Banff Springs Hotel

The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta, Canada is said to be haunted by a number of ghosts. The famous Room 873 is on the 8th floor. According to the legends, it is a hidden room that has been blocked off because it contains a deep, dark secret history of murder.

The Banff Springs Hotel is in the Rocky Mountains, a major tourist destination in Canada. It is surrounded by beautiful scenery with mountains, rivers, lakes and a natural hot springs.

When the hotel was built in 1888, the construction workers made a strange mistake. They accidentally created a room without any windows or doors. They kept quiet about their mistake and for years, the hotel had a secret room that nobody knew about.

The hotel was made of wood and in 1926 there was a fire. It burned to the ground and that was when the secret room was discovered. The room was empty, but before the fire, guests had reported seeing shadowy apparitions drifting down the hallway late at night. There were rumors that the secret room was haunted. The hotel was rebuilt in 1928 in even greater luxury, with large stone walls and tall towers. It was nicknamed “The Castle of the Rockies”.

Room 873

There is one room in the Banff Springs Hotel that is believed to be haunted. It is Room 873. They say that an entire family was murdered in the room – The mother, the father and their little girl. Afterwards, the room was cleaned up and let out to guests, but anyone who stayed the night in Room 873 was awoken by horrible screams and when they turned on the lights, they would find bloody handprints on the mirror. The hotel staff tried to clean off the bloody fingerprints, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t get rid of them. It is believed that these are the fingerprints of the little girl that was murdered.

As a result, the hotel manager tried to cover up the horrific tale and decided to close off the room and seal it up. If you go to the Banff Springs Hotel today, you will see that there is no Room 873 on the 8th floor. However, if you look closely at the wall, you can see where the door used to be. WHen they are questioned about it, the hotel employees refuse to speak about the room and they deny it exists. Still, many guests claim they have seen the ghosts of the murdered family roaming around the hallway outside the room.

The Doomed Bride

In the 1920s, a young woman was staying in the bridal suite, on the day of her wedding. Dressed in her wedding gown, she was descending a staircase. What she didn’t know was that the stairs had been lined with candles and as she walked down, her gown caught fire. In a panic, she tripped and fell down the stairs and died from a broken neck.

Since then, there have been reports of the apparition of a young woman in a long flowing white dress walking down the staircase or dancing in the ballroom. Hotel staff have heard noises in the bridal suite on days when there were no registered guests for the room. People have also seen the spirit of a young woman on the stairs with her dress on fire. Then she vanishes. Guests have also reported feeling a chilly breeze on the staircase where the bride fell all those years ago.

The Ghost of Sam

The most popular ghost in the Banff Springs Hotel is the spirit of Sam Macauley, a bellman who died in 1976. Not too long after Sam’s death, the ghost of a bellman wearing a 1960s uniform was seen and the description fitted Sam perfectly. He has been known to help people who are locked out of their rooms, opening the door, turning on the lights or helping to carry their bags. His favourite haunt is the 9th floor. Anytime people try to tip him or start a conversation, the ghost of Sam will vanish.

Hotel guests and staff have also reported sightings of a ghost bartender who tells customers that they have had too much to drink and need to go to bed. The spirit of a headless man playing the bagpipes has been reported on occasion as well.