for filming, and to learn his lines.

Montgomery Clift died suddenly, right before he was to begin work on a big studio film, “Reflections in a Golden Eye,” with Elizabeth Taylor (who had put her salary up as collateral, as a promise that he would be reliable and show up for filming.) Montgomery accepted a role in the European film, “The Defector,” to prove to the studio and to Elizabeth that he could be a reliable actor.

 

Restorations of historical buildings can act like an environmental trigger that activates spirit people who in life were residents, owners, employees and guests. They are drawn back to the places they loved while alive. This is especially true of spirits who were troubled in life, and are now restless. They try to remember their good times wherever they spend their afterlives.

Gold Hill Hotel, NV (When this Virginia City historic hotel was restored to its former glory, spirits celebrated by becoming active there).

Menger Hotel, TX (Besides being a draw for past spectral patrons, the Menger draws spirits who died fighting for independence from Mexico, and have checked in for a rest, and to gain some peace, as the hotel was built on part of the Alamo battlefield).

Geiser Grand Hotel, OR (When this really creaky establishment was renovated and restored to its former glory, spirits attached to it were very enthusiastic and appeared to workers to cheer them on!).

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, CA (After the 1984 restoration/renovation face-lift here, spirits became very active, ready to move back in with living guests, who wish to experience elegance and history. They look for the peace and memories of enjoyment they had here in life. Others participate in the amenities offered, like a swim in the pool!)

One such happy guest is the spirit of Carol Lombard.

 

MANIFESTATIONS

While many guests of this grand hotel are completely unaware of the ghostly clientele, there are quite a few unseen entities here, unable to find peace needed to go to the other side.

The Entity of Montgomery Clift

His restless spirit has come back for an extended stay.

He has been active in his old room 928, and in the hallway outside his room.

Personal Appearances

He has been seen by witnesses.

His apparition has been seen pacing the hallway of the 9th floor.

He also practices his trumpet in the hallway.

He has also appeared in his old room.

As An Unseen Presence

Clift’s unseen presence has been felt and experienced, in and around room 928.

Some maids have felt something cold brush by them in that room.

Other maids have felt a presence watching them, or felt a presence walking beside them.

Personal Experiences

Some people who have spent the night in room 928 have experienced the full sports package of paranormal activity.

While her husband slept in the bed, a wife lay in bed reading. Someone gently patted her shoulder. Thinking it was her husband, she turned to say goodnight but was startled to see him completely asleep.

Psychic Peter James decided to spend the night in room 928. As he stood in the hallway outside the door, he felt a flood of angry vibes coming from the room. He went to sleep in the bed around 2:00 AM.

He woke up, and felt like an unseen presence was lying on top of him, so he couldn’t move. He managed to take a deep breath, and was able to lift the weight off him with one arm. He was finally able to go back to sleep. I wonder why Peter didn’t bolt for the door, like an average person would? Perhaps, Montgomery was trying to communicate his frustration in a real way about how peace eludes him, even here.

Peter woke up a few hours later, and saw the shadowy apparition of Clift Montgomery in a chair in the corner of his room, just sitting there and watching Peter for about 30 minutes. Then, he got up and walked toward the bathroom and disappeared.

The Spirit of Marilyn Monroe

She stayed at the Roosevelt Hotel during a happy time in her life when her modeling career was taking off. The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is one of the places that she visits to try to find some peace.

She is still enjoying her old suite 1200, gladly sharing her space with the living. She still likes to take comfort in her beauty and appeal, two things the negative influences in her childhood couldn’t take from her.

Guests and staff have seen her in mirrors around the hotel. A mirror that used to be in Marilyn’s old suite 1200 is notorious for reflecting her spirit, as one employee of the hotel found out.

When this employee was dusting this mirror, which was hanging in the manager’s office at the time, she saw the reflection of a sad, blonde woman. Turning around to talk to her, the employee found no one was there. Yet, when she looked back into the mirror, the blonde was still there. The mirror is sometimes on display in the lower elevator foyer.

The Spirit of a Five year old Caroline

In the early morning hours, S=she has appeared in the main lobby area, looking like a real child.

Caroline wears jeans with a pink jacket, and has her hair tied up in a pony tail.

She likes to skip around the lobby, singing. Imagine the surprise she provoked when she disappeared right before a receptionist, who thought she was alive!

