| Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel | |
|---|---|
| L.A. Historic-Cultural Monument #545 | |
| Location: | 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California |
| Coordinates: | |
| Built/Founded: | 1927 |
| Designated as LAHCM: | 1991[1] |
| Governing body: | private |
The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is a historic Spanish-style hotel located at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Named after Theodore Roosevelt and financed by a group including Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Louis B. Mayer, it first opened its doors on May 15, 1927. It cost $2.5 million ($31.6 million in today's money or dollars) to complete this twelve-story building which holds 300 rooms and suites. It is now managed by Thompson Hotels.
Following a major renovation in 2005 which was overseen by Dodd Mitchell, The Hollywood Roosevelt has been more prominently featured in films and in Hollywood nightlife. There has been a recent surge in popularity within young Hollywood in the last few years, thanks to trendy nightclub Teddy's, which is located in the main lobby of the hotel.[2][3]
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The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel hosted the presentation of the 1st Academy Awards in 1929 inside its Blossom ballroom. Later ceremonies were much larger than this banquet for 250, so there was never an attempt to host the awards at the hotel a second time.
Frances Farmer was the guest of honor in the early 1950s after appearing on This Is Your Life. Marilyn Monroe was a resident at the Hollywood Roosevelt for two years when her modeling career took off. Her first magazine shoot was taken on the diving board on the pool behind the hotel, which was recently removed. The hotel's remodeled pool contains an underwater mural painted by David Hockney.[4]
Marilyn Monroe stayed in Cabana Suite 229, which overlooked the pool. A mirror which once hung in her room, now in storage following hotel renovations, is said to be haunted by her spirit. Employees still see a blonde woman staring at them when the look into the mirror.
The 9th floor has been known to feature apparitions, sounds, and cold spots. Many employees have claimed to see a man in a suite turn the corner and walk out of the emergency exit. They try to speak with the man, but he will not even look at them. At night, guests claim there are disturbing loud footsteps, and noises that sound like they are from the trumpet. Some people have thought that these claims may be linked to Montgomery Clift, who lived at the Hollywood Roosevelt, in room 928 for three months while filming "From Here to Eternity" in 1953. Clift used to walk up and down the 9th floor playing his trumpet and rehearsing his lines. Room 928 has also been claimed to be haunted. Things have been moved around from guest's belongings without them doing anything. One lady claimed that she woke up in the middle of the night and saw a man in a top hat and suit sitting on her suitcase, looking out the window. She simply ignored him, thinking to herself that she was imagining things, and went back to sleep. When she woke up and called for help to bring her suitcase back down to her car, she turned around to see that the contents of her suitcase, which had been packed at night, were scattered around the room. Could this be Clift trying to send her a message?
Cabana Suite 213 is claimed by many paranormal investigators to be one of the most haunted and filled with activity. According to the front desk employees, there are a steady stream of people who check out of this room in the middle of the night, all saying the same thing: "There is something that just isn't right with that room." So far, about ten people to have claimed seeing a man with no head coming at them. Also, there have been claims that the TV randomly turns on and off on its own, the coffee maker starts doing strange things, and the sink goes on and off. Paranormal investigators have also picked up strange voices in recordings screaming that "Someone died here!' or "Turn around".
Some of the most common supernatural sightings occur in the Blossom Ballroom. In one corner of the ballroom, many people claim to have heard voices, and feeling cold spots. Others have seen apparitions of people dancing around the ballroom, and on the walls. A number of people have claimed to have seen Marilyn Monroe in the ballroom, dancing or posing. In the top balcony of the Blossom Ballroom, paranormal investigators and experts claim that there is a portal. There has been many pictures taken there that have shown orbs and apparitions.
Clark Gable and Carole Lombard paid five dollars a night for their penthouse;[5] it is now named the Gable & Lombard Penthouse. There is also a Marilyn Monroe Suite at the hotel.
Other notable residents and guests of the hotel have included Ryan Adams,[6] Ryan Avery, Lew Ayres, Clara Bow, Charlie Chaplin, Kirsten Dunst, Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn, Judy Garland, Topher Grace, Cary Grant, Johnny Grant,[7] Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Hefner, Paris Hilton, Scarlett Johansson, Al Jolson, Harold Lloyd, Lindsay Lohan, Travis Carroll, Eva Longoria, Courtney Love, Mary Martin, Eva Mendes, Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Manson, David Niven, Chris Jericho, Mary Pickford, Prince, Nicole Richie, Bill Robinson, Will Rogers, Frank Sinatra, Will Smith, Gloria Swanson, Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley Temple, Bruce Willis, Christopher Bennett, Will Ferrell, Miranda Cosgrove, Demi Lovato, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Stephen and Jayne Watt and Faith Wladyka.
| Preceded by No previous Academy Awards |
Venues of Oscars 1929 |
Succeeded by The Ambassador Hotel Los Angeles |
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