Travel | Hotels | Hauntings | Ghosts

Meet 5 Ghosts That Live In This Haunted Hotel

And more ghostly encounters from around the world!

Despite always wanting to see a ghost, even though I am scared to, I have never had the fortune of encountering one.

When I started thinking of writing a post to start off the October monthly challenge in Globetrotters - Let’s Get Spooked - the only subject I could think to write about was a haunted hotel in the last town where I lived in Canada, Powell River.

In fact, I even worked at the hotel for a short stint, so I have somewhat close ties to the property.

Let me tell you a bit about it.

According to the hotel website, the Rodmay Heritage Hotel was constructed in 1911. In the 1920s and 1930s, additions were added to it, but it always maintained its original heritage ambience. It is located in a designated National Historic Site of Canada and is surrounded by numerous houses of a similar style and heritage in what is known as a Garden City community.

It was originally built to serve the community because a large pulp and paper mill was also being built, which would eventually employ over 2000 people.

At one time it was the largest operating pulp and paper mill in North America.

The hotel backs onto a fabulous ballroom called Dwight Hall, which was constructed with a very springy horsehair subfloor underneath the wood. At the time of its construction, only one other like it existed in British Columbia, at the famous Commodore Ball Room in Vancouver.

The story goes that steamships full of glamorously clad patrons would carry the party revelers up the Strait of Georgia from Vancouver, headed for parties for the elite that would be held at the stately hall.

It truly was, and still is, a grand old building.

The Rodmay Heritage Hotel was the hotel where many stayed when they would make their journey to Powell River for these significant events.

I have two very good friends, Joan and Marion, who owned and managed the hotel for 10 years (2005 to 2015), and they had many ghost stories to tell during their tenure there. The hotel had a beer and wine store attached to it, which is where I worked three nights per week for a few months in 2012.

I had heard many stories of the ghosts, and being one of the only people in the hotel late into the night, I always thought I would get a glimpse of one, but I never did.

I still remember walking quickly past the lounge at night, where one was reportedly seen often, and willing myself to turn my head in hopes of seeing it standing at the bar.

I was ALWAYS terrified that I would see it! But I really wanted to! It was such a conundrum.

For a while, they offered ghost tours of the hotel, and I even did the tour one time during the town's heritage celebrations.

I was fascinated with the stories of the ghosts that resided there.

Upon getting the idea to write this article, I contacted Joan and Marion to see if they had details about the ghosts that live there. Thankfully, despite selling the hotel many years ago, they still have the document that outlines the descriptions of the ghosts. I am very thankful that they have given me permission to use details for the purposes of this article.

Disclaimer: The following information has been rewritten but was taken directly from that document.

Upon obtaining ownership of the hotel, Joan and Marion had a psychic tour the hotel to see what details they could find out about the resident ghosts. The psychic said that the hotel had a portal to ‘the other side’ and that all of the ghosts could come and go as they pleased, but they chose to be there.

There are at least 5 ghosts that are commonly seen and experienced by guests. Their likeness is represented in the graphic above that was created by Joan.

The ghosts are benign and friendly and pose no threats. They can even be mischievous at times!

Starting on the left of the image above, here is a brief description of the 5 ghosts that are most commonly seen and experienced at the hotel.

Clara — The Lady Of The Night

Clara told her story to a hotel staff member one night. She claims to have come to the hotel on a steamship from Vancouver. She was considered a ‘swamp girl’, one of those that came looking for loggers who were in the logging camps.

She ended up staying and working at the hotel.

People claim to have smelled her flowery perfume in the hallways outside of rooms, have seen indents in their bed covers where she sits, have brushed up against her in the hallways, and have seen her sitting on a bench by one of the fireplaces. She has also been seen/felt going up or down the stairs from the lobby to the rooms on the right-hand side of the grand staircase.

Frank — The Gentleman

Frank is dressed in a suit and hat and has a shoulder holster under his jacket. He occupies a room on the third floor and normally doesn’t stray far from there. However, it is suspected that his voice has been heard near the old hotel office around the safe, speaking the letter D.

There have also been instances where the letter D has been compressed on the old antique typewriter that is on display, also near the office, and he is assumed to be the one doing that.

Originally it was thought that Frank was a gangster, but the psychic said that he was actually a law enforcement agent. During the 1920s and 1930s, he stayed at the hotel in pursuit of bootlegging and smuggling suspects.

Apparently, he feels remorse for possibly sending an innocent man to jail and for causing a violent incident in the room he mostly occupies.

Anna and Theo — The Children

The hotel has two child ghosts. Anna is seven and Theo is three.

One of the most common sounds that guests report is children running up and down the hallway on the third floor, where they reside. The psychic learned that they were left in their room one night when a bedside lamp caught fire and they ran to get their parents.

