About Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is a luxurious landmark of the golden age of tinsel town. Opened in 1927 by Hollywood elite, it catered to east coast celebrities that were working on movies on the left coast. Such notable celebrities as Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, Shirley Temple, Clark Gable and many others have some connection to the hotel. The Hotel’s Blossom Room was the site of the first Academy Awards. It began a steady decline (with most of the surrounding area of Hollywood) starting the in the 1950s. It even came close to being demolished. Its renovation sparked a revival on the Hollywood strip and it still stands proudly near Mann’s Chinese Theater.
Two celebrity ghosts are said to inhabit the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
Montgomery Clift is said to haunt room 928 where he stayed while filming From Here to Eternity. Guest have heard someone moving around.
Marylin Monroe is said to haunt the full length mirror that was once in here suite. The mirror has been moved several times, and is now located near the gift shop. She can sometimes be seen in the reflection of the mirror (There is a relief sculpture of her on the wall, but that doesn’t count). I have heard that the mirror once hung in her poolside suite, and suite 1200 (since suite 1200 is on the 12th floor, I don’t think that that can be quite “poolside”)
There is also supposed to be a cold spot in the “Blossom Room.” I tried to find it, but I could not. The room was being set up for a new years celebration at the time, so I did not have as much access as I would have liked.
My wife insists we had two ghostly encounters ourselves. As we were checking out the twelfth floor we passed by a linen closet that was open. The light apparently turned on by itself as we passed. I say faulty wiring, she says it could be a spectral presence. We had brought some Minute Maid lemonade in cans up from our car one night. In the morning both were open. She did not remember opening any, and I remember only opening one. She says the ghosts were thirsty, I say we just have bad memories.
Very nice hotel. We were upgraded to a suite, which was nice. We really liked our room. Room service prices were as usual pretty high, but not completely astronomical. We received a copy of the newspaper on the door every morning, and the valet service was quick and efficient. We did not have a lot of time to use the pool and other facilities, but what we saw we liked. The area around the pool does look a little more like a motel than a nice hotel, but the rest of the ground floor had a good classic-golden-age-of-Hollywood feel. It is very close to prominent Hollywood attractions such as Mann’s Chinese Theater and the walk of fame.