UPDATE: October 22nd, 2001 An e-mail rebuttal from a gentleman from Niagara-on-the-Lake...

Please note: The rebuttal below was sent in before we posted the report above. It was sent in when this story was strictly about the dining room story...

I'm so terribly sorry to disparage your beliefs, and to ruin a good tale but having lived in the little town of Niagara On The Lake for 25 years, and worked at The Pillar And Post for 8 of those years I can whole-heartedly tell you that there is no such thing nor have I heard of such rumours, I've worked with staff members that have worked there since the early seventies who have never heard of such a thing.

One a lighter note its a great hotel with great food and great staff. The closet thing to a haunting you will find will be the smell of the staff lunch, a few creaky floorboards and maybe some bellhops that might be roaming aimlessly like the undead.

I'm just sick and tired of every Inn, bed and breakfast and pub owner in this town coming up with haunting stories to make there establishments more profitable, ten years ago only the Olde Angel Inn was haunted now its Fort George and everyone else.

UPDATE: October 22nd, 2001 An e-mail rebuttal about the above rebuttal from the fellow that sent in the report about himself and his girlfriend above...

I am not sure if the rebuttal you printed was in response to my e-mail or the ghost in the dining room story, but I am not affiliated with the Pillar and Post (I am an American) and when I tried to talk to the management about what happened they didn't want to hear about it. I don't think you can make a statement like "all the hotels are claiming to have ghosts to increase profits" when from what I can see the management was doing everything possible to keep it quiet.

I am not saying what happened to myself and my girlfreind was a ghost, I am sure it was probably just an amazing string of coincidences. But it surely gave me a more open mind on the subject. Believe me, in the light of day I would never tell my co-workers about this experience, but in the dark of night with something tugging on your blankets, see if you can sleep.

Update: November 13th, 2005 The following was submitted to us by a reader...

I would like to comment on the stories about the Pillar and Post Inn. I work for the Vintage Inns and used to work at the Pillar and Post. I have heard many credible stories from employees who have been working there for many years. One account was about 6 years ago. One of the bussers in the Dining Room had forgotten her name tag and found one in the hostess stand so she put that on for the night. That night, she felt as if someone was pulling on her hair (which was in a ponytail). She didn’t think anything of it. She then felt as if someone was tugging at her shirt when she was climbing the stairs. She was serving a drink to a table, holding the drink on her tray, when all of a sudden the glass was knocked over. She had been completely still and the guests also saw her at the table and said that it was weird it was knocked over like that. The busser had said it felt like someone just knocked the tray from her hands.

Later that night she was cleaning up in the dining room and telling a server what had happened earlier that day and the server turned to look at her nametag. She said that there used to be another busser working in the dining room years before and the same things had happened to her. She had felt as though her hair was being pulled or someone was tugging on her shirt every shift that she came in. She couldn’t take it anymore so she quit. Her name was Diana, and the name tag that the busser had on that day, was Diana’s. She then took it and threw it away in the garbage.

I also used to work in the Lounge at the Pillar and Post and have many stories about Colonel John Butler. There is a portrait of him hanging on the wall beside a doorway. One night I was closing the Bar. When the bartenders closed the bar at night we shut the door leading up to the dining room. So I had shut the door and proceeded to count the till for the day. I thought I had heard something coming from the doorway, so I looked over and saw that the door was open. I went over to see if someone was there but there was no one in sight. The dining room was closed and no maids or anyone were in the room. So I closed it and started to walk to the exit when I tripped. Now I know this may not be significant to people when I say I tripped, but it was the location where I tripped that is the key. I had stubbed something right in front of the portrait of Colonel John Butler and there are 2 armchairs in front of this painting. Now I’m not a very superstitious person, but the tale is that the portrait hanging in the lounge was the Colonel’s favourite portrait of himself and he sits in the chair admiring it. I have tripped at the same location many, many times!

These are my accounts of the so called "hauntings" at the Pillar and Post. I love the company and love the history of the property as well as the town. And just to let you know, the stories that the American woman had told are actually true. I have heard the radio go on and off in Room 118 myself, and like I said, I am not a very superstitious person. The Pillar and Post is DEFINETELY worth a visit!

Of note, this past week (Week Ending Nov. 13th) we received an e-mail from a former employee saying that they had worked in the establishment for a few years and although they are believers in ghosts and hauntings, they had heard nothing nor experienced anything at the Pillar and Post themselves.