Santa Monica's Haunted Georgian Hotel
Santa Monica's haunted Georgian Hotel offers beautiful ocean views, luxury accommodations, and the opportunity to experience ghosts on the beach. Route 66 ends at Santa Monica and any ghosts looking for a good place to haunt would be smart to linger here. There is more than enough positive energy from vacationing tourists and Hollywood A-listers to fuel many hauntings around the area. So who are these ghosts and why are they here?
photo by Americo Toledano / CC 4.0
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History of the Haunted Georgian Hotel
The Georgian Hotel was built at 1415 Ocean Avenue in the sleepy community of Santa Monica in 1933. The area was still heavily wooded and undeveloped. The beautiful turquoise and gold-painted Art Deco building stood out as the tallest building in the area. The hotel became a retreat for celebrities and Hollywood studio executives from the spotlight in Hollywood.
During the Depression, Hollywood celebrities could afford to take vacations to the ocean, because the film industry was booming. Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle, Bugsy Seigel, Marilyn Monroe, and Frank Sinatra were just a few of the A-listers who played in the surf of Santa Monica's shoreline and stayed at the Georgian regularly.
Carole Lombard and Clark Gable snuck away to the Georgian to escape scrutiny because Gable was still married to socialite Ria Langham. They also kept a penthouse at the haunted Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
The hotel had 84 rooms, including 28 suites with ocean views, and offered the most modern amenities at the time including a barber shop, beauty parlor, playground, dining room, and speakeasy. The oceanfront veranda was used as a stage for jazz and other performances.
The Very Spirited Speakeasy
The hotel's Red Griffin restaurant and bar was another major draw for wealthy guests to drink illegal hooch during the Prohibition Era and was a popular speakeasy in the LA area. Only a few months after the speakeasy opened the the 21st Amendment was ratified and alcohol was legal again. It remained popular for many more years and during WWII employees of nearby Douglas Aircraft Company regularly frequented the bar.
Today the hotel's speakeasy restaurant has been revamped into The Georgian Room. The 2020 renovations have returned the bar to as close to its original grandeur as possible. Dick Van Dyke was even consulted to make sure the Georgian Room resembled what he remembered from performing there in the 1950s.
To enter the Georgian Room, you first need to find the non-descript double doors with brass mermaid handles on the south side of the hotel. Press the brass doorbell and state the name of your reservation. A host will admit you into the first anteroom. At this point, a privacy sticker will be placed on your cell phone. This ensures that you comply with the very strict no pictures, no videos, no phone calls policy. Very Chateau Marmont vibes! Now you can enter through a second set of doors and down into the basement-level speakeasy. Make yourself comfortable in the oversized green booths. Maybe you will bump into regulars such as Robert Deniro, Oliver Stone, or Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Or you may sit next to a spirit and not even know it. The hotel's spirits have an affinity for the speakeasy.
Ghosts of the Georgian Hotel
The Georgian Hotel ghosts are not loud boisterous spirits who jar you awake at night. They like to subtly whisper in the halls and flicker lights in hotel rooms. Cold spots are felt in the elevators and guests have reported Clark Gable's ghost in the elevator. Hotel staff are used to the sighting and respond that he usually takes the elevator to the 8th floor once a month.
The front desk staff and overnight officers report phone calls from unoccupied rooms. Guests claim that after taking a shower and walking into the bedroom their suitcases had been emptied and all their items put away in the drawers or hung up. Most people agree that the spirits are former tenants from when the building was long-term apartments.
The speakeasy is the favorite hot spot for the ghosts, especially after hours or early morning. Loud sighs and odd noises have no explanation. Some mornings the smell of cooking eggs and bacon wafts out of the kitchen before the burners are even turned on. Others have heard a disembodied voice say “Good Morning!”
Are you brave enough to stay the night at the Georgian Hotel? The spirits seem pretty harmless and just want to let you know they are around. Or maybe they are just going about their day as if they were still alive.
Staying at The Haunted Georgian Hotel
The Georgian may be haunted but it's also sophisticated and classy. There are many room and suite choices. Keep in mind when booking that Summer and early Autumn have the best weather with little rain and hot sunny days. The busy season is from July to September when attractions and hotels are crowded.
The hotel is just 2 blocks from the iconic Santa Monica Pier. Late afternoon is the best time to try your hand at fishing at the end of the pier. Feel like a kid again on the Santa Monica Pier carousel or ride on the solar-powered Ferris wheel! The Third Street Promenade offers more food and shopping options that are less touristy than the pier. Or even better take a tour!
Touring the Haunted Georgian Hotel
US Ghost Adventures offers a fun Santa Monica ghost tour covering 200 years of history including the hotel. You'll laugh, you'll groan at the bad jokes, and you might get a little freaked out at what you learn. What more could you ask for?
If you are in the mood for something a little less spooky, the Santa Monica Conservancy offers free and paid walking and self-guided tours of Santa Monica.
The hotel's ghosts seem to have more residual energy as opposed to intelligent energy. They are reliving their daily lives and going through the motions without interacting with the living. I think a lot of hauntings are just repetitive energy playing in a constant loop like a tape. What do you think? If the ghosts are haunting the Georgian by choice, maybe they are returning to a place that made them happy. How many people do you know who want to retire to the beach?
Have you visited the Georgian Hotel or another haunted LA location? I would love to hear your story. Drop me a message! And don't forget to subscribe to the Spooky Traveling newsletter to stay up to date on the latest dark adventure. And always stay weird, Spooky friend!