Anna and Theo (or Ted) are almost always sighted when children are in the vicinity, and kids have even seen them in the hotel windows from the parking lot, on occasion.

When they are nearby, there have been reports of a smell of smoke. They are very mischievous and will sometimes tickle people's legs and they can be heard laughing on the third floor and on the fire escape.

The Matron — Lady of Authority

The Matron is said to be very tall but some claim that she is floating above the ground. She is seen in the lounge, usually standing at the end of the bar. She is very stern looking and wears a long dress and a high-necked white blouse.

Her hair is piled high on top of her head.

Joan reports that she is the first ghost that she saw shortly after taking ownership of the hotel. She saw her through a glass window between the lobby and the lounge (Rainbow Room) standing at the bar when all the doors and windows were locked. After quickly dropping off something that she was carrying to the office, she returned to find her gone.

The psychic claims that she showed herself to Joan to let her know that she was watching and that she should take good care of the hotel.

Many others have also seen dark shapes floating near the bar.

Charlie — The Chinese Cook

Charlie is the most commonly seen and experienced ghost. In fact, he is seen so often that there is suspicion that there is more than one of him that fits the same description.

He is dressed in white like a cook or chef would have been, which means that many could look similar. He/they are most commonly seen in the basement and around the kitchen, pub, and cafe.

Charlie, and his possible posse, are tricksters. Tradespeople working around the hotel have reported lightbulbs being unscrewed, lights being turned off and tools being hidden.

There are also reports of stools in the cafe being turned around. In many instances, all of them would be facing one way at night, but one would be turned the other way in the morning. There were also reports of lightbulbs being unscrewed and glasses that would be pushed off shelves and broken on the floor.

Charlie and his comrades lived in the basement. Apparently, the hotel basement was notorious for gambling and opium smoking. Since a tunnel connected it to the mill, it was thought to have been used for smuggling contraband alcohol during prohibition.

Near this ‘secret room’ many sightings of shadowy figures have been spotted, and apparently, there is a tale of a fight that happened when one of the Chinese cooks was stabbed and placed in a bathtub until help would arrive. The help didn’t come soon enough and he died.

Joan claims that there is still a bathtub in the secret room and it has a red stain in it and water that never drains.

Kitty kitty — The Cat Ghost

The cat ghost is a bonus ghost, however, it was only ever reported by one patron that stayed in room 17. She claimed that the ghost would repeatedly jump on her bed at night and would try to sleep on her chest. No matter how often she tried to get rid of it, it would always come back.

Joan claims that in her ten years of owning the hotel, only one customer left because of the ghosts. Many others would come specifically to experience the ghosts, including families with children. They would bring electromagnetic equipment to photograph and record the ghosts, and many were successful.

Reports of smells, sightings, sounds and even brushes with the ghosts have been documented.

Joan states that most times when guests would come specifically to experience the ghosts, she would purposely not tell them the past history of the sightings. Then, she was often surprised with the reports that would come back that would be similar to experiences that others had had.

Joan claims that the key to seeing the ghosts is to not make them objects of fear and to treat them with respect. If you do this, you quite often will be pleased to have an interaction with one of the ghosts, but only if you are not afraid.

After all this time, I guess I now know why I didn’t see any of them while I worked there. I was VERY afraid to see them!

My profound thanks go out to Joan and Marion for letting me share the stories of the ghosts of the Rodmay Heritage Hotel in Powell River. I have learned more than what I knew through writing this article, and I am even more intrigued with the ghosts there than I was before!

Another interesting encounter that I have had with ghost stories was with a ghost photographer. Over Christmas and New Year 2022, we house-sat for a couple who live in Botswana. They were headed up to the UK for a holiday, and upon their return, we were told that they visited some haunted hotels so that Stephen could do some ghost portraits.

Of course, I was very intrigued by this and wanted to know how he did it. Like all good photographers, he claimed that he would never relinquish his secrets.

Here is one of his images that he has allowed me to use for this story:

The above photo was taken at Dean’s Place in Alfriston, England and he also sent me another one that was taken at Colonial Inn in Concord, Massachusetts.

Stephen is an accomplished photographer and author that has written many books and has photographed for high-end clients such as National Geographic. Please learn more about him at his website: Stephen James O’Meara.

Thank you so much Stephen for allowing me to use your photographs in this article!

To all of you Globetrotters, I hope this story sparks your creative muse and prompts you to submit your own stories of being spooked!

From myself (Jillian), Anne, Adrienne and JoAnn, we wish you a spooky October and we look forward to reading and enjoying your submissions!

To learn more about the prompt, please read this introduction from Anne Bonfert: