Was American Horror Story filmed at the Cecil Hotel?

With the debut of the latest true crime docuseries on Netflix this week, viewers are now more curious than ever to learn more about the infamous Cecil Hotel.

Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel follows the story of the late Elisa Lam, a 21-year-old Canadian woman who traveled to California by herself in 2013 to explore the popular cities. She had been staying at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles for a few days before her disappearance.

The documentary series shares details about the Cecil Hotel’s dark past, which opened its doors back in 1927. With 700 creepy guest rooms and an extremely morbid history, this was not the place any tourist wanted to be. And on top of that, it was located right beside Skid Row, proving to be a potentially very dangerous place for anyone young or unfamiliar with Los Angeles.

In the end, unfortunately, Elisa Lam’s body was found in a water tank on the rooftop of the Cecil Hotel. It was an extremely heartbreaking end to this story, and as the Netflix doc goes on to detail, YouTubers and “web sleuths” took it upon themselves to get to the bottom of it.

Who killed Elisa Lam?

As Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel reveals, Lam’s death was ruled an accidental drowning, and police also factored in the fact that she was bipolar. If you don’t have plans to check out the docuseries, you should definitely reconsider. It does a great job at providing all the information regarding Lam’s disappearance, her death, and of course, how her story went viral online.

The documentary series also does a good job at detailing the hotel’s history, which many people are probably familiar with already. The Cecil Hotel was famously the home to late serial killer Richard Ramirez at one point, and it’s been referenced plenty of times in pop culture.

Is the Cecil Hotel in American Horror Story?

American Horror Story even took inspiration from the Cecil Hotel for its fifth season, appropriately titled Hotel. Fans of the anthology series will remember this season starred Kathy Bates, Lady Gaga, Matt Bomer, Evan Peters, and a handful of other AHS regulars. It took place at the spooky Cortez Hotel.

Was AHS: Hotel filmed at the Cecil Hotel?

While the hotel did indeed serve as inspiration for the American Horror Story season, the FX show did not film at the actual location. They shot in Los Angeles, but they had a hotel set built on the Fox lot to use. Exterior shots were filmed at L.A. buildings such as the James Oviatt Building and the Loews Hollywood Hotel.

With nine seasons under their belt and counting, AHS is filled to the brim with real-life inspiration. As for American Horror Story season 10, we’re still waiting for more information on that. We’ll make sure to keep you updated once we hear anything.

In the meantime, check out Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel, now streaming on Netflix.