Homes of the Month Special Edition
Haunted Hotels
It's the time of year for all things eerie. In a country as large as Canada, there are bound to be more than a few ghost stories to go around. Have you ever considered spending the night in a spooky place where people have reported encountering a spirit? If so, you might want to put a stop at one of these hotels on your bucket list. From deceased staff that won't stop working to heartbroken souls that won't leave, here are some of Canada's most notorious haunted hotels.
The Olde Angel Inn
Where: Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.
Reported sighting: Ghost of Canadian militia officer roams at night
According to the Inn, Capt. Colin Swayze had delayed joining the British retreat in order to rendezvous with a young woman, believed to be his true love.
Surprised by American soldiers sent to search the Inn, he hid in an empty barrel in the cellar. The invaders used bayonets to prod into every corner and possible place of concealment and the unlucky lover received a fatal wound.
Some believe the Ghost of Captain Swayze is fated to walk the Inn at night, perhaps in longing for his sweetheart.
It is said that his ghost will remain harmless as long as the British flag flies over the Inn, a precaution prudently taken by the proprietor.
Fairmont Banff Springs
Where: Banff, Alta.
Reported sighting: A ghost bride and Sam the bellman.
The Banff Springs Hotel, located in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, has been around since 1888. According to the hotel, it's rumoured that a few of the many souls who have passed through the premises have decided to stick around.
One of the more famous long-term residents of the hotel is said to be the 'Ghost Bride,' who has reportedly been seen mourning her ill-fated wedding day in the Cascade Ballroom.
Another notorious spirit is 'Sam the Bellman' who, to this day, is rumoured to help lost guests find their way through the hotel corridors late at night.
The Fort Garry
Where: Winnipeg
Reported sighting: Friendly resident ghosts and the notorious Room 202
Many years ago, a grief-stricken woman allegedly took her own life in The Fort Garry's Room 202 after hearing of her husband's death. Some staff over the years have reported seeing seen blood dripping down the walls upon entering the room, and some guests say they have witnessed the apparition of a woman in a cloak at the end of their bed.
The woman from Room 202 is also rumoured to haunt the hotel's lounge, where she is often seen crying in the corner.
Other ghostly figures have been witnessed in other rooms throughout this historic hotel, built in 1913, by both staff and guests.
HI-Ottawa Jail
Where: Ottawa
Reported sighting: The spirits of former inmates apparently roam this jail-turned hostel.
According to the hostel, guests says they’ve heard voices, been pushed, found strange orbs in their photos and seen and spoken with the bearded ghost of a former inmate, a hanged man convicted (wrongly, he claimed) for murder.
Fairmont Empress
Where: Victoria, B.C.
Reported sighting: This hotel is home to several stories of unusual guests and former employees that won't leave.
According to the hotel, a woman once wrote about her wonderful stay at The Fairmont Empress in 1987, asking if other guests had received a similar late-night visitor. She claimed a little girl had watched over her bed, and then floated across the room.
There are also stories of an early 20th-century maid, who shows up every so often on the sixth floor to help with the cleaning.
The hotel is also home to a mysterious inaccessible room. At the highest point of the hotel, there are three windows in a turret that was constructed in the 1920s without a door. During a renovation several years ago, a roofer used a two-by-four as a makeshift bridge to get to one of the windows. When he took a peek inside, he saw a pillow and a blanket, which remain there to this day.
Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
Where: Vancouver
Reported sighting: Lady in Red
Over the decades, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts' hotels have hosted the who's who of dignitaries, celebrities, state leaders… and, according to the hotel, even a few rumoured ghosts.
In Vancouver, at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, there have been numerous sightings of the 'lady in red.' The elegant apparition is believed to be Jennie Pearl Cox who, along with her husband and daughter, was a regular at the hotel's swanky social gatherings. In the summer of 1944, she was killed in a tragic car accident at the corner of the hotel and is believed to be the graceful ghost who has been seen floating along the hallway of the hotel.
Caribou Hotel
Where: Carcross, Yukon
Reported sighting: Bessie Gideon's ghost won't leave the hotel.
Bessie Gideon died on October 27, 1933 and since her death, it has been said that the hotel has been haunted by Bessie's ghost -- a shy spirit who is neither friendly nor unfriendly. Along with doors being slammed and floors creaking, Bessie herself has reportedly been sighted -- mostly on the third floor of the hotel, where she can be found putting bubbles in the bath tub, heard knocking or banging on the floorboards and seen looking out the windows.
Although the Caribou Hotel is currently closed for renovations, plans are for the pub portion of this Yukon Historic Site to be open to the public by summer 2016.
(Photo: Yukon Archives)
