Normandale - Union Hotel

On our first anniversary, My wife decided to find us a quaint, out of the way place to book in. We had come across a very beautiful and picturesque old hotel in a hamlet called Normandale. This is right on the shore of Lake Erie, in Haldimand-Norfolk. Apparently the inn was built c. 1835, and was one of the original Talbot Trail Inns. We had a tour of it, and all I can say is that it was so beautifully kept that a meal could've been served off the floor...it just sparkled!!!

We made our arrangements, and in Sept. 1996, we set out to spend our anniversary there. The weather had been threatening-looking all day, and as we got to Spooky Hollow, the sky erupted. It was just like The Rocky Horror Picture Show! It took no imagination at all to conjure things that "Go Bump in the night"...

We arrived at our destination, and our Hostess met us at the door. We unloaded our bags and settled in-the hotel was a safe, warm haven on an extremely wild, cold night! My wife and I sat down in the parlour for a game of crokinole, and the Hostess made us each a pot of herbal tea. As we sat and chatted, she pulled out a photo album and recounted the restoration of the property to us. Apparently, the hotel had gained a reputation at one point as being haunted, and had settled into a ruined state. It was, in fact, empty for over 100 years! Everyone gave the place a WIDE berth... The hotel was lovingly restored, stud by stud, stone by stone, until today it is a showpiece. I asked the hostess, "Now, what about this haunted business?" She replied, "Oh yes, we still have a ghost with us...we know it is a female spirit. My husband saw it recently at the top of the stairs!" "Ohhhhhhhh, GREAT", I thought...I was hoping for a romantic getaway, not a nerve-wracking side-swipe with the supernatural.......! We had chosen a room at the front of the hotel, on the second floor. Because the place was used under a Bed-and-Breakfast arrangement, there was no real push at that point to install ensuite bathrooms. We had to leave our room, walk down the hall, past the top of the staircase RIGHT where the husband said he had last seen the ghost, and then into the bathroom. All night long, the thunder cracked, the lightning flashed, the trees scratched the windows, and eaves. I laid there positively bug-eyed. I suppose it also goes without saying that the herbal tea we drank before bed was converted into at least eight trips down the hallway to the bathroom! My wife and I eventually got up together and held on to each other as we tiptoed fearfully down that long hall... About 3 or 4 A.M., we both finally drifted off to sleep.

The place is set up so that the living quarters of the family are at the back of the establishment, and they don't regularly use the Hotel-proper for a home. It's essentially just for guests, as I understand it. The numbers are still on the doors of the rooms, can you believe it!!!

Whether you see their resident spirit or not, you will have a good time at their place! Just the building itself is worth picking over...it was one of the rare "American" styled Hotels of the time, meaning that they had a ball-room in the upstairs. When we stayed there, I took the liberty of checking over the ball-room. It was just undergoing restoration at the time, and if the rest of the place is any indication, it should now be spectacular!