Hotels are transient spaces, a constant flow of people coming and going. Each room witnesses countless lives, dreams, and secrets. But some rooms hold a darker history, marked by tragedy and mystery, becoming final resting places for their temporary inhabitants. These are the rooms that linger in our collective memory, inspiring both morbid curiosity and a sense of unease. As The Eagles sang in ‘Hotel California’, ‘You can check in any time you like, but you can never leave’.
Here are 10 hotel rooms with dark pasts:
Room 1046, President Hotel
In January 1935, Roland T. Owen checked into the President Hotel in Kansas City, marking the start of an enduring mystery. Strange events unfolded soon after his arrival. A maid found a note addressed to someone named ‘Don’. Owen was overheard on the phone, refusing to go out to eat with ‘Don’. On another occasion, the maid heard two male voices in the room, and they curtly declined her offer of fresh towels.
Later, the hotel switchboard noticed the phone off the hook in Room 1046. A bellboy sent to investigate found the room dark and had to replace the receiver multiple times. On his final visit, he discovered the room covered in blood. Owen was found naked and severely injured, with stab wounds, a fractured skull, and a punctured lung. He whispered ‘No one’ when asked who was responsible and died soon after. The room had been stripped of all personal belongings, and no record of a ‘Roland T. Owen’ ever existed. Despite a pauper’s funeral being arranged, an anonymous donation paid for a service and burial. Years later, a woman claimed the body was her missing son, Artemis, but this was never confirmed, leaving the identities of Owen and ‘Don’ shrouded in mystery.
Suite 352, Swissotel Nai Lert Park
David Carradine, known for his role in the 1970s TV show “Kung Fu” and later the “Kill Bill” films, was found dead in Suite 352 of the Swissotel Nai Lert Park in Bangkok in May 2009. A maid discovered his body hanging in the closet. Initially, suicide was considered, but the presence of a rope around his neck, wrist, and genitals led Thai investigators to rule the death as auto-erotic asphyxiation. Carradine’s family suspected foul play, but CCTV footage showed no one had entered his room during the critical period. Upon returning his body to the U.S., a pathologist concurred with the Thai autopsy’s findings.
Room 100, Chelsea Hotel
Nancy Spungen, the American girlfriend of Sid Vicious, bassist for the Sex Pistols, shared a tumultuous, drug-fueled relationship with him. After the band’s breakup in 1978, the couple moved into Room 100 of New York’s Chelsea Hotel. On October 12, 1978, guests heard Spungen moaning. Vicious called for help, and staff found Spungen fatally stabbed in the abdomen in the bathroom.
Vicious initially confessed to her murder but later claimed he was asleep at the time. Released on bail, he died of a heroin overdose in February 1979, ending the investigation. Some believe drug dealer Rockets Redglare, who visited the room that night, was responsible for Spungen’s death during a robbery.
Room 5, Lake Quinault Inn
In September 2001, a young man calling himself Lyle Stevik checked into Room 5 of the Lake Quinault Inn in Washington without luggage. He gave his address as Meridian, Idaho. Found dead in the closet with a belt around his neck, he left behind $160 and a note saying ‘For the room’, and another note simply said, ‘Suicide’.
Police discovered that ‘Lyle Stevik’ was a character from a Joyce Carol Oates novel who had attempted suicide by hanging. The address he gave was a Best Western Hotel. With no matching missing persons reports, he remained unidentified. In 2018, the DNA Doe Project identified him through DNA matching, but the family requested privacy, leaving his true identity a mystery.
Room 302, Hotel del Coronado
Lottie A. Bernard checked into Room 302 of the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego on Thanksgiving 1892. Over several days, she asked about her brother’s arrival. She was found dead on the stairs to the beach, shot in the head, still holding the gun. Police identified her as Kate Morgan, believing her ‘brother’ was her estranged husband or lover.
Guests reported strange occurrences in Room 302, like blinking lights and cold breezes. Paranormal investigators flocked to the hotel. In 1992, Christopher Chacon found 37 anomalies in Room 3502, belonging to the maid who attended to Morgan then disappeared after the shooting. Room 302 is now the most requested, with guests still reporting an eerie presence, even after the room number was changed to 3312.
Room 607, Lake Seminole Hard Rock Hotel
In February 2007, Anna Nicole Smith, grieving the recent death of her son Daniel, checked into Room 607 with her lawyer husband, Howard K. Stern. Suffering from pneumonia and a high fever, she remained in the room, afraid of the paparazzi. She self-medicated with chloral hydrate and multiple prescription drugs.
On February 8, Stern left to buy a boat, and Smith was found unconscious by her bodyguard’s wife. She was pronounced dead soon after attempts to revive her failed. Her death was ruled non-suspicious, but her bodyguard believed she died of a broken heart.
Bungalow 3, Chateau Marmont
John Belushi, the famous comic actor from ‘Saturday Night Live’, checked into Bungalow 3 at the Chateau Marmont in LA in February 1982. A long-term cocaine addict, he began a drug and alcohol binge. Friends like Robert de Niro and Robin Williams visited him to find the bungalow in disarray. Cathy Smith, a backing singer and drug supplier, was also present.
On March 5, a waiter delivered breakfast, which Smith signed for before leaving. Belushi’s bodyguard found him unresponsive later that day. An ambulance was called, but Belushi was declared dead. Smith fled to Canada and was later arrested for injecting Belushi with a fatal combination of heroin and cocaine, resulting in his death. She served 15 months for involuntary manslaughter.
Penthouse, DuPont Circle Hotel
Mikhail Lesin, a former advisor to Vladimir Putin, moved to the US in 2014. In November 2015, he checked into the penthouse of the DuPont Circle Hotel in Washington D.C., paying $1200 in cash. He was found dead in his room, surrounded by empty alcohol bottles and dollar bills. The official cause of death was blunt force injuries from a fall while drunk, but missing security footage and a subsequent autopsy revealed a fractured neck bone. The case remains closed, fueling theories of foul play.
Samarkand Hotel
In 1970, Jimi Hendrix, the iconic guitarist, retreated to London with his girlfriend, Monika Dannemann, who was staying at the Samarkand Hotel. Suffering from insomnia, Hendrix took sleeping pills given to him by Dannemann and never woke up. Dannemann provided conflicting accounts of the events of September 18, 1970, and couldn’t recall how many pills he had taken. Friends were called to clean the room before an ambulance was called, and drugs were reportedly buried in nearby gardens.
Doctors found large amounts of wine in Hendrix’s lungs, but the death certificate cited inhalation of vomit as the cause. In 1975, Dannemann claimed Hendrix was killed by the mafia, alleging his name was on a secret CIA list.
Room 434, Beverly Hilton Hotel
During the Grammy Awards weekend in February 2012, Whitney Houston checked into Room 434 of the Beverly Hilton Hotel. After battling addiction for years, she was planning a comeback. Hours before a pre-awards party, Houston was found dead in the bathtub by her assistant. An autopsy ruled that she drowned due to cocaine use and heart disease.
After her death, the hotel received numerous requests to book Room 434. The hotel has since renumbered the room to dissuade morbid tourists from recreating her final moments.
These hotel rooms, marked by tragedy, remain etched in history, sparking dark tourism and serving as grim reminders of the fragility of life.
Which of these stories did you find most haunting? Leave your comment below!
