Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles)

The Cecil Hotel is an affordable housing complex in Downtown Los Angeles. It opened on December 20, 1924, as a hotel, but declined during the Great Depression and subsequent decades. In 2011, the hotel was renamed the Stay On Main. The 14-floor hotel has 700 guest rooms and a checkered history, with many suicides and accidental or unnatural deaths occurring there. Renovations started in 2017 were halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the hotel's temporary closure. On December 13, 2021, the Cecil Hotel was reinaugurated as an affordable housing complex.

A 2023 Los Angeles Times article described and photographed the run-down conditions inside the Cecil Hotel, which included black mold and vermin infestations, water leakages, graffiti, vandalism, and unsanitary communal amenities. Many of its low-income residents, including former Skid Row homeless persons, require ongoing medical, mental health and substance abuse treatment.

In 2024, the owners of the Hotel Cecil, Simon Baron Properties, listed the property for sale.





== History ==

The Cecil was built in 1924 by three hoteliers—William Banks Hanner, Charles L. Dix and Robert H. Schops—as a destination for business travelers and tourists.