Haunted hotel guide · Victoria, British Columbia
The Haunted Fairmont Empress, Victoria: Lizzie the Maid and Rattenbury's Ghost
Victoria’s grand hotel on the Inner Harbour has hosted royalty since 1908, and local historians say a chambermaid who died the year after it opened is still on her rounds on the sixth floor.
The Fairmont Empress is the postcard view of Victoria: an ivy-framed chateau facing the Inner Harbour, where afternoon tea has been served for more than a century. It is also near the top of every list of haunted places on Vancouver Island. Its stories are quieter than some, but they are unusually well rooted in the building’s history, from a chambermaid named Lizzie McGrath to the hotel’s own architect, Francis Rattenbury.
This guide covers the hotel’s best-known ghosts, who first told the stories, the real history of the building, and how to plan a stay or a visit. The Empress does not market itself as haunted, so treat this as a beautiful historic hotel with some memorable legends attached.
The Empress at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 721 Government Street, Victoria, BC V8W 1W5, Canada
- Opened January 20, 1908, by the Canadian Pacific Railway
- Most haunted spots The sixth floor, the staircase to the lower lobby, the older hallways and the west tower
- Best-known ghosts Lizzie the chambermaid, Francis Rattenbury, an elderly woman looking for her room, a young girl
- Booking the haunted room No single haunted room. Ask for a room on the sixth floor or in the original 1908 building
- Good to know National Historic Site of Canada; afternoon tea in the Lobby Lounge; Willow Stream Spa and indoor pool
The ghosts of Fairmont Empress
Lizzie the chambermaid
The Empress’s best-documented ghost story belongs to a chambermaid. Victoria historian Terry Reksten, researching the hotel’s history, identified her as Lizzie McGrath, who died in 1909, the year after the Empress opened. As the story is told by Times Colonist columnist Jack Knox, Lizzie liked to step out onto a fire escape platform to say her rosary. A contractor had removed the platform, and she fell to her death.
She is said to be seen on the sixth floor. Guests describe a room suddenly turning cold and a woman in a starched white cap and apron passing through a wall, still going about her work. Local historian and tour guide John Adams, who worked at the Empress as a student in the 1960s, told Knox: “Her ghost is seen up on the sixth floor.”
The woman who cannot find her room
A second sixth-floor story concerns an elderly woman who is said to have died of natural causes in a room at the Humboldt Street end of the building decades ago. Guests in that room reported a chill, a hand on the shoulder and a woman reflected in the mirror, and according to Knox the hotel kept the room locked for several years. The room was later turned into an elevator shaft.
The reports did not stop. Guests describe a late-night knock at the door and an old woman, sometimes in pajamas, asking for help finding her room. She leads them toward the elevator and then disappears.
Francis Rattenbury
The Empress was designed by Francis Rattenbury, the architect who also gave Victoria its Parliament Buildings. He was replaced as architect in December 1907, weeks before the hotel opened, after months of delays. In 1935 he was murdered at his home in England. Ghost lore says he came back to Victoria: guests and staff describe a slender man with a mustache and a cane on the staircase to the lower lobby and in the older hallways. Adams says Rattenbury’s ghost haunts both the legislature and the old part of the Empress.
The worker in the west tower and a young girl
The Historic Hotels of America ghost page for the Empress adds two more figures: the apparition of a worker said to have taken his own life in the west tower, and a young girl seen in the hotel. Neither is named, and we have not found a record behind either story, so treat them as part of Victoria’s ghost-walk lore.
The sealed turret
One more rumor is told about the turrets, some of which were closed off when the building was finished. According to the tale, a builder doing later work looked into one and found a neatly made bed with a pillow and blanket inside. NUVO Magazine passed it on in 2025 as a rumor, and that is the right way to take it.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- The sixth floor: Where Lizzie and the lost elderly woman are both reported. Ask for a room here when you book.
- The staircase to the lower lobby: Where the slender man with the cane, said to be Rattenbury, has been described. Open to all visitors.
- The Lobby Lounge: Home of the Empress afternoon tea. Not a ghost spot as such, but the best way to spend time in the historic public rooms if you are not staying.