In 1992, psychic Peter James first encountered Caroline in the Academy Room, where she told him her name and that she was looking for her mother. During a second investigation, Peter found her again in the Penthouse Library, crying, worried that her mother may be hurt. He comforted her, and she disappeared.

Dressed To Win

A male entity, dressed in a tux, radiates anxiety in The Blossom Ballroom.

He isn’t always seen, but there is a cold spot, about 30 inches in diameter, which witnesses say us about 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the room.

Psychics report that this entity was in attendance at one of the original Academy Awards banquets, and was nominated for an award. Perhaps he is trying to work through his disappointment at not winning, as he can’t let go of this world just yet.

The Entertainer

This male entity in a white suit still entertains the living in The Blossom Ballroom.

While strolling on the mezzanine, guests have heard the piano being played in the Blossom Ballroom.

When they look over the balcony, they see a man wearing a white suit at the piano who disappears when noticed by the living.

Enjoying the Pool and Mirrors

Security guards have seen what they thought was a person swimming in the pool on security cameras both very late at night, and in the wee hours of the morning, when the pool is closed for the living guests.

When a guard goes to get this person out of the pool, there is no one visible there.

On one occasion, this poolside guard communicated on his walkie-talkie to report this, and waved his hands at the camera.

However, on the security camera, another guard saw that the poolside guard was waving his hands through the apparition’s head. The apparition had obediently gotten out of the pool and was standing right next to the guard there.

Besides the Entity of Marilyn Monroe, other entities enjoy looking at themselves in the mirrors of The Roosevelt Hotel.

Tease for Privacy

The Roosevelt Hotel spirit-people get their chuckles at the expense of guests, from time to time, when they want privacy.

Guests have been locked out of their own rooms, when their doors were mysteriously locked from the inside.

A maid was pushed into a closet by an unseen presence.

Attempts to film the known haunted places in the hotel have been foiled by unexplainable electrical failure, etc.

Unknown Spectral Guests

Spirits often stay in empty rooms.

The switchboard will get calls from empty rooms, perhaps wanting service.

Phone are lifted off their receivers in empty rooms.

Disembodied voices are heard coming from empty rooms, and the sounds of nonexistent children playing in the hallways have been reported by other guests.

PARANORMAL FINDINGS

HollywoodGuests, staff and paranormal experts, both psychic and science-oriented paranormal groups, have had personal experiences at the hotel for years.

MS Negri of South Jersey Ghost Research shared what they caught at the Hollywood Roosevelt in a National Geographic article: “Ghost Stories Scare Up New Life at Historic Hotels.”

One EVP was very interesting. “I once asked a spirit at the Roosevelt why she was there, and the ghost responded, ‘It is a hotel, isn’t it?'” says Negri.

From his experience with the spirit of Montgomery, Psychic Peter James has come to the conclusion that he is restless and stuck here, unable to find the peace he is seeking. He is still frustrated at being so close to a film comeback, and actually clean and sober enough to act once again, but forever deceased from abusing drugs and alcohol.

Psychic Peter James has had two personal communications with Caroline and Montgomery Clift. He also felt a very cold spot near the Academy Room, that he called a “tubular shaft,”a doorway used by visiting spirit people who love The Roosevelt Hotel.

Lisa of Contact Research Investigation Specialists [CRIS] recorded an EVP in Marilyn’s old suite, “Help Me!” They conducted a paranormal investigation with Para-psychologist Dr. Barry Taft.

 

STILL HAUNTED?

Definitely so!

Other restless spirits stay for other reasons. Peter James got the distinct impression that Clift was trapped here, unable to find the peace he seeks. Caroline is on a quest to find her mother. Marilyn Monroe seeks the peace of an earlier time in her life, before she made some bad choices that eventually took her life too soon. Strong emotions keep other spirits stuck because they can’t let go and go to the other side. Other former guests, like Carol Lombard enjoy their memories of staying here while alive.

LOCATION

7000 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90028
(323) 856-1970
http://www.thehollywoodroosevelt.com/

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is a four star hotel located in the heart of historic Hollywood, on Hollywood Boulevard, just steps away from the TCL Chinese Theater and Dolby Theater. It is also close to The Hollywood Bowl and Hollywood Walk of Fame.

 

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