The Spooky Hotel Cecil Is Set To Reopen Just In Time For Halloween

Recently, Netflix released its latest true crime offering, The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel. It is a four-episode documentary about the sudden disappearance of 21-year-old Elisa Lam, a woman who checked herself into LA's Cecil Hotel and never left. The incident took place in 2013 and spurned an extensive search after her family reported her missing. Two weeks later, Lam's body was discovered in a water tank on the hotel's roof. While many claimed her death was part of a conspiracy, it turns out she ultimately died because she had bipolar disorder and she often went for prolonged periods without medication.

Regardless of the fact, the hotel's image has forever become solidified as L.A.'s deadliest hotel as it reportedly played a part in serial killer Richard Ramirez and the Black Dahlia and has also been alleged to have been the grounds for countless deaths in its rooms. Despite all the terrible press surrounding the hotel, it is still looking forward to making some money by reopening for business later this year. According to Joe, the Netflix docu-series says the Cecil Hotel was rebranded as Stay on Main in 2011 before being sold in 2014, only to close for renovations for a few years.

The hotel was supposed to be completed sometime last year but the pandemic delayed matters considerably. However, several sources say the hotel is ready to be opened for the public by Halloween this year. The hotel is set to include 299 rooms and 264 affordable residential units. The roof, where Lam's body was found has been converted into an amenity for hotel guests with a sprawling pool. At the moment, there is very little direction on whether the hotel is going to be called Cecil, or whether the administration will do a complete rebrand to steer clear of the tragedies. 

Directed by Joe Berlinger, Crime Scene: The Vanishing of Cecil Hotel released for streaming on February 10, reports NME. A synopsis of the show read: "From housing serial killers to untimely deaths, the Cecil Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles is known to many as LA’s deadliest hotel. The latest chapter in Cecil’s dark history involves the mysterious disappearance of college student Elisa Lam." The trailer of the docu-series has received over two million views so far by setting up an intriguing backdrop to tell the story of murders and mysteries at the hotel. As the trailer begins, we hear the manager give us the history of Los Angeles' deadliest hotel, hinting at its dark history. "Is there a room here that somebody hasn’t died in?”

A lot of people who watched the docu series were spooked. "I've watched A LOT of true crime & heard lots of crazy things, but this case literally haunts me, "Theresa C. wrote. "About time they make a documentary about this hotel...", wrote Ashley. "One of the most mysterious deaths in crimes history just doesn’t make any sense at all so I’m pretty keen to check this out," another user added. Another observed that Netflix posted the trailer "on the 8 year anniversary of when Elisa Lam checked into the hotel... January 26, 2013." However, people online are ripping into the series for unnecessarily prolonging it when it could have been done within one episode.