It has been 70 years since Elvis Presley scored his first number one hit with "Heartbreak Hotel." Legend has it that the song was inspired by a newspaper report about a lonely man's suicide, who allegedly jumped to his death from a hotel window. But this is not the only boarding house with a tragic past, as the Daily Star reveals.
Cecil Hotel, Los Angeles
At least 16 people have suffered violent deaths at the Cecil Hotel since it opened in 1924. Most were suicides, but some were more suspicious, including the case of 19-year-old Dorothy Purcell, who threw her newborn son from a window in 1944. She was acquitted of murder due to insanity. Serial killers Richard Ramirez and Jack Unterweger also stayed there as guests.
Crescent Hotel, Arkansas
The Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs was turned into a "health resort" in 1937 by millionaire con man Norman G. Baker. The quack, who had no medical training, claimed to cure cancer with a "secret formula" of water, watermelon seeds, alcohol, and clover. More than 40 patients died before he was jailed for mail fraud in 1940. Their ghosts are now said to haunt the hotel.
Hotel Chelsea, New York
The Hotel Chelsea has been the scene of two infamous tragedies. Poet Dylan Thomas fell into a fatal coma there in 1953 after drinking himself to death. In 1978, Sid Vicious woke up to find his girlfriend Nancy Spungen dead from a stab wound. Vicious died of a heroin overdose before his trial.
Europa Hotel, Belfast
The Europa Hotel is known as the "most bombed hotel in the world." During the Troubles, it was bombed 30 times by the Provisional IRA between 1970 and 1994. Incredibly, no one was killed, and the hotel closed only twice.
Hyatt Regency, Kansas City
On July 17, 1981, around 1,600 people packed the lobby for a tea dance when two overhead walkways collapsed, killing 114 and injuring 216. The rescue operation lasted 14 hours, pulling 29 victims from the rubble.
Winecoff Hotel, Atlanta
The Winecoff Hotel was advertised as "absolutely fireproof," but a fire on December 7, 1946, became the deadliest hotel blaze in U.S. history, killing 119 people, including the building's owners.
