The Ghosts of the Empress Hotel
Hello, Friends!
My apologies for the delay in sending out this episode. I took a short vacation last week and needed to focus on my day job to ensure I wrapped everything up on time.
Yay deadlines!
Anywho. This week on i hope it’s a ghost, we’re going to investigate the many ghosts who supposedly haunt the famous Empress Hotel on British Columbia’s Victoria Island.
The Empress Hotel
In 1904, Cornelius Van Horne, general manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), had a dream.
He envisioned and helped to develop a group of majestic hotels along different points of the railway to help generate interest in passenger travel. The Luxury Hotels like the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec, and the Banff Springs in Alberta, helped to lure the wealthy with one simple idea: “If you can’t export the scenery, we’ll import the tourists.”
“The Empress,” also known as The Fairmont Empress, was the last of these grand hotels to be built in Canada.
The hotel’s design fell into the hands of Architect Francis Rattenbury, who had seen recent success in his designs of British Columbia’s new legislative buildings. Rattenbury designed the front of the building based on France’s Loire Valley and in a similar style to the other grand hotels developed by Van Horne.
The Empress served business people and tourists until the CPR discontinued service to the area. Then, the hotel pivoted and began to market itself as a resort, but by 1965 the fate of this regal building left officials stumped.
Instead of tearing The Empress down to make room for a modern building, the owners decided to invest in a $4 million renovation and refurbishment project to restore the hotel to her former glory.
Today, The Empress continues to impress as a fully functioning resort and hotel.
The Empress Ghosts
As one of the oldest hotels in Victoria, you can be sure it comes with a fair share of dramatic history, including murder, suicide, and untimely deaths.
Of course, what this really means is if you plan to stay at The Empress, there’s a good chance you’ll experience a little something you didn’t pay for.
The Architect 🏛️
During his time on Victoria Island, Francis Rattenbury met and fell in love with Alma Packenham.
The trouble was, Rattenbury was already married at the time.
When his wife refused to give him a divorce, he moved her downstairs and Alma upstairs. Deeply upset by his actions, Rattenbury’s wife soon gave him what he wanted.
The people of Victoria Island unanimously disapproved of Rattenbury’s decision, so he packed up his new wife and their baby son and moved to England. There, he hired George Stoner to help with driving and household chores.
It didn’t take long for George and Alma to start an affair.
Then, in 1935, Rattenbury was murdered in the living room as he sat in his chair. He had been struck in the back of the head with a carpenter’s mallet so hard that his false teeth had fallen out, and the back of his skull was completely crushed.
George and Alma were charged with the crime, but Rattenbury’s story doesn’t end here.
Despite a burial in England, Rattenbury is still seen checking in on his hotel. For a man with a mustache, who carries a cane, is often sighted walking along hallways and down the gorgeous staircase to the main lobby.
The Lady in Pajamas 👵
Many guests throughout the years often come across an elderly lady wearing pajamas during their stay at The Empress.
Guests will hear a knock at their door. They discover a petit, unassuming white-haired woman in her nightgown when they answer. She tells them that she’s lost and can’t find her room.
When guests try and help her, this lady will lead them down the hallway, only to vanish through the closed elevator doors.
👉 Other ghosts of The Empress include a young maid, still busy cleaning long after her death, and an employee rumored to have taken his life in the west tower.
High Tea at the Empress
Back in April, I had the opportunity to visit Victoria for the first time.
I knew I wanted to explore The Empress, so I settled on spending a few hours enjoying their highly rated, high tea experience.
I arrived a bit early, partially because the wind was particularly gusty that day, and I was tired of fighting it, but mostly to get a good look inside.
My first stop was the staircase leading to the lower lobby. As you probably noticed in the photo, there’s no ghostly image of an architect. Nevertheless, I loitered in the area for as long as possible, just to be sure, before I headed for tea.
The tea service was terrific (just be warned, it comes with a higher price tag compared to most high tea experiences), and my waiter, a once-upon-a-time Torontonian, was keen to share Victoria’s must-see sights.
But when left alone to enjoy my meal, I didn’t feel very alone.
Flickering in my peripheral like a candle sputtering out was a shadow.
I’d put a little milk in my tea. Flick, flick, flick. I’d take a bite of a scone. Flick, flick, flick. Tried a little of the dessert. Flick. Flick. FLICK.
Honestly, it was so distracting I kept turning to my right to see who stood behind me. I took a good look at the lights and even wondered if the sunlight might be responsible . . .
I came up empty-handed. 🤷♀️
(But left with a very full stomach.)
For those of you who’ve been following along from the beginning of this series: thank you. Seriously. You’ve made writing i hope it’s a ghost so much fun, and I’ve truly loved working on every post!
So in thanks, I’ve decided to keep the ball rolling. After Haunted British Columbia, we’ll head to Quebec for more ghost-hunting adventures.
Any haunted location you’re dying to read about? Let me know in the comments! Who knows where this series will take us next?
As always, thanks for reading. ✌️🖤👻