Yikes, if the water has been doing that for years i Hope they checked the other water tanks too. :what:
Here are some reviews (obviously only the bad ones; others were positive) mentioning water issues. Other reviews mention foul smells in the hotel. All the reviews posted here are from before January 2013 (mainly 2011-2012). (More than one on Yelp mentions poo in the hallway. Eek!) I travel a lot and sometimes stay in sketchy areas, so I take reviews with a grain of salt, but I think the comments here are interesting in light of Elisa's case.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g32655-d276208-Reviews-Cecil_Hotel-Los_Angeles_California.html
There was a nasty looking rusty sink in one corner with
awful smelling water
The rooms are very basic, with dated furnishings and bars on the window. It was also evident that a previous stayer had mistaken the wardrobe for a toilet! The shared showers were also poor, with
the tap coming off in my hand and brown water trickling out to begin with...
The staff was friendly all the time and they really try to get better.
Hallways were painted for example while I was there. (Interesting about the paintno idea if it was repainted a different color; this is from October 2012.)
Hot water is the only issue we had.. it took 10 minutes to get it up to us on the 14th floor. Fortunately it was hot which meant a coolish shower was welcoming.
The elevator was s-l-o-w
At 7am, I wanted to use the free internet (probably the only good thing the hotel had to offer) however the doors to get out into the main lobby did not open till 8am. And....
the hot water did not work!
Best choice for youngsters in downtown LA, great location, really nice staff, (mexicans mostly), and great hip atmosphere surrounds the old building. [Not to get on the aggressive Mexican thing, but EL did mention them in general on her Tumblr.]
There are 15 floors and t
he elevator takes a long time in the morning as it stops on every floor. [Randomly interesting about elevator speed]
[This person mentions the vents in the showers, as well as this interesting tidbit about an employee talking about the hotel being haunted]: But upon checking out, I asked the guy working if the hotel was haunted. He had a look on his face as if we were already supposed to know, & said so casually, YES. We started laughing because we thought he was joking around, but I asked why? He says, "Well this hotel has been around since the 1920's & there have been murders & suicides throughout the years.."
[About Cecil residents being able to get into Stay]: While Stay rents a few floors and all in all isn't a bad hostel choice, it shares stairways and elevators with the Cecil and the occupants of the Cecil are FAR from the cheerful international travel bunch that frequent hotels.
There is nothing to keep the unsavory occupants of the Cecil from going onto a STAY floor.
Employees are very(!) unfriendly! i
f you have a problem in your room, the just say= ok, will fix it. but after 3 weeks not even a check by an plumber. [also mentions shower water coming drop by drop]
There always seems to be some sort of maid or handy man in the small, poorly painted elevators and that made me uneasy. Are there no service elevators. These people always seemed unhappy like they hated life
The young man at the front desk was helpful and helped me find a few things downtown. I think he was helpful because I was a young girl flirting though and not because it was his job.