During my tour guide days with the Haunted Vancouver Trolley Tours, as a guide, we each had to dress up as a character pertaining to our tours. Many simply just went as generic “ghosts”, I however decided to portray the spirit of a real person. She was the ghost known as “The Lady in Red”.
Obviously as an actor, I had to create a version of her personality to fit the tours...in my mind she was elegant, sassy and loved to be the centre of attention in regards to the way she dresses and presented herself. I found her story fascinating and as I dug a bit deeper, a bit sad.
Let's start at the beginning...
The prestigious Hotel Vancouver was designed by two architects, John Smith Archibald and John Schofield. They were nothing if not thorough when they build. Following superstition, there was no 13th floor and they even added stone gargoyles looking out from all corners of the Hotel. It is believed that gargoyles ward off any evil trying to enter the building.
The hotel that now stands at the corner of Burrard and Georgia is actually the third Hotel Vancouver. The first two were located on the corner of Georgia and Howe Streets. Opened in May 1939 (and located at 900 West Georgia Street), in the financial district of Downtown Vancouver, the hotel stands 369 feet tall and contains 17 floors and 557 guest rooms. It was the tallest building in Vancouver until 1972. Then the TD Tower was built and took over that record in the city.
Suites include The Lieutenant Governor's Suite” and “The Royal Suite.” In 2018 the hotel completed renovations to its 14th floor and it was restored to its original design. It was initially built by the Canadian National Railway. Construction was started in 1929, however, it was not completed until 1939 as a result of funding issues during the great depression. Work did not resume until 1937 and when it did, it was rushed due to a visit by King George the 6th and Queen Elizabeth in 1939.
An additional fun fact, my high-school graduation took place on the top floor of the Hotel Vancouver in a small but elegant ballroom (Panorama Restaurant). The windows over looked the city and it was absolutely stunning. Of course, at this point in my life I had no knowledge of the Hotel's past or The Lady in Red but even then, I could admire and appreciate how incredible the building itself was.
THE LADY IN RED
The Lady in Red is believed to be the spirit of Jennie Pearle Cox. She used to frequent the bar and it is believed she was killed in a car crash outside the hotel in in 1944. It is said she attended may dances and high teas at the hotel. She is so well known, that they have even named a cocktail after her at the bar.
There are also a few alternative stories. The first being that her husband and daughter were also killed in the same car crash outside the hotel. The second claiming she was waiting for her lover at the bar and when he never showed up, she ran out into the street distraught and was hit by the car. And lastly, that she was intoxicated from an evening of frivolities and wandered over to the elevators where the door mysteriously opened and she fell into an open elevator shaft. The elevator was believed to be an employee dummy elevator and was currently being repaired. If this was the case....then who opened the door allowing her to enter and fall to her death?
She has been seen mostly on the 14th floor and on the ground floor near the guest elevator doors and has been seen floating through various doors throughout the hotel. Oddly the 1st floor and 14th floor are the only floors that have dummy elevator shafts. This is what lead to the belief of her falling to her death in the elevator shaft.
She has also been known the enter guests' rooms on the 14th floor. A Japanese family called down to the main desk after entering their room and finding a woman dressed in red sitting on the bed. They were confused as they thought the room had been overbooked. The woman then vanished.
A bellman also claimed that as he escorted guests into room 1403, that a woman in red entered the room as well and then disappeared. Disembodied voices and footsteps have also been witnessed and documented on the 14th floor.
A repair man was working in a hotel located across the street. He decided to pull out his phone to take some pictures. When he looked over to the Hotel Vancouver, he saw a person dressed in red staring out one of the windows.
She was also witnessed by a cameraman on the set of the X-Files. He stated he came back from lunch and saw a woman in a long red gown. When he inquired about the women, the staff told him about the Lady in Red....he did not return to set.
OTHER SPIRITS
They used to have a Dine and Dance in the roof top “Panorama Roof Restaurant”. The story says, a woman was vacuuming after an event and saw a gentleman in a fedora sitting in the room. She claims she saw him not in color, but in black and white. When she looked back to confirm what she just saw....he had disappeared.
Restaurant staff state that one evening while setting up for a large event the next day, a server was asked to retrieve some sets of linens from a closet. Upon entering the server saw a woman sitting in a corner on the floor crying. As he continued to take the linens, he tried to console her verbally. When she didn't respond, he turned to look at her only to discover, she was gone.
Needless to say, that there appear to be various spirits that haunt the Hotel Vancouver and even though some are not nearly as infamous as The Lady in Red, they seem determined to be seen and heard throughout the halls and rooms of the historic building.
Please add room 1403 to my haunted bucket list!
Until next time everyone.....Happy Hauntings and Cheers to a better 2021.
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