At TripAtlas.com, we’re getting ready for Halloween by brushing up on some super spooky stories about haunted hotels all over Canada.
Some of these old hotels date back to the mid 1800s and these stories are known by staff and hotel guests as legends, myths, and sometimes as truth. From rattling chandeliers, children playing in the hallways, and blood dripping down the walls, some of these hotels have too much paranormal history that it leaves little room for skeptics.
Thirteen of the Spookiest Haunted Hotel Stories in Canada
Eerily, a few of these hotels have made it on TripAtlas.com’s Top Ten Spa Getaways in Canada Destinations and our Top Ten Amazing Dream Weekend Getaways in Canada. Maybe they’re not as relaxing or as dreamy as we thought. What’s even creepier is that more than just a few of these are luxurious Fairmont hotels.
In any case, read on for a spooky time—if you think you can handle it.
1. Lady in Red is Dancing on the 14th Floor
Fairmont Hotel Vancouver in Vancouver, British Columbia
As one of the most distinguishable buildings in Vancouver and a typical Fairmont chateau establishment, today’s version was built in 1939. Amongst its grand architecture and its gargoyles, you may just find another one of its wonders: the lady in red. She has been described as an elegant lady in a red dress walking along an invisible ledge and wandering down the corridors of the fourteenth floor (or is it really the thirteenth?). Stranger still, the hotel’s elevator is known to make stops on the fourteenth floor at random, without being requested.
2. Sam the Bellman and the Blushing Bride
Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Calgary, Alberta
The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel opened in 1888 and has since then has been the site of two major hauntings and ghost stories.
The first is about Sam the bellman, who retired in 1967. He promised that he would return, but died a few years later. Well, he did return, and continues to do so today, especially for late-night arrivals to the hotel or guests who lose their keys. Watch out for a bellman wearing a 1960s classic hotel uniform.
A second story from the 1920s is told about a bride who was descending the grand stairwell in the hotel (rumored to be closed to visitors today) on the way to her wedding ceremony. She tripped on her veil or it caught fire, and she fell down the stairs to her death, snapping her neck. She can be seen wandering through the hotel in her wedding dress. She is sometimes seen at the top of the stairs, but then disappears quickly.
3. A Restless Painter
James Bay Inn in Victoria, British Columbia
Famous Group of Seven painter Emily Carr is known to have died here on March 2, 1945 during World War II. At the time, the hotel was converted by Mother Cecilia’s religious order to St. Mary’s Priory to service the wounded. The bar in the hotel is said to be haunted by anyone who speaks or criticizes Carr’s artwork.
4. Party with the Ghosts
HI Ottawa Jail Hostel in Ottawa, Ontario
I’ve heard people tell me about creepy hostels that they’ve visited and cramped “jail cell” hotel rooms—but this hostel in Ottawa takes it to another level. Before being converted to a hostel, the building served as the Carleton County Gaol—the last working gallows found in Canada. When you visit, you’ll spend a few nights in jail, and you’ll get a glimpse of what early prison life was like. A few famous prisoners who died in the jail still roam through its halls at night—so much so that the hostel owners host “Party with the Ghosts” evenings.
5. Banging on the Stairwell at Night
La Boheme Restaurant, Bed & Breakfast in Edmonton, Alberta
This bed and breakfast in Edmonton was built in 1912 as an upscale apartment building. A woman employee of the building was murdered and dragged down three flights of stairs to the basement. There, she was dismembered and fed piece-by-piece into the furnace. The original furnace is still in use—and the sound of her head banging on the floor down three flights can be heard at night.
6. Stay Away from the Second Floor
Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg, Manitoba
Whatever you do, don’t stay in room 202. Stories circulate all over about a cloaked figure that stands at the foot of the bed in room 202, though sometimes this figure is described as a lady in a white ball gown. Blood is said to trickle from the walls and hotel staff members are known to report strange lights and noises throughout the second floor.
7. Noisy Servant Girl
Auberge Willow Place Inn in Hudson, Quebec
It’s said that November is the month when this inn’s resident ghost, “Maude,” comes to play. First build in the 1820s, the story says that a young servant girl was murdered by a group of men at the inn in the 1830s. They buried her in the basement but her spirit remained at the inn. Maude can be heard singing in the hallways, knocking over objects, and stacking rocks outside of the door of room #8.
8. A Crying Bride and a Wandering Waitress
The Fairmont Algonquin Hotel in Saint Andrews-by-the-Sea, New Brunswick
The hotel opened in 1889 and has been known as a luxurious yet magical destination because of the hotel’s saltwater baths that are thought to have healing properties. Room 473 is known as “The Bride’s Room,” where a bride is know to have died. She can be heard crying and seen periodically in the room or nearby. An older lady, thought to be an old staff member, is often seen in the dining room at night where she rearranges table settings.
