Haunted hotel guide · Los Angeles, California

The Haunted Biltmore Los Angeles (Millennium Biltmore): The Black Dahlia and Other Ghosts

The Academy was founded in its ballroom, the Oscars were handed out in its basement and Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia, was said to be last seen in its lobby. Downtown’s grandest hotel has collected more than a century of stories, and a few of them are ghost stories.

By The Haunted Rooms Team · Updated November 2026 · How we rate hotels

3.5/5Haunted Rooms Score
1923Year opened
683Guest rooms today

Check availabilityMeet the ghosts

The Biltmore Los Angeles, known for more than twenty years as the Millennium Biltmore, faces Pershing Square at 506 South Grand Avenue. When it opened in October 1923 it was the largest hotel in the United States west of Chicago. Its painted ceilings, the Rendezvous Court and the Crystal Ballroom have appeared in hundreds of films, and in 2024 it took back the simple name The Biltmore and joined Historic Hotels of America.

It is also one of the most talked-about haunted hotels in Los Angeles. The Black Dahlia is said to walk its halls, a little girl is reported running along the ninth floor and an elevator is said to stop on the eighth floor for nobody. The hotel takes it all calmly: a spokesman once said there are no rooms it won’t sell because of supernatural complaints. Explore more in our guide to haunted places in Los Angeles.

The Biltmore at a glance

3.5/5
Haunted Rooms Score
Haunted reputation4
History5
Ghost hunter access1
$$ · $150 to $300
  • Address 506 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90071 (facing Pershing Square, downtown)
  • Opened October 1, 1923; a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument since 1969
  • Most haunted spots The lobby and Rendezvous Court, the ninth floor, the second floor, the Crystal Ballroom balcony, the elevators
  • Best-known ghosts Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia; a little girl on the ninth floor; a nurse; two children in the Crystal Ballroom
  • Booking the haunted room No single room is linked to a ghost. You can ask for a ninth-floor room when booking, but it is not guaranteed.
  • Good to know A large, busy downtown hotel with 683 rooms. Afternoon tea is served in the Rendezvous Court, and the historic public rooms are worth seeing even if you stay elsewhere.

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The ghosts of the Biltmore

The Black Dahlia

Elizabeth Short was 22 when her body was found in a vacant lot in Leimert Park on January 15, 1947. Her murder, still unsolved, became the most famous crime in Los Angeles history. Robert “Red” Manley, a salesman she had been dating, told police he had dropped her off at the Biltmore on January 9, where she said she was meeting her sister. Staff were reported to have seen her using the lobby telephone. It is often called the last confirmed sighting of her alive.

That link is why so many people believe the Black Dahlia haunts the hotel, and some guests say they have sensed her in the lobby and corridors. It is worth knowing that a 1997 Los Angeles Times article questioned the Biltmore sighting, saying it cannot be found in the heated press coverage of the time. The story may be more legend than history, but it has become part of the building.

The little girl on the ninth floor

The most frequently repeated report is of a small girl running along the ninth-floor hallway, giggling, before disappearing around a corner. Nobody has put a name or a backstory to her.

Untapped Cities, which toured the hotel with staff, repeated the story in 2013 along with the hotel’s dry reply: there are no rooms it will not sell because of complaints about supernatural occurrences, and on sold-out nights every one of the 683 rooms is full.

The nurse, the ballroom children and the eighth-floor elevator

Other stories describe a ghostly nurse on the second floor, two children seen running across the balcony of the Crystal Ballroom and an elevator that stops at the eighth floor even when nobody has pressed the button.

The second floor now holds offices, and the hotel told Untapped Cities that no ghosts had been reported there. The ballroom children and the elevator remain popular with guests and ghost-tour writers.

Paramahansa Yogananda

On March 7, 1952, the Indian spiritual teacher Paramahansa Yogananda collapsed and died of a heart attack shortly after speaking at a banquet at the Biltmore for India’s ambassador. Many of his followers regard the hotel as a sacred place. Some ghost writers say his presence is still felt in the lobby, the former Music Room, though his followers describe his death as a conscious exit rather than a haunting.

