Darkest Mysteries Online — The Strange and Unusual Podcast 2025
Staying At A Luxury Hotel With My Friend Who Knew What Could Happen
21 Dec 2025
Staying At A Luxury Hotel With My Friend Who Knew What Could HappenBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/darkest-mysteries-online-the-strange-and-unusual-podcast-2025--5684156/support.Darkest Mysteries Online
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hello, and welcome to Stories All The Time. Glad you are here. Let's get into it. My best friend Trina and I have been planning a trip to California for years now, but after spending a first night in Beverly Hills' newest and most luxurious hotel, I'm not sure we'll be around in the morning to actually enjoy the rest of our stay. You see, everything was great in the beginning.
Of course, the plane ride was awful, and listening to a child cry for the next five hours during any flight would drive anyone crazy. But after we finally landed, it's safe to say the wait was definitely worth it. It's beautiful here, and I was hoping we would wake up early to just relax and walk around the city after a nice breakfast.
But at the moment, it's currently one in the morning, and I'm doing my best to ignore the thing trying to get my attention by the window. We wanted a luxury experience on this vacation, so we put in the extra effort to save up and spend a couple of nights in one of the city's newest and most popular establishments, the Recreation Hotel.
Chapter 2: What happens during the initial stay at the luxury hotel?
It was amazing when we got here. And the staff was so friendly, it's like we've known them for years. Nothing felt wrong. And if I had to bet on anything, never in a million years would I have ever imagined this place to be so terrifying. Trina was the one who found the letter in a drawer of her nightstand.
She laughed, thinking it was a weird prank left behind by previous guests to speak whoever found it. Inside was a list of rules, and now I understand that whoever left this behind for us wasn't trying to be funny at all, but was rather giving us a chance to stay alive. It looks like I have some time at the moment, so I'll tell you what they are.
Not only will it keep my mind off things, but this will also be a warning to anyone who reads this, so that they know to never book a stay in this place. 1. After 11, make sure you turn off everything in your room. This includes cell phones or any sort of noise machines you might have brought with you. They will use it to try and talk to you. 2.
If you fail to complete the first rule, you might start hearing them call for you. Ignore at all cost. Never respond to them, no matter what they tell you. 3. Make sure your curtains are closed the moment the sun goes down. Do not open them even if the noises from outside stop. They will also try to get your attention that way. Over time, they will grow bored.
But no matter what, keep the curtains closed. 4. At around midnight, it's possible a bellboy will knock on your door and ask you if you ordered room service. You must ask him what he brought you. If he tells you the usual, don't open the door. If he tells you anything else, tell him to leave it by the door. Wait until he leaves before retrieving the dish.
Never by any means look through the peephole to see him. 5. If you retrieve the dish, don't ever eat what's in it. Instead, dump it all in the waste bin. 6. Like the bellboy, it's possible the landline in your room will start ringing for you.
If you don't hear it ring at all, then I'm happy to tell you that you're free to relax for the rest of the night, so long as you continue to follow stat 1-4. I would also advise that you look for another hotel in the morning, because you absolutely never want to hear the phone ring during your stay here. 7. If you're unfortunate enough to hear the phone ring, pick it up.
A woman will tell you to do three things. However, her requests vary each time she calls, so I can't tell you what they will be. But no matter what she tells you to do, those tasks must be completed. If you fail any of them, she will come to you and complete them herself, and she won't be happy about it. 8. Absolutely never ever leave a room unless you're instructed to do so.
If you under any other circumstances break this rule, you will never be found. 9. Your bathroom light will come on at some point, and you'll hear the toilet flush and sink start to run like someone's just finishing up their business. You must be in bed when this happens. Close your eyes, and do not open them until you hear it leave your room. Make sure you also hear it shut the door. 10.
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Chapter 3: What unsettling discovery is made in the hotel room?
