5 of Australia’s most haunted hotels

While the Q-Station’s haunted status is of course up to interpretation, its dark past is fact. The Q stands for ‘Quarantine’, a word we’ve all become far too familiar with this past year. The Q-Station is the site of the old North Head Quarantine Station where those on ships suspected to be carrying contagious diseases into Sydney had to stay until they were cleared for entry, often dying before this clearance ever came. The Q Station now runs ‘The Spookiest Ghost Tours in Sydney’. Some guests report being scared to the depths of their souls and others seem unsure what the fuss was about. Maybe it depends on how much you believe, maybe the spirit guests come out to play more on some nights than others. 

Dame Nellie Melba, a famous singer of the late Victorian era was a regular at Hotel Windsor and many allege that they can still hear her singing in the corridors, meaning your hotel booking may come with a free show. It is said that Nellie used to meet her lovers in the hotel and pay staff to remain silent. Nellie has a spectral companion in the ghost of a young teenage boy who wanders around level one, believed to be protecting Nellie’s room. If you crave more haunted horror, you can make your way to the closeby Princess Theatre. In the mid 1880s, actor Frederick Federici died during a performance here and it’s believed by many that his spirit has stuck around to haunt the theatre ever since.

The Russell Hotel may perch itself scenically in Sydney’s historic neighbourhood, The Rocks, but it also hosts a curious history. The hotel was used as a makeshift hospital during the bubonic plague and previously had been frequented by rum-swigging seamen looking for a place to lay their hat for the evening. While eeriness may be sensed all over, room number 8 in particular is speculated to be haunted by a spectral sailor, whose pacing footsteps cause floorboards to creak, seemingly without another explanation. The ghost is said to be one of a sailor murdered by a sex worker in room number 8, who has lurked in that room, perhaps waiting for a form of vengeance. The Rocks even offers ghost tours that will fill you in on more of the spine-tingling history of the area. 

Not too far from South Australia’s famous Barossa wine region lies the North Kapunda Hotel. If you were to rewind the world to the 1800s you would see Kapunda operating as a copper mining town, marked by violence and crime. Much of this violence and crime crept into the North Kapunda Hotel, unfortunately resulting in several people being murdered there. There have been many reported sightings of a ghostly woman and little girl walking around upstairs in the hotel, believe to be the ghost of a murdered sex worker and her daughter Sarah, who passed from disease after her mothers death. Other ongoing reports include a man riding a bike with one leg, as well as being pushed, yelled at or hearing screams in the hotel corridors. 

The halls of the Royal Hotel in Seymour are home to the footsteps of a wicked past. The hotel has moonlighted as a courtroom, police lock up and even a morgue. Staff report a pot glass flying up in the air and tipping over, as well as constant footsteps with no explanation. The hotel regularly runs investigation nights where paranormal investigators come and attempt to prove the presence of supernatural life. Room 5 is said to be the most haunted and the staff are particularly hesitant to go into it. Rumoured residents include a band playing at the end of the ballroom, a crying baby from the old morgue and activity in the stables so horrific that the management shields it from guests.