Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel

Financed by Hollywood’s royalty--Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, the Roosevelt Hotel, opened its doors in 1927. 

This hotel’s ballroom called The Blossom Room hosted the first two Academy Awards ceremonies in 1929-30. During Hollywood’s Golden era the Roosevelt became the playground for many famous Hollywood stars.

When hauntings are mentioned in connection to this hotel located on Hollywood Boulevard what comes to mind first is the infamous mirror that once hung in Suite 1200, where Marilyn Monroe stayed when she was at the hotel.

This mirror, after Monroe’s death, was moved to the hotel manager’s office. An employee while dusting it spotted what she described as “a sad blonde lady” reflected as well as her own image. 

She turned around only to find she was the only one in the room. When she turned back to the mirror, the sad lady was still there. Today this mirror hangs near an elevator foyer in the lobby.

Unsuspecting guests who stop to straighten their hair, or check their make-up sometimes get a glimpse of this sad lady.

Another famous star that has been seen at the Roosevelt is Montgomery Clift. While making From Here to Eternity Clift stayed in Room 928. To this day, this room and the hallway around it are considered haunted. 

Maids state that they often feel as if they are being watched while on the 9^th floor. Clift’s apparition has been seen pacing outside this room in the hallway, and some have even reported hearing him playing “ a bugle.” This is the instrument his character played in the film.

Inside Room 928, one maid was shoved into a closet by unseen hands. 

One couple who stayed in this room was reading in bed as her husband slept beside her. She felt a gentle tapping on her shoulder and turned to say goodnight to her husband only to discover he was sound asleep.

Peter James, a psychic who investigated the hotel in the 1990s, stayed in this room and reported afterward that he felt angry energy in the room. 

At one point in the middle of the night, as he lay in bed, he spotted Clift’s apparition sitting on a corner chair. This apparition watched him for thirty minutes and then got up and headed for the bathroom at which point it disappeared.

It is stated that Carole Lombard haunts the hotel’s 12^th floor. It was on this floor. where she and Clark Gable stayed when at the Roosevelt.

The ballroom at the hotel is considered haunted as well. There is a distinct large cold spot in this room that remains in the same area and is always at least ten degrees cooler than the rest of the room.

Blossom Room

One ghost connected to this ballroom is a man who wears a tuxedo. One psychic who investigated this area stated this ghost gives off a very anxious vibe. 

Because of this, some speculate this ghost is probably the spirit of a person who attended the first Academy Awards ceremonies held in this room.

Another couple staying at the Roosevelt one evening, heard piano music coming from the ballroom. They approached a balcony that overlooks the room and saw a man standing near the piano wearing a white suit. When they spoke to him, he didn’t respond. They were then shocked to see him just vanish where he stood.

Hotel security guards, on their security cameras, have seen both in the early morning and late at night, a ghost swimming in the pool. When they go to investigate no one is in the pool or near it. 

On one occasion, one guard stayed to monitor the screen, and the other went to the pool. The guard at the pool waved to the camera indicating he saw no one but the other guard saw his waving hands on the monitor pass right through the ghosts’ head.

A front desk receptionist, working the graveyard shift was surprised to see a female child singing and skipping around the hotel lobby’s fountain in the middle of the night. This very young girl was wearing a pink jacket and had her hair tied back in a ponytail. This child then just vanished as the female employee watched.

Peter James, during his investigation at the Roosevelt, claimed to talk to this same little girl. She told him her name is Caroline and that she is sad because she cannot find her mother.

In the early 1980s, this hotel was given a 12 million dollar facelift. This renovation stirred up the ghostly activity.