A little girl might ask you, do you want to play with us? Tell her you'll play with her in the morning. Whatever you do, never tell her no. A little boy might tell you that they are lost and they need help finding their room. Kindly remind him that their mother is waiting for them downstairs. Only shut the door after they leave. 11.
The phone will ring again, and you will be asked to do another set of tasks. Complete them once again to avoid her from coming to do it all for you. I promise you. It's best if you don't meet her at all. 12. If the lights come on suddenly, you need to make your way into the bathroom. Look in the mirror and tell your reflection. Now's not the time. Maybe later.
If the lights go out again, you're fine. If they don't, ask your reflection. What time should we meet again? If your reflection responds, thank it. And only take your leave when the lights finally go out. 13. Pay attention to the next two steps. Because they will be the most difficult to follow. Your television will suddenly turn on at exactly 3.40 turam.
When this happens, you have exactly 5 seconds to hide.
Chapter 4: What are the chilling rules left behind for guests?
It doesn't matter where. Just hope and pray to dear God he doesn't find you. To increase your chances of survival, hold your breath for as long as you can. Don't worry too much. He's never around for long. When the TV goes off, wait another minute before pumping out again if you hear him laugh. He tricked you and you're too late.
Your only chance then would be to scream as loud as you can and pray. Someone knocks on your door and asks if you're alright. If they do, you must open the door, but do not leave. Keep it open for the rest of the night. The only consequence to this is that you might see others speaking at once in a while. Never look at them for too long. If you do, they'll take it as an invitation to come in.
They're never friendly. 14. If you successfully avoid them, feel free to relax a bit at this point. You are now free to watch TV and turn on any electronic devices again. However, prepare yourself for an unexpected visitor. You will hear a knock at the door before. 5. Answer it and act casual. Don't ever talk about what you're experiencing. The person will want to spend time with you.
Do whatever makes them depending on how you treat them. They might extend their visit and want to spend some time with you for the rest of the night. If they do, continue to act normal, but make sure you never fall asleep when they are with you, no matter how tired you may feel. If you do, you won't wake up. They might also ask you to go out with them somewhere.
This is the one thing you cannot do for them, and you must find something else for them to do without upsetting them. On the off chance, if they ask you odd questions that might come out of nowhere, answer honestly. When the sun starts to rise, you're safe to finally leave your room. Don't ever rely on the wall clock to tell you the time. It will try and deceive you.
When you leave your room, don't attempt to leave the building unless you see someone at the front desk. An old lady will ask you to help bring in her things from her car. Don't listen to her. She will be stubborn, but by no means listen to a word she says. 17. If no one is at the front desk by the time you hear the ground for the clock in the lobby strike 7, immediately return to your room.
You unfortunately might not have any other chance but to stay one more night. As you can see, I was stupid enough to ignore the first rule, and now every once in a while I will get a phone call from an unknown number. I had to keep my phone on silent mode because of this. For some reason, I can't turn it off either. I'm assuming whatever it is doesn't want me to.
They would leave voicemails for us, and Trina was the first to actually listen to one of them. She told me that it sounded like her father, telling her how much she missed him, and asking her to call him back when she had the chance. Her father passed away three years ago. This of course freaked her out. It only seemed to get a lot worse when tapping and the windows started up.
As much as I wanted to pull the curtain back to reassure her we were alright, possibly finding out it was just a loose tree branch or something making such a noise. A gut feeling told me to stay where I was. I told Trina this and somehow managed to talk her out of looking behind the curtain as well.
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Chapter 5: How does the protagonist react to the mysterious occurrences?
The phone unfortunately did ring. The woman on the other line had a rather deep voice. The first thing she told me to do was remove the clothing from my luggage and throw it all in the bathtub. She then told me to find the hotel's Bible and tear out all the pages located in John. I'm a religious woman. I grew up with a Christian mother and a Catholic father.
Strange as this may sound to some, this truly did hurt more than it probably would anyone else. I refused to find out what she would do to me if I disobeyed. Lastly, she told me to open the mini fridge and remove all the beverages before placing them in a circle on the floor. Her requests were definitely strange, but nonetheless I did them.
