Fairmont Royal York - Haunted Hotel in Toronto, Ontario

The Fairmont Royal York opened in 1929 as a 28-floor Château-style hotel and held the distinction of being the tallest building in both Toronto and the entire British Empire until 1930. With 1,343 rooms, two restaurants, a tea room, two bars, an indoor pool, sauna, and gym, it was nicknamed the "city within a city." Over its nearly century-long history, it has hosted royalty, celebrities, heads of state, and over 40 million guests. Located at 100 Front Street West in downtown Toronto, this massive structure harbors multiple spirits across its many floors, creating one of Canada's most comprehensively haunted hotels. The Crystal Ballroom represents one of the hotel's most active paranormal hotspots. This grand ballroom was closed for years, but the spectral party-goers never stopped their celebration. Guests staying in rooms directly below the ballroom regularly complain about loud music, talking, and footsteps coming from overhead—yet when investigated, the ballroom stands empty and dark. The hotel's elevator system frequently makes unsolicited stops at the empty ballroom floor, as if ghostly guests are pressing the call button to join parties that ended decades ago. The phenomenon is so regular that staff have become accustomed to these phantom ballroom complaints. The 19th floor houses one of the hotel's darkest hauntings, centered in the maintenance stairwell where a previous employee hanged himself. This tragic suicide created a presence that terrorizes current staff. The apparition of the hanged employee is seen in the stairwell, and those who enter report hearing screaming echoing in the enclosed space. Heavy footsteps pound up and down the stairs when no one is there. Security personnel monitor cameras watching the stairwell, but when screams and footsteps are reported and captured on audio, the video feed shows absolutely no visible person, only empty stairs where something unseen continues to walk. The 8th floor is home to the hotel's most frequently sighted ghost—a grey-haired old man wearing a distinctive maroon jacket who roams the halls at night. This elderly gentleman is seen so regularly that some staff members refuse to serve the 8th floor after sundown, unwilling to encounter this persistent spirit. Meanwhile, throughout the hallways, guests report the sounds of children laughing and playing. Parents open their doors expecting to tell young guests to quiet down, only to find the halls completely empty, with no children anywhere in sight—yet the laughter and sound of running feet continue. Workers on the 19th floor, used for electrical work, report that devices randomly malfunction or develop strange issues that cannot be explained by normal technical problems. The phenomena is so consistent that maintenance staff have learned to expect supernatural interference in this area. Staff and guests throughout the Royal York report dark shadow figures seen in peripheral vision, the distinct impression of being watched in empty spaces, and strange feelings of unease in certain areas of the building. The sheer volume of paranormal activity across multiple floors, involving different types of spirits from different eras—from the festive ballroom ghosts to the tragic suicide victim to the elderly man in the maroon jacket—makes the Fairmont Royal York one of Toronto's most thoroughly haunted locations. The hotel has been featured in Toronto Ghosts publications and offers historical tours that touch on its haunted past, with rooms starting at $419 per night for those brave enough to spend the night in this sprawling, spirit-filled landmark.