Dying in a Hotel

The tragic death of Whitney Houston at the Beverly Hills Hotel isn't the first — and certainly won't be the last — instance of someone dying in a hotel. It happens all the time. None of us wants to imagine that the last occupant of a hotel room we stay in was taken out feet first, yet it's always a possibility.

We're all familiar with the celebrities who passed away in a hotel room, dying before help arrived to revive them. John Belushi. Janis Joplin. Anna Nicole Smith.

But you don't need to be famous to have the Grim Reaper deliver room service. Years ago a publicist confided to me that often people intent on committing suicide checked into the famous New York City hotel she represented. Many succeeded. Some jumped from a high-floor window. Others deliberately overdosed or ended their life in another way. A number left notes, knowing that they'd soon be discovered by a staff member and their family notified. 

 Did those who chose dying in a hotel do it to save their nearest and dearest from facing the tragedy of their death in the home?  Did they hope that in a busy hotel someone would take the time to recognize their despondency, and reach out? We can't know. We're only left to wonder.

Gently Dying in a Hotel

Not every instance of dying in a hotel is a lonely one.  Tibor Kalman was an innovative graphic designer who contracted non-Hodgkins lymphoma. His doctors informed him that his days were numbered. As he grew weaker, the decision was made that he would die as creatively as he lived. 

While Kalman still could walk, he boarded a plane with his wife Moira, the well-known illustrator. They flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico. From there they traveled to the Hyatt Dorado Beach Hotel, a former Rockresort set beside the warm Caribbean Sea. When Kalman became too weak to walk, his companions carried him out to the water and buoyed him with their hands so he could gently float and feel the warmth of the sun on his skin. He died peacefully at the hotel soon after.