The Haunted Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel: Marilyn Monroe's Mirror and Room 928

The Hollywood Roosevelt opened on Hollywood Boulevard on May 15, 1927, across from what is now the TCL Chinese Theatre. It was financed by a group that included Louis B. Mayer, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Sid Grauman, and two years later its Blossom Ballroom hosted the first Academy Awards. Today it is a 12-story landmark with about 300 rooms, the Tropicana Pool with its David Hockney mural, and bars such as The Spare Room and the hidden Library Bar.

It is also one of the most talked-about haunted hotels in America. Most of the stories involve real guests from the hotel’s golden years: Marilyn Monroe, who is said to appear in a full-length mirror from her old room, and Montgomery Clift, whose restless spirit is linked to Room 928. Unlike many hotels, the Roosevelt does not hide the stories: its own website says staff believe Marilyn “hasn’t entirely left.” For more of the city’s ghosts, see our guide to haunted places in Los Angeles.

The ghosts of The Hollywood Roosevelt

Marilyn Monroe and the mirror

Marilyn Monroe’s link to the hotel is real. The Roosevelt says she stayed for two years in a poolside cabana suite early in her career and posed by the pool for her first print advertisement. The story goes that her full-length mirror, which hung in her room, later began showing a blonde woman’s reflection standing behind whoever was looking into it, even when nobody else was in the room.

Accounts differ on where the mirror spent its years: some tie it to Suite 1200, others to her cabana suite, and it was later moved out of the guest rooms after guests grew uneasy. Today the hotel says it hangs on the lower level, where anyone can stand in front of it. Some guests also say they have seen a blonde figure in the Blossom Ballroom, where the first Oscars were held.

Montgomery Clift in Room 928

Montgomery Clift spent about three months at the Roosevelt in 1952 while filming From Here to Eternity, in which he plays a bugler. He is said to have paced the ninth floor practicing his lines and his bugle, and that is exactly what guests describe hearing today: faint bugle notes in the hallway near Room 928 when no one is playing.

Other reports from the room include cold spots, the thermostat and radio changing on their own, a pacing shadow in the hall, and the feeling of being unable to move in bed. One well-known story tells of a woman reading in bed who felt a gentle pat on her shoulder, turned to speak to her husband and found him fast asleep. Psychic Peter James said he watched a figure sit in a chair in the corner of Room 928 for several minutes before it faded away.

Caroline, the little girl

Not every ghost here is famous. Peter James also described meeting a little girl he called Caroline, first in the Academy Room and later in the penthouse library, where he said she was crying and worried about her mother. Since then guests and staff have reported a small girl wandering the hallways and the lobby. She is usually described in a blue dress, and she looks so real that people have mistaken her for a living child.

No record identifies who Caroline might have been, so her story rests on psychic accounts and guest sightings.

The Blossom Ballroom and the man in the white tuxedo

The Blossom Ballroom, where 270 guests paid $5 each to attend the first Academy Awards dinner on May 16, 1929, has a reputation for a cold spot that staff and guests have described for years. People also report a man in a white tuxedo near the ballroom, sometimes heard playing the piano from the mezzanine before he vanishes.

Some storytellers say the piano player is actor Errol Flynn. Others describe a different man in evening dress, imagined as a nominee who never let go of his Oscar night. Phone calls to the operator from empty rooms round out the Roosevelt’s list of oddities.

The most haunted rooms and places to look

• Room 928: The room linked to Montgomery Clift. It is a standard room, so request it when you book direct; ask about the ninth floor if it is taken.
• Marilyn Monroe's mirror: Now on the hotel’s lower level. Free to look at, and the classic photo stop for ghost fans.
• The poolside cabana suite: The hotel names this as where Marilyn stayed. Request it when booking if you want to sleep closest to her story.
• Blossom Ballroom and mezzanine: Usually used for events, but you can often glimpse it from the mezzanine. Listen for the piano.
• The lobby and halls: Where Caroline is said to wander and sing.

History of The Hollywood Roosevelt

The Hollywood Roosevelt was designed by the firm of Fisher, Lake and Traver in the Spanish Colonial Revival style and cost about $2.5 million. Named after President Theodore Roosevelt, it opened on May 15, 1927, as a 12-story, 300-room hotel built to house the stars, studio executives and visitors drawn to the booming film business.

On May 16, 1929, the hotel’s Blossom Ballroom hosted a private dinner for 270 guests that became the first Academy Awards ceremony. Douglas Fairbanks hosted, tickets cost $5, and Wings won the top prize. Through the 1930s and 1940s, the Roosevelt was a Hollywood clubhouse. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard used the penthouse, which now carries their names.

Like Hollywood itself, the hotel declined after the 1950s. Radisson bought it in 1985 and spent about $35 million restoring the lobby and public rooms. The hotel became part of the Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1991. In 1988 artist David Hockney painted the bottom of the Tropicana Pool.

Goodwin Gaw bought the hotel in 1995. Thompson Hotels managed it from 2005 during another major renovation, and since 2015 it has been run by its own management company. Today it is known for the Tropicana Pool, the Gable restaurant, The Spare Room bowling lounge, the Library Bar and the restored Cinegrill Theater, alongside its ghost stories.

Tips for a haunted stay

• See the mirror first. It is on the lower level, open to visitors, and the best photo stop for ghost fans.
• Request Room 928 when you book direct and be flexible on dates. If it is taken, ask for any room on the ninth floor.
• Go for a quiet weeknight. Weekends at the pool and bars are loud. A midweek stay gives the hallways a better chance to go quiet.
• Check the Halloween program. The hotel often hosts October movie nights at the pool and a Halloween party.
• Walk the Walk of Fame after dark. The TCL Chinese Theatre is across the street and the Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a short drive away.
• Want a real investigation? Haunted Rooms runs ghost hunts at historic venues across the US.

More haunted hotels nearby

• The Queen Mary, Long Beach: about 25 miles south, the haunted liner with Stateroom B340 and its own ghost tours
• Glen Tavern Inn, Santa Paula: a 1911 Tudor inn an hour northwest, popular with Hollywood stars in the silent era
• Pierpont Inn, Ventura: a 1910 Craftsman inn on the coast with a woman in an old-fashioned dress
• Haunted hotels in California
• Haunted hotels in Los Angeles

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.

• The Hollywood Roosevelt (official site)
• Wikipedia: Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
• Islands: Halloween at the Hollywood hotel allegedly haunted by Marilyn Monroe (2024)
• Patch: The haunted history behind the Hollywood Roosevelt (2020)

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