In fact, I would have done a handstand while upsetting the alphabet if she told me to.
Chapter 6: What warnings are given about responding to strange calls?
Ridiculous as that sounds. I just wanted her to leave me alone. Hopefully the next time she calls her requests will be just as simple. The children did show up, both the boy and the girl. They looked around the ages of 7 and 8, and were both dressed in all white. She had very long black hair, but the boy had short blonde hair. They looked nothing alike.
As predicted, she did ask me if I wanted to play with them, and I thankfully managed to tell her with my best smile that I would play with her in the morning. My voice was cheeky, but they seemed to understand me. However, it didn't stop there, and she continued to persist that I played with her. I never told her no.
There was a point where I almost did slip up, and I swear to you her childish pout turned into the most disdainful scowl I've ever seen. Her eyes widened a bit. There was something about her that practically screamed danger if I didn't think fast enough.
I don't exactly remember our conversation but in the end I managed to convince her that I would play hide and seek with her after breakfast and it seemed to please her. She bragged about being the best seeker for a bit and finally thanked me before running off. The boy followed without a word. And the moment both of them rounded the corner, quietly closed the door.
I didn't even have time to fully turn around before the bathroom light flickered on. I tripped on one of the beverage cans while scrambling for the bed, which did something to my ankle, unfortunately. Still hurts like I'll get out. I even yelped in pain, but I managed to get back to bed no sooner than I needed to.
I closed my eyes before realizing I didn't throw the covers over me, but the bathroom door was already creaking open and the air immediately went cold. Whatever came out had extremely light footsteps. Sort of sounded like a small dog wandering around, but at the same time, it was quite obvious the thing would tower over me if I ever dared to stand beside it.
I know this because whatever it was approached my bedside, and it loomed over me close enough to feel a great amount of body heat. Never made a sound. Couldn't hear it breathe, and it never said a word, but I could feel the intensity of its gaze. My ankle was throbbing, and I bit my lip so hard it drew blood. I don't know how long it was there, but I know I wasn't very quiet.
I couldn't help but let out a few whimpers in both pain and fear. I'm still shaking from the experience, but I don't think it seemed to care, so long as I kept my eyes closed. It left at some point, but even after hearing the door close, I couldn't shake off the feeling of it staring me down.
I never felt so small and helpless in my life, and unfortunately, and still balled up in a fetal position on the bed, just how it left me. Guys, I don't know what to do. Again, some of you might not understand this, and it might sound silly, but I always believed that God is with you no matter what situation you're in. I don't feel that now. I feel completely and utterly alone.
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Chapter 7: What eerie events unfold during the night?
If it's a man, he will ask you if you've seen his hat. Tell him yes, and that you actually turned it into lost and found. He will thank you and leave. Don't gawk at his appearance. If no one is at the door, you must go two doors down to your left and knock on that door three times. Kindly ask them to stop knocking on your door. And that, if they really need someone, contact the front desk.
You will hear footsteps approaching the door afterwards. Make it back to your room before they catch you. 24. I left something for you under your bed. It's for emergencies only, so please only use it if and when necessary. 25. We don't keep paintings in the guest rooms. If you see one, turn it over and ignore anything they try to tell you. Well, there's a painting of a woman in the bathroom.
She's blonde and is wearing a sundress. Posing in what looks to be some kind of curtsy, while also smiling happily at something to the left of her. I turned it over as mentioned. I can't remember if it was even there in the first place when we arrive, but I think I hear it sobbing. That. I really am going crazy. This place. This hotel. It's not normal. I don't know what else to say.
Except now I'm afraid to pee in the bathroom that's probably haunted by some weird painting, if not worse. Who's leaving these notes for me? I never really considered how or why this person is trying to help me, or how many others they have helped, or why they're only leaving notes. It's practically killing me having all these questions, and no one to ask for answers. I'm exhausted.
