Beyond the Headlines: 11 Real-Life Crime Scenes That Draw Dark Tourists

2. The Cecil Hotel – Los Angeles, California

Infamous for its dark history, the Cecil Hotel in downtown LA has long been associated with mysterious deaths, suicides, and unsettling urban legends. But it was the 2013 disappearance and death of Elisa Lam—captured in the now-viral elevator footage and explored in Netflix’s Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel—that turned this once-forgotten building into a true crime pilgrimage site. Though it has since been rebranded, curious visitors still seek to glimpse its haunted history. Tours of the neighborhood often include the site, tapping into LA’s long-standing reputation for glamor and darkness colliding.