Downtown LA's first luxury hotel, open since 1906, where two workers died during construction and decades of guests have reported a spectral Edwardian woman in the corridors
501 S Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Residential units and some hotel rooms available; contact property for current rates. Ground-floor common areas sometimes accessible.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic hotel with elevator access. Downtown Spring Street location with flat sidewalks.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1906 · First luxury hotel in Los Angeles · Construction worker deaths 1905–1906 · Charlie Chaplin, Valentino, Dempsey — early Hollywood social hub · Spring Street Historic District
Hotelier John Donoho built the Alexandria at the corner of 5th and Spring in 1906, commissioning a Beaux-Arts structure intended to be the finest hotel west of Chicago. The building's ornate Palm Court and elaborate ballroom were immediate landmarks. In its first three decades, the Alexandria attracted virtually every significant figure passing through Los Angeles: Charlie Chaplin negotiated film contracts in the lobby, Rudolph Valentino performed tango exhibitions in the ballroom, and Jack Dempsey trained in the hotel gymnasium. Presidents Wilson, Taft, and Roosevelt all stayed here. The hotel was the unofficial social hub of early Hollywood.
The construction of the Alexandria in 1905–1906 involved significant hazard for workers on the steel frame. Two workers fell to their deaths during the building's erection — their names are not preserved in accessible historical records — and the falls contributed to the building's early paranormal associations.
The Alexandria's position declined after the 1920s as hotel construction moved west along Wilshire Boulevard and the grand downtown hotels aged without equivalent reinvestment. By mid-century the building had transitioned through multiple ownership changes and served increasingly as a residential hotel for low-income and long-term residents. The 1970s through 1990s saw the building in particularly deteriorated condition.
In the 2000s and 2010s, the Alexandria underwent significant renovation as part of the broader revitalization of the downtown Spring Street corridor. Upper floors were converted to loft apartments; the historic ballroom and common areas were restored. The building today operates as a mixed residential and event property.
Sources
The Lady in Black is the Alexandria's defining paranormal figure. Accounts of her appearance emerged in the 1970s during renovation work, when contractors and new residents began reporting a female figure in Edwardian dress in the upper corridor near what had been the hotel's more exclusive floors. The description is specific and repeated across sources: a woman in dark period clothing, wearing what appears to be a crown or headdress made of barbed wire, with tears of blood or bloodlike streaks on her face. She is reported standing still, then simply absent when the witness looks again.
The Lady in Black does not correspond to any specific identified death in the building's history. She predates the building's current residential incarnation and the 1970s renovation work was the apparent catalyst for her emergence in reported accounts, suggesting the renovation disturbed something — whether structurally or, in the paranormal interpretation, otherwise.
The ballroom and Palm Court produce separate categories of report: phantom waiters moving through spaces with drinks and plates, and in a few accounts, the sound of music and dancing from an empty ballroom. These accounts are consistent with the building's history as a social venue operating at full capacity for decades — a place where formal service and dancing were the daily norm.
The two construction workers who fell during the building's erection in 1905–1906 are sometimes cited as the origin of the upper-floor activity, though these accounts cannot be verified against archival records. The Alexandria's paranormal reputation is one of the more consistently documented in downtown LA, with accounts spanning multiple decades and coming from residents, renovation workers, and visitors rather than primarily from paranormal investigators.
Notable Entities
The Alexandria's terra-cotta facade, ornate ballroom lobby, and Palm Court are visible from Spring Street and the main entrance. The hotel now operates in part as residential apartments; access to upper floors and the historic ballroom is limited. The exterior and street-level spaces are open during business hours.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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