I really miss Trina. I don't think I've quite accepted the fact that I'll never see her again. What am I supposed to tell her family? What am I supposed to tell mine? For some reason, my phone glitches out every time I try making a call. Bring me back to the lock screen before I have the chance to scroll through my contact list.
Part of me is still convinced that this is all some horrible nightmare. But I know that it can't be. Because my ankle is throbbing, it won't allow me to. I can hardly move. I'm not sure if I even will make it tonight because of this. I'm so scared. I can't stop crying. And I'm so tired. I can't pray. I don't have the energy. It's currently been about three hours since I've been back.
I can hear people now going about the hallway like normal. I don't know if they're real or something the hotel is fabricating. I'm going to try and get as much rest as I can. When tonight comes, I don't know if I will see you tomorrow, but I'll be damned if I don't try. All I can do is try. I don't want to die. Not like this. Not by the hands of this hotel. I want to live.
There's nothing more I've ever wanted. I'll try updating again if I somehow make it. But because the odds aren't exactly in my favor, I want to thank you all once again for being here with me. For comforting me. I know Trina would appreciate you guys too. So, I want to thank you all on her behalf as well. I wish you nothing but happiness. But whatever you do, don't stay here.
Don't stay at the recreation hotel. Don't ever make the same mistake I did. Life is wonderful. Don't ever take it for granted. Love you all. And I know this may sound broken by now, but thank you for being here. Until then, I made it.
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Chapter 8: How does the protagonist's perception of reality change?
Broken, absolutely defeated. My cell phone remained by my bedside. I think it's been there since the moment I woke up in bed. I'm looking at it, ignoring several missed calls and voicemails. I saw that it was just a little over two in the morning, and knowing that, I nodded off.
Looking back on it now, it definitely wasn't the smartest thing to do, but I've already messed up more than once by this point, and I had convinced myself that screwing it up one more time wouldn't necessarily hurt, and if it did, something was bound to put me out of my misery. Knock at the front door woke me up with a start, the noise heavy and demanding.
I had to pull out my second note again to remember the man looking for his hat, or what was supposed to be him. When I opened the door, no one was there, and gritting my teeth limped my way over two doors down as instructed before my hand made contact with the door.
I remember considering the distance between this room and my own room, and how much more difficult it was going to be to run back in the poor state my uncle was in. So, to give myself more of a head start, I positioned myself as far away from the door as possible, but still close enough to knock. Not a very comfortable position, but it was all I could think of to handicap myself.
So I knocked three times before quickly asking whoever was behind the door to stop knocking on my own door and to contact the front desk if they really needed something. I didn't stick around to hear the footsteps limping away as soon as possible, but I wasn't fast enough. I was just a couple of steps away from my room before I heard the door behind me creak open.
Something in a very loud and sudden hey called out from behind me before they followed suit. Before I shut the door, I hand-blocked the entrance, and I saw a pair of angry eyes staring back at me. It was a very heavyset-looking man. His shirt, from what I could see in the pitch-black darkness of the hallway covered in stains of unknown.
His boxer is too small for I mercilessly continued to try and push the door closed despite this, going so far as to throw my body against it as he swore in pain, anger only worsening the more effort I put into my weakened strength. "'What the hell are you doing?' "'Why are you knocking on my door so late?' If you wanted so badly, you could have just called or something.
The hand somehow managed to get a chunk of my hair and it pulled hard. My head hit the wood of the doorway and I screamed for him to let go, but his boisterous demands easily overpowered my own. Instinctively, I continued to pull away like a trapped animal, successfully yanking my head away hard enough to break free, but losing chunks of hair in the process.
I slammed the door shut then, locking it for extra measure before the man started pounding heavily against the wood. I was certain the door would break, even with my body pressed firmly against it, but he eventually gave a final angry growl before storming off. I could hear his door slam shut, flinching as it did. More silence came soon after.
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