The Haunted Banff Springs Hotel

Located in Banff, Alberta, the Banff Springs Hotel is considered to be one of the area’s most luxurious resorts, offering guests architectural grandeur, a world-class spa, and plush accommodations.   Originally constructed in 1888, the hotel burned to the ground in 1926 and was rebuilt to resemble a beautiful Scottish castle replete with towers and stone walls.  The hotel became a popular destination for celebrities and royalty and soon became known as the Castle of the Rockies.  But since its reconstruction in 1926, the popular Alberta hotel has harbored a much more sinister and ghostly side – one that entails ghosts, apparitions, and the paranormal. 

When the hotel was originally built in the late nineteenth century, legend has it the contractor made an error, resulting in an extra room with no door or windows.  Instead of disclosing the mistake, the builders kept it a secret.  Once the hotel was opened, there were several accounts of guests and staff members seeing apparitions floating around the area where the secret room was; however, the room was not discovered until the fire broke out in 1926.

Another ghost story of the Banff hotel stems from the early 1920s, before the original hotel was destroyed.  A young bride was walking down the spiral staircase when her long, flowing wedding dress caught on fire after brushing against the candles that lined the staircase.  While she was trying to put out the rapidly-moving flames, she lost her balance, tumbled down the stairs, and snapped her neck.  To this day, it is believed the young bride haunts the hotel; several employees have reported seeing an apparition in a long, white dress descending the stairs and heard bizarre noises originating from the bridal suite. 

Last but certainly not least nor any less haunting, is the legend of room 873.  Allegedly, an entire family was murdered while staying in room 873.  After the crime was discovered and the hotel staff was cleaning up the room, supposedly the fingerprints of the young daughter who had also been killed could not be wiped off of the mirror in the room.  It was decided that the room would no longer be rented out and the door was covered with brick.  Yet to this day, there have been a handful of eerie reports of guests seeing the apparitions of the family killed in room 873.