- The original 1908 building: The older part of the hotel, which local guides link with Rattenbury. The later wings date from 1910 to 1912 and 1928.
History of Fairmont Empress
The Canadian Pacific Railway began building the Empress in 1904 as the terminus hotel for its Pacific steamship service and a draw for visitors to Victoria. It was named for Queen Victoria, who was also Empress of India. Francis Rattenbury’s first plans called for a seven-story chateau in the spirit of Quebec City’s Chateau Frontenac. After delays he was relieved as architect on December 5, 1907, and CPR’s chief architect William Sutherland Maxwell completed the work. The hotel opened on January 20, 1908.
Maxwell designed the first expansion, carried out from 1910 to 1912, and a second addition was completed in 1928. The Empress quickly became Victoria’s social center. Edward, Prince of Wales, attended a gala in the Crystal Ballroom in 1919, Shirley Temple stayed in the 1930s, and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth came for lunch during the 1939 royal tour.
By the mid 1960s there was talk of tearing the hotel down for a modern tower. Instead the owners announced a $4 million renovation in 1966, nicknamed Operation Teacup. The Empress was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1981 for its contribution to chateau-style architecture, and a $45 million Royal Restoration in 1989 added a health club, indoor pool and new reception.
Canadian Pacific’s hotels became Fairmont in 1999. The building was sold in 2000 and again in 2014, when Vancouver owners Nat and Flora Bosa bought it and began a restoration of more than $60 million. The brickwork was repointed, the famous ivy was removed for the work, and rooms, spa, restaurants and lobby were redesigned before a celebration in June 2017. Fairmont still manages the hotel.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Book afternoon tea in the Lobby Lounge, the classic way to see the historic interiors, then walk the older corridors in the evening.
- Ask for a room on the sixth floor if you want to be near the Lizzie stories, and confirm the request before you arrive.
- Look for the staircase down to the lower lobby, where the Rattenbury figure is described.
- Victoria has several evening ghost walks that pass the Empress and the Parliament Buildings; book one for the same night.
- The Inner Harbour is lit up after dark and the Parliament Buildings are outlined in lights, which makes for a good night walk.
- Stayed at the Empress? Tell us what happened using the form below.
More haunted hotels nearby
- James Bay Inn, Victoria: a short walk away and a haunted Victoria favorite
- Fairmont Hotel Vancouver: the Lady in Red, across the strait
- Fairmont Banff Springs, Alberta: another railway castle with famous ghosts
- Haunted places in Canada: more Canadian ghost stories
- Haunted hotels in Canada
Stayed in one of these hotels? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from guests and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your stay. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Empress Hotel in Victoria haunted?
It has a strong local reputation. Guests and staff have reported a chambermaid on the sixth floor, an elderly woman who knocks on doors looking for her room, and a man with a cane said to be architect Francis Rattenbury. These are legends rather than proven events.
Who is the ghost at the Empress Hotel?
The best known is Lizzie McGrath, a chambermaid who historian Terry Reksten found had died in a fall in 1909. Francis Rattenbury, the hotel’s architect, is the other famous name.
What floor is haunted at the Fairmont Empress?
The sixth floor. Both Lizzie and the elderly woman searching for her room are reported there.
Who designed the Empress Hotel?
Francis Rattenbury, who also designed the BC Parliament Buildings. He was replaced by CPR architect William Sutherland Maxwell shortly before the hotel opened in 1908.
Can you visit the Empress without staying?
Yes. The lobby, the Lobby Lounge for afternoon tea, the restaurant and bar are open to the public.
When did the Empress open?
On January 20, 1908. Wings were added from 1910 to 1912 and in 1928, and it became a National Historic Site of Canada in 1981.
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.
- Wikipedia: The Empress (hotel)
- Burnaby Now (Jack Knox): Empress reigns on haunted hotel list thanks to Lizzie the chambermaid
- Historic Hotels of America: Fairmont Empress ghost stories
- NUVO Magazine: Who haunts the halls of Canada's grand hotels? (2025)
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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