The most haunted rooms and places to look

  • The ninth floor: Where the little girl is most often reported. Ask for a ninth-floor room when you book.
  • The lobby and Rendezvous Court: The former Music Room and original lobby, linked to the Black Dahlia sighting and to Yogananda. Come for afternoon tea.
  • The Crystal Ballroom: Look up at the 1922 frescoes by John B. Smeraldi, then at the balcony where children are said to run.
  • The elevators: Note whether yours stops at the eighth floor on its own.

History of The Biltmore Los Angeles (formerly Millennium Biltmore)

The Biltmore was built by the Bowman-Biltmore chain to designs by Schultze and Weaver, the New York firm behind the Waldorf-Astoria, and opened on October 1, 1923. With about 1,500 rooms it was the largest hotel west of Chicago. Italian artist John B. Smeraldi painted its ceilings, including the Crystal Ballroom fresco.

Hollywood made the hotel its own. In May 1927 a lunch in the Crystal Ballroom led to the founding of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and art director Cedric Gibbons is said to have sketched the Oscar statuette on a Biltmore napkin. Eight Academy Award ceremonies were held in the Biltmore Bowl between 1931 and 1942. Under Baron Long, who bought the hotel in 1933, the Bowl was billed as the world’s largest nightclub.

In 1960 John F. Kennedy set up his campaign headquarters in the Music Room, now the lobby, during the Democratic National Convention, with Lyndon Johnson across the hall. The hotel has appeared in films from Ghostbusters, where it played the Sedgewick Hotel, to Beverly Hills Cop and Oppenheimer.

Ownership changed many times. Baron Long’s era was followed by Corrigan Properties in 1951 and Westgroup in 1984, which brought in Seattle architect Barnett Schorr to redesign the property. Regal Hotels renamed it the Regal Biltmore in 1996, and Millennium and Copthorne made it the Millennium Biltmore in 2001. In 2024 it became The Biltmore Los Angeles and joined Historic Hotels of America. Today it has 683 rooms and has been a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument since 1969.

Tips for a haunted stay

  • Ask for the ninth floor. It is where the little girl is reported, and a request costs nothing.
  • Have afternoon tea in the Rendezvous Court. It is the best way to see the painted ceilings, and it is open to non-guests.
  • Ask to see the Crystal Ballroom. If no event is on, staff may let you look in at the frescoes and the balcony.
  • Combine with the Hollywood Roosevelt. A short drive away, the Hollywood Roosevelt also hosted the early Oscars and has its own famous ghosts.
  • Want to investigate with a team? Haunted Rooms runs ghost hunts at historic venues across the US.

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Frequently asked questions

Is the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles haunted?

It has a long haunted reputation. Guests describe a woman in black believed to be the Black Dahlia, a little girl on the ninth floor, a nurse on the second floor and children on the Crystal Ballroom balcony. These are stories, and the hotel says it has never had to leave a room empty because of them.

Was the Black Dahlia last seen at the Biltmore?

That is the traditional story. Robert Manley said he dropped Elizabeth Short at the Biltmore on January 9, 1947, and staff were reported to have seen her in the lobby. A 1997 Los Angeles Times article questioned the lobby sighting.

Is the Millennium Biltmore the same as The Biltmore Los Angeles?

Yes. The hotel was the Millennium Biltmore from 2001 and was renamed The Biltmore Los Angeles in 2024. Same building, same address on Pershing Square.

What floor is haunted at the Biltmore?

The ninth floor is the most often named, for a little girl seen running in the hallway. The second floor and an elevator that stops at the eighth floor also come up.

Who died at the Biltmore Hotel?

The best-documented death is Paramahansa Yogananda, who collapsed after a banquet speech on March 7, 1952. Elizabeth Short did not die at the hotel.

Can you visit the Biltmore without staying?

Yes. The Rendezvous Court serves afternoon tea, and the lobby and bars are open to the public.

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.

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About the authors

The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.

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