In the early 20th century it was the largest electric railway system in the world. once boasted a sprawling public transit system that criss-crossed the entire city. Though now known as a place where you can’t survive without a car, L.A. To understand what happened to the Cecil, you first have to understand what happened to Los Angeles. How did this elegantly designed hotel go from being a lively, desirable destination, to what one detective quoted in Netflix’s documentary described as “hell on earth”? But if you peer through the glass, you can still see the opulent lobby, all marble and terrazzo flooring and wrought-iron lamps.

Its modern “Stay On Main” branding sits awkwardly alongside the ornate 1920s architecture of the building, vivid orange clashing with gold trim. Today, the place has an eerie and discordant vibe. The hotel closed its doors four years ago, following an eventful decade of attempted reinvention aware of the Cecil’s reputation, its new owners had tried to rebrand it as a hip, low-budget hostel called Stay On Main, an effort that stumbled in 2013 when Lam’s body was found in a rooftop water tank. Most recently, 21-year-old Canadian student Elisa Lam died during her stay under mysterious, disturbing circumstances. Serial killer Richard Ramirez even called it home during much of his 1985 murder spree. The Cecil has seen more than its share of violence over the years: at least 16 people have died there, and it has been the location of countless other brutal crimes. And if you believe in this sort of thing, there are also the ghosts of all those who’ve suffered and died at the Hotel Cecil, whose checkered history is the subject of the new Netflix documentary Crime Scene: Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel. The ghost of a beloved streetcar system that was ripped out in the 1960s, leaving L.A. The ghost of a thriving financial district, once dubbed 'the Wall Street of the West,' now abandoned. Even on a crisp, bright Sunday morning, they’re impossible to miss. To walk around downtown Los Angeles is to see ghosts.

Eliza lam 2016