All Hallows: Banff, Alberta

 

The lobby of the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Banff Alberta

About a dozen years ago, we had the privilege to stay in Banff, AB at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. What we did not realize when we booked the room was that our trip coincided with Canadian Thanksgiving. Nor was I aware of the existence of Canadian Thanksgiving, which occurs the second Monday in October. Like its southern counterpart, the holiday centers around families gathering for a meal of turkey with mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes--the works. But it also gives Canadians one last long weekend to try to get outdoors before winter sets in. And for this reason the hotel was packed on the Friday that we arrived from Calgary just an hour and a half away. The halls and the grounds were completely full of visitors to the national park in the Rockies and Banff's golf courses and riding trails. There also seemed to be lots of wedding parties booked back-to-back in the hotel's ballrooms, and many glamour shot photo sessions taking place against the backdrops of the rolling meadows and the nearby Bow Falls on the Bow river.

But on Monday, the place was shrouded in complete silence. Nearly all the guests had departed and we were free to roam the lounges, lobbies, and formal dining and event rooms, unimpeded and unhurried.

The hotel in its current form--a massive, château-like edifice, towering 11 stories above the grounds--was built over the course of 1888 to 1926 by the Canadian Pacific Railway to encourage ridership on its transcontinental line. Like many retreats built in the Gilded Age for the enjoyment of North America's monied class, the hotel exudes old world grandeur and opulence on a massive scale. Which is to say, it has many delightfully spooky design elements, made even more eerie by the gray autumn skies and low clouds settled atop the tree-darkened mountains. Empty of other guests, it did not take much imagination to transport myself into the role of caretaker for the Overlook Hotel, shutting down for the season and preparing for a long winter of haunted isolation (why a Colorado resort hotel would shut down for the winter ski season seems like a plot hole of The Shining, but apparently Stanley Hotel on which the Overlook was based still did not have year-round heat in the 1970s when King's visit inspired the novel).

The château-like hotel, with the Rockies in the backdrop.

The gothic arches, oak-beamed ceilings, and highly-shined terrazzo floors put the Banff's European design inspirations on display--right down to the suits of armor to convey an ersatz ancient lineage. But the hotel's unique touches--such as the maple leaves and thistles in the stained glass, the thorned Tiffany wall sconces, and the First Nations character statues--provide as much gothic glamour as the Euro worship. 

Predictably, the hotel boasts of at least one ghost. Given the popularity of the venue for weddings, the specter is also predictable: a bride. She is said to have tripped down a set of circular stairs (or was set on fire by a nearby candle) on the day of her betrothal in the 1920s (or maybe the 1930s), and has had her visage memorialized by no less an authority than Canada Post in their "Haunted Canada--Le Canada Hanté" stamp series. It seems plausible that a Gilded Age wedding at the hotel would have been quite expensive, and would have rated at least some mention in the society column of the local newspaper. And the accidental death of a young bride from a (presumably) prominent family would have been covered even more extensively in Canada's national press, giving at least a name and date of death to the mystery ghost. Alas ... 

No matter. If you want a truly supernatural experience while staying at the hotel, be sure to request room 666. Just remember, even in the infernal realms, the hotel's No Smoking policy still applies.