Hi everyone,
First post. I was so affected by the video the police released the first time I saw it that I started scouring the internet for more information, which led me to this forum and I've been closely following these threads. I have some questions but I'll save them for subsequent posts. Instead I'm going to relate a visit I took to the Cecil last week. My hope is twofold: one, that you might get a bit of an idea about the hotel and two, that perhaps you will get some amusement at my expense, on account of my own fearful nature and suggestive mind, that maybe it will bring a little levity to a thread about a terribly sad tragedy. In no way do I mean any disrespect to Elisa Lam or her family, (I would hope that her family and friends do not read these posts, as on occasion I can't help but feel that some posts might read as insensitive or be otherwise painful).
As I said, I went to the Hotel Cecil a week ago, last week. I live in Los Angeles and I was working one morning last week in downtown. I had been reading these threads and my mind was full of questions about what happened, so after I got off work around lunchtime I decided to walk over to the Cecil being that we were about a block away. My coworkers were going back to work so I was alone.
The first thing I noticed upon walking up was that the building to the north had installed large letters in the sidewalk. These letters were made of a gold metal, and facing perpendicular to the street to alert pedestrians to a large driveway coming out from under the building. They were composed on either side of a single word, capital letters about a foot high spelling the word "DANGER." I couldn't help but wonder how many times Ms. Lam had seen these words and whether they had impressed her in any way.
Before coming to the Cecil itself someone had created a little shrine to Ms. Lam in front of a small tree growing out of a square in the sidewalk. There were dozens of candles in jars, and bouquets of flowers below a Canadian flag, a small placard announcing the intention of the shrine and several pictures of Elisa. I noticed that similar trees were growing in front of the Cecil itself and wondered why the shrine was in front of the adjacent property and not in front of the hotel itself, and whether the hotel had forbidden it being set in front of their property.
I walked up to the entrance of the hotel (past the Stay entrance which I neglected to notice at the time) and into the hotel. I had expected to perhaps be turned away, maybe there would be security, or reporters or something, but other than a young woman on her cell phone out front there was no one else around. I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that I believe in the paranormal and had read all about the past deaths at the hotel, the resident serial killers and whatnot, so as I entered I already felt trepidation. The lobby was brightly lit and ornate, but somewhat empty and I sort of felt my fear grow a bit. On top of it all, I really didn't know what I was looking for, I had no real objective, so I felt foolish just being there. I noted that there was no one behind the large check in counter. To the right there was a bank of computers and two young people were on computers; one looked up when I walked up but then went back to his screen.
I looked to the left and saw the elevators and started walking toward them. The elevators are underneath a Mezzanine and as I approached them a person dressed in a white uniform, perhaps a janitor or service person, came out of a door above me, just as I was passing underneath. The elevator on the left, the one that the video was taken in, was already indicating the "L" for lobby. As I walked up I heard the second elevator land and the second "L" lit up above that elevator (L.L. for those looking for coincidences). I stood there for a moment wondering what to do and then I reached out and hit the up button and the elevator to the right opened up. I thought of waiting for it to close so that I could try to get the other to open but instead I just entered the elevator to the right, turned and faced the buttons, which are on the opposite side as the buttons on the other elevator (judging from the video. The door also opens in the opposite direction).
At this point I thought I might take a quick picture of the buttons with my phone and then hightail it out of there, so I selected the camera on my phone, aimed it, and took a picture, at which point the elevator door closed abruptly, causing a chill to go down my spine. I quickly threw my hand out to push the door open button but even as I did so I felt the elevator lurch into motion and begin ascending. You'll probably find me foolish, but I was freaking out. My mind already so amped up with stories of ghosts and serial killers, it felt to me like the elevator was acting under its own volition.
It stopped suddenly, at the 7th floor. I was in a bit of a panic. I think maybe the door took a bit too long to open and I thought for a second that I was trapped. The seventh floor seemed dimly lit compared to the bright day outside. There was no one there.
I pushed the Lobby button but the door closed and the elevator began ascending again. It stopped a second time, at the tenth floor, and an elderly gentleman entered. He said hello and I responded accordingly as he pushed the Lobby button again. He turned to face the door as it closed.
"What a beautiful day outside," he said.
"Yes, it's really nice today," I said, hoping he wouldn't ask me what I was doing there (I really didn't have an answer) and trying to pretend that I was in a normal state instead of freaked out of my mind.
"So glad we don't have it like they've got it on the east coast," he said.
"Oh, right, yeah, they're having bad weather or something I heard," I said, really not knowing what else to say.
"That global warming's really kicking in," he said as the door opened, offering me a good day and heading out. I followed him out and walked as fast as I could to get out of that building as fast as I could.
I guess the story isn't as funny as I thought, but it amuses me to see how easily I can spook myself.
One more thing. On this forum someone posted a link to a tour of haunted hotels and old main street stories. I ended up going on that, something I would have done regardless had I known about it. So whoever it was that posted it, thank you!
