HAVE YOU HAD A PARANORMAL EXPERIENCE AT THIS LOCATION?
Please Share Your Experiences
By <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Skeezix1000" title="User:Skeezix1000">Skeezix1000</a> - <span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
By <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Skeezix1000" title="User:Skeezix1000">Skeezix1000</a> - <span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
History
The original Algonquin Hotel was built in 1889 as an 80 room shingle style building.
The main attraction was the salt water baths. Water was pumped from nearby Passamaquoddy Bay and held in tanks. Every room had a bathtub with 4 taps – 2 fresh water and 2 salt water. With the baths and the fresh ocean air the resort was thought to have healing qualities and was advertised as “no hay fever here”.
In 1914 a fire destroyed the entire hotel except 2 new wings that were built in the 20th century. The Tudor style building that exists today was built on the same spot as the original hotel. It is unknown how many – if any – people died in the fire.
The New Brunswick Railway built the original railway spur to St Andrews but the Canadian Pacific Railways (CPR) bought a 990 year lease on the rail line at the end of the 19th century. In 1903 the CPR bought the hotel itself and built golf courses around the site.
In 1970 the CPR sold it’s interest in the resort although it continued to operate under the CPR name. In 1973 the Government of New Brunswick leased the property and added a private beach at Katy’s Cove.
The resort went under a number of different number of owners until 2013 when it was purchased by Marriott Hotels and opened under it’s Autograph Collection making it the first Autograph hotel in Canada.
Many famous people have stayed at the resort throughout it’s history including: US Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson, almost every Prime Minister of Canada and HRH Princess Diana and Prince Charles.
Paranormal Activity
The hotel did offer a package with a tour of the haunted areas; but the last one was in 2019 – probably due to the Covid epidemic. Hopefully they will offer these again in the near future.
Many guests have asked the front desk about the friendly old man who helped them with their bags and told them stories about the hotel’s history. The only problem is the friendly bellhop is one of the hotel’s most famous ghosts who only appears when he wants to.
The ghost of a night watchman makes his presence known with phantom footsteps and the phantom jangling of keys.
Another former staff member that has stayed on after their death is a woman who continues to set and rearrange tables in the dining room.
In Room 473 the ghost of a bride forever weeps. No one is sure why she cries eternally but the most popular story is that her love was lost at sea and she died of a broken heart. Others believe the bride was abandoned at the altar by her groom.
On the 4th floor objects are known to unexplainably disappear only to reappear somewhere else.
Rooms 308 and 373 are also reported as being haunted. Objects move on their own and people feel as if they are not alone in these rooms. Electrical devices stop working in the rooms only to be working fine when brought out of the room. There are also several reports of apparitions appearing in both of these rooms.
On the 3rd floor the ghost of a small child is seen and heard playing with a ball in the hallways. The story says they chased their ball out of a window falling to their death.
On the 2nd floor doorknobs turn by themselves and front desk receives calls from empty rooms and dead lines.
The hotel’s tower has been closed for many years but occasionally a light is seen in it and if you’re really lucky you will see the woman in the white dress in the lit window.