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Celebrity Haunts, Famous Hauntings, Frank L Baum, Ghosts, Historic Hotels, Hotel del Coronado, Jack Lemmon, Kate Morgan, Marilyn Monroe, Roosevelt Hotel, Some Like It Hot, Tony Curtis, Wizard of OZ
Beneath the glitz and glamour of some of the ritziest historic hotels, a spectral current runs deep. The Hotel Del Coronado and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel both have legendary haunts that are more famous than their living residents.
A Victorian Ghost at the Hotel Del Coronado
The Hotel Del Coronado (The Del), located in sunny Coronado, California, has been a destination spot for the rich and famous since it opened in 1888. Frank L. Baum, lived at The Del while writing The Wizard of OZ. Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon stayed at The Del during the filming of the famous screwball comedy, “Some Like it Hot“. Presidents and royalty have also frequented the luxury resort over the years. But…
The most famous resident of the Victorian resort is a ghosT:
Kate Morgan
checked into the resort on November 24, 1892, and never checked out. Ghostly happenings in the room where she stayed have been reported ever since.
You can read the ghostly details in the book dedicated to this famous Victorian ghost: Beautiful Stranger: The Ghost of Kate Morgan and the Hotel del Coronado.
Kate Morgan’s suicide at the Hotel del Coronado in November 1892 generated publicity throughout the state. Little was known about her identity, so she was dubbed the “Beautiful Stranger”. It was later discovered that Kate had checked into the hotel under an assumed name, increasing her mystique. She became instantly famous. People everywhere wondered why she had traveled to the Hotel del Coronado only to kill herself. To this day, her story is famous at The Del. [image credits: Wikipedia]
Celebrity Haunts at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is the historic Spanish-style hotel located at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, in Los Angeles, California. Its doors opened on May 15, 1927, and immediately became the meeting ground for the brightest stars in Hollywood. Some of whom stayed on long after their deaths.
Take Marilyn Monroe…
Marilyn Monroe regularly stayed in room 246, 
which overlooked the pool. A mirror which once hung in her room, is said to be haunted by her spirit. In December 1985, a maid was dusting the mirror when she saw a blonde woman standing directly behind her reflected in the glass. She turned to speak to the woman, but no one was there. When she turned back, the reflection was again behind her. [image credit: Wikipedia]
Marilyn’s Monroe’s ghost doesn’t appear to be limited to haunting the mirror that once hung in her room, however. Numerous people have reported spotting her spectral image in the Blossom Ballroom dancing or posing.
Don’t believe me? Check out the video.
Or better yet, pay a visit to the Roosevelt Hotel and meet Marilyn yourself.
have you Ever had a spectral encounter?
Do tell!
We’re dying to know.
Elizabeth Fais 
I haven’t been to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, but I have visited the Del. It was fun to wander the halls and let your imagination take you where it may. As for spectral encounters, I haven’t actually seen a ghost, but I do have a haunted 1940’s stereo/record player in my living room. Sometimes in the middle of the night you can hear old scratchy records playing music from the ’40’s as well as the sounds of people having a party. It’s both freaky and a little amazing. It’s been heard by more than one person as well. 🙂
I think your haunted 1940’s record player counts as a spectral encounter. That is really spooky. I don’t doubt it at all! The one spectral encounter I had was while I was reading The Shining. I was alone in the apartment I shared with my sister and I heard things being thrown around downstairs. I ran downstairs to check, thinking someone had broken in, but the door was locked and everything was in its place. Creepy! The Roosevelt Hotel is right across the street from Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. It’s been authentically restored to its original glory. It’s a treat just to walk through the common rooms and public hallways, if you are ever in the area. I did not see or feel anything spectral when I visited the Roosevelt or the Hotel Del, but I don’t doubt the people who have. 😉
Elizabeth, you are a blogger after my heart. I, too, post about haunted hotels. My haunted posts are like spectres, making an appearance every now and again. On a recent trip home, I got the nerve to walk past the Fort Gary’s legendary Room 202. That’s as close as I’ll get, and I’m okay with that! I didn’t know about the Roosevelt or the Del. Thanks, and Happy Halloween!
I’ve haven’t stayed in a haunted room in any hotel. I’ll leave that for someone else. I do find the happenings interesting, however. I’ll keep my eye on your blog posts for spectral apparitions. What fascinates me about a haunting is the story behind what’s causing it. I will have to check out Fort Gray’s Room 202 sometime … or at least walk down that hallway. Happy Halloween to you too!
I think I’d like to try a night in a haunted hotel. Of course that’s easy enough to say from behind the safety of my keyboard…
I live in an old house (Circa 1879) and people I meet always ask if it’s haunted. They seem terribly disappointed when I say I’ve never had a single ghostly vibe in the 18 years we’ve lived here, even though I know that the original owner died sitting at the dining room table–and you know, you kind’ve expect a little something, just because that seems a little out of the ordinary.
HOWEVER, the house we rented before moving here was ABSOLUTELY haunted. It had a definite feel of “things un-rested.” Not just things that go bump in the night, but in the middle of the afternoon when I was completely alone in the house. I would hear murmured conversations in downstairs rooms, the singsong chink of silverware on china, a bouncing ball skipping down the stairs, footsteps crossing the floorboards upstairs … That house was built in the 1700’s and I have a suspicion there’s something spotty in it’s history.
Whoa. You lived with ghosts .. in the same house. I’m impressed. I don’t know if I’d have stayed after more than one such occurrence. With a hotel room, you could always ask to change rooms if the ghost got too rambunctious. The one time I heard a spectral something-or-other clanging around in my apartment, when I was alone and the door was locked, I surprised myself. I got pissed. I charged downstairs and yelled like I’d never yelled at anyone or anything before, telling them to GET THE H*$&L OUT AND NEVER COME BACK!!! The noise stopped immediately and I never had that problem there again. I later read that if you forbid spirits from being around you, they HAVE to leave. But you have to “cast them out” and mean it will all you’ve got.
I might have reacted differently if it was a benign apparition. But whatever it was in my apartment was up to no good and I wanted none of it. Since then, I don’t go seeking them out. But I still find them fascinating, because of the stories that are most certainly the cause of their unease.
Hello, Elizabeth–See: http://www.coronadoghost.com/ for the real story. The dead woman was actually Elizabeth ‘Lizzie’ Wyllie, the first police I.D. on the body in 1892. Kate Morgan was the ruthless grifter who put a pregnant (out of wedlock; “ruined”) Lizzie up to an ill-conceived blackmail attempt that went horribly wrong. The target: mega wealthy John Spreckels, owner of the hotel. He was in the White House with Pres. Benjamin Harrison at that moment, negotiating the fate of Hawai’i where his father’s cane sugar plantations were. Lots of good info on the site, plus a double-header book: Dead Move and Lethal Journey. One of the great stories of San Diego history, explained truthfully for the first time.
Thank you for your insightful comment. I did not know that about Kate Morgan, and had not heard of Liz Wyllie. I grew up in the San Diego area, so I am quite familiar with Spreckles (the Spreckles Theater downtown). Do they know if the ghost is Lizzie Wyllie or Kate Morgan? I know that sounds silly, but poor Liz. It would be nice if she was the one who found peace. Thanks for the link! I’ll read up on the story.