The Chateau Laurier had a tragedy associated with it before its doors opened in 1912.
Charles Melville Hays was an American who became president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway of Canada. He was an enterprising soul who set his sights on having luxury hotels and classy train stations in all the large cities along the rail route.
Hays succeeded grandly with the Chateau Laurier; it boasted, among other niceties, Bohemian crystal and Italian marble. The year the hotel was to open, Hays traveled to Europe to buy more furniture for the hotel. As befitted his status, he booked return passage on a new, luxury ocean liner - the Titanic.
Hays never saw his hotel again; he and the men traveling with him (except sculptor Paul Chevre) died the night of April 14 - 15, 1912, when the Titanic sank. Hays's wife Clara survived, as did the other women traveling with the Hays party. On June 1, 1912, Sir Wilfred Laurier, Prime Minister of Canada, opened the hotel (had Hays been there, he would have had that honor).
Not surprisingly, Hays is the main ghost haunting the hotel. Objects move without anyone standing near them. A woman ran from her room when items began to change position. The ghost of a little girl has been sighted; rattling and shaking occur. The tower is also haunted, and people entering the hotel often have the feeling that they are being watched.
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