El Royale Hotel Near Universal Studios in Los Angeles

This was by far the strangest and creepiest experience I’ve ever had. I hesitated for a long time to write this review because I was genuinely afraid of these people — as they had taken and scanned my ID at the time. But now that I see others are finally sharing similar experiences, I feel more comfortable telling my story.

We booked our stay at this place through a booking platform. After a long, exhausting 6-hour drive, we finally arrived. As soon as we entered, an extremely creepy staff member was standing by the front desk, asking us the most bizarre and uncomfortable questions.

A moment later, another staff member came in — wearing sunglasses (indoors?), which was already strange enough — and asked for our passports. He also claimed that we hadn’t paid yet. I politely told him that I was pretty sure we had already paid through our booking platform, but that I’d double-check the payment on my phone to be sure. He walked away while I was checking, and just two minutes later he stormed back in, yelling that I was a liar and that we were not welcome in his hotel.

Without any explanation, he pushed my girlfriend and me out of the building and onto the street — as if we were criminals — even though we had remained calm and polite the entire time. We stood there shaking, completely shocked by what had just happened.

Please, do NOT trust the glowing five-star reviews you see here. I’m convinced they’re written by the staff themselves or by people paid to write them. Stay safe people.