Biltmore - A Ghost Story

This week I had a work trip to Los Angeles and as I normally do, I did some shopping around in advance for a great rate on a hotel stay.  Lucky for me the best rate was at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel.

Let me tell you that because of my work schedule there was very little time to enjoy the hotel but as I walked from meetings back to my room I was taking photos all along the way.  I was completely amazed with the hotel, its history and beauty, and completely intrigued with the stories about the hotel being haunted.

Did you know that the Academy Awards Ceremony began at this hotel?  You can read more about this here.  On my first attempt to peek into the Crystal Ballroom the door was locked.  On the second try, I was lucky - the door was unlocked.  A film crew was setting up so I didn't go wandering around but it was thrilling to be able to walk into a room filled with film history.

So now to the ghost story.  Just call me naive.  The great hotel rate was the reason I ended up at the hotel.  I truly knew nothing about the history, or the ghosts but after seeing the beauty of the hotel, I got on Google to run a few searches and those searches led me to some stories about the ghosts that have been sighted at this hotel.  Never before had I heard about the Black Dahlia until this experience.  Oh how I wish I hadn't read or seen all that I saw, but I did, and the story was totally intriguing.

If you don't know anything about Elizabeth "Beth" Short, there's plenty to read but reader beware.  By the time I finished reading some of the stories, I was too scared to go to sleep!  You should have seen the barricade I built to keep "Beth" out of my room!  Beth was last seen at the Biltmore Hotel and it is believed that she still walks the hallways.  True or not, it was haunting.


If you get to LA, the Biltmore is a hotel worth seeing and I'm hoping I get back to visit one of these days.