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perhaps the most famous of all the
luxury canadian railway hotels is the
fairmont banff springs hotel located in
the town of bamf alberta
initially marketed towards european
sportsmen and tourists seeking a luxury
wilderness experience
the aptly dub castle of the rockies was
built at the behest of cpr president
william van horn
in 1888 since its grand opening to the
public
countless guests from all over the world
among them marilyn monroe
queen elizabeth ii and helen keller have
checked into the hotel
according to a number of legends
ostensibly born from the first-hand
accounts of hotel patriots and staff
some of these guests never checked out
the banff springs hotel is home to a
number of ghost stories
all of which the hotel officially denies
at least one of the banff springs
supposed ghostly guests is set to haunt
the missing room 873
on the 8th floor according to hotel lore
a man while staying with his wife and
young daughter in room 873
murdered his family before committing
suicide
as the story goes the spirit of the
young girl and
in some versions the spirit of her
mother never left the room
guests who stayed in the room after the
subsequent investigation and cleanup
reported being awoken in the night by
violent shrieks
and chambermaids who routinely cleaned
the room would report finding bloody
fingerprints on the bathroom mirror
that could not be washed off in response
to the disturbing reports hotel
management sealed off the room
in spite of this some say the ghost or
ghosts of room 873
still haunts the vicinity of the room to
this day
another of the permanent residents
purported to walk the halls of the banff
springs
is the ghost of sam mccauley a beloved
scottish bellman who
before his death in the mid late 1970s
swore to posthumously return to haunt
his workplace
incidents involving mysterious phantom
lights elevator doors opening and
closing at random
and hotel guests being helped by an
elderly scottish bellman in an
antiquated uniform
have been attributed to sam's ghost
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some other alleged hotel specters
include a ghostly bartender who
encourages inebriated patrons to go to
bed
and a headless man who despite his
obvious handicap
somehow manages to play the bagpipes
of all the ghost stories associated with
the banff springs hotel
perhaps the most iconic and well-known
is the tale of the phantom bride
according to the legend a young couple
was married in banff sometime in the
early 1930s
it was arranged for their wedding
banquet to be held in the banff springs
hotel
where the couple was renting the bridal
suite
before the beginning of the banquet the
newlywed bride ascended a marble
staircase up to the cascade ballroom
to join her husband who was waiting at
the top
as she did so her wedding gown brushed
against one of the candles that lined
the curved staircase
and caught fire in the panic that ensued
the bride tripped over her wedding dress
fell down the flight of marble stairs
broke her neck and died
it is said that her ghost has haunted
the hotel ever since
over the years various hotel patrons and
staff have reported seeing a phantasmal
bride dancing alone in the cascade
ballroom
or ascending the marble staircase on
which the tragic incident is rumored to
have taken place
others have heard strange noises
emanating from the bridal suite when the
room was not in use
true or not the tale of the ghostly
bride of the bamf springs hotel
is surrounded in an aura of mystery and
romance and has become entrenched in the
folklore of canada's rocky mountains
following my online publication of this
article several former guests of the
banff springs hotel
left comments on my website in which
they described their own spooky
experiences
in the so-called castle of the rockies
one of the commenters was a former hotel
employee named patrick who described
another haunted staircase in the banff
springs hotel
the upper exit of which had been bricked
off for years
during his employment which lasted from
1981 to 1983
guests quote reported hearing laughing
crying and screaming from this area
as employees we were told not to tell
guests anything about this ghost
situation
another commenter who addressed him or
herself as lb
claimed to have seen the spectral
apparition of a woman and a girl
in one of the hotel's hallways and to
have her male laughter in the same hall
in the middle of the night
when no one was around another commenter
who called herself
julie of cardiff claimed that she knew
nothing of the hotel's alleged ghosts
when she stayed there in 2006.
one afternoon while snoozing in her
hotel bed
the room's temperature suddenly dropped
immediately afterwards
julie felt someone or something grab her
foot
never experienced anything like that
before or since she concluded
commenter del marie lamb claimed that
she and her family once stayed at a room
in the banff springs hotel which was
furnished with a fireplace
during a second visit to the banff
springs she requested a room with a
fireplace
and was told by the concierge that no
such rooms existed in the hotel
i have our pictures which were taken in
front of the fireplace she wrote but was
told there were no rooms with fireplaces
a ghost room another commenter who
addressed herself as
bella wrote i was just at fairmont a
couple days ago
we went for supper at castello italiana
a restaurant in the hotel
after my family and i were taking
pictures in the hall outside of the
restaurant
during this i had felt something tugging
on my dress
but no one was behind me and it was not
possible for it to have snagged on
anything
i don't know if it could have been a
ghost but i thought it was pretty cool
have you ever stayed at the banff
springs hotel and if so
have you experienced anything unusual
let me know in the comments below
thanks for watching if you enjoyed this
video and would like to help support
this channel
please check out my book mysteries of
canada volume 2
which you can find by clicking the link
in the description
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