Gympie region hotel's ghost stories will give you the creeps

When we heard about the man walking through the kitchen behind Emma on a graveyard shift four years ago, you can be sure there were goosebumps.

The Grand Hotel at Goomeri.

AT RISK of sounding like the boy who cried ghost, there is definitely something eerie about Joe's Grand Hotel in Goomeri.

I've already shared my experience of seeing an old man walk past my car on a drive home from work earlier this year, and his vanishing act still has me feeling equally confused and gullible.

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Emma and Sally outside Room 11 of Joe's Grand Hotel in Goomeri. Picture: Troy Jegers

There was talk of apparent spectres wandering the aptly named Grand Hotel's hallways before I paid my own visit on Thursday morning, but I wasn't expecting staff to tell me about anything more sinister than a few bumps in the night.

So when manager Emma Lucas opened discussions by mentioning the man her husband saw walk through the kitchen behind her on a graveyard shift four years ago, you can be sure there were goosebumps. They remained when Emma told us about the barmaid who shouted profanities at paranormal investigators, when we ascended the staircase one former cleaner said she'd been pushed down by an unseen presence, and still when we toured the infamous Room 11.

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This photo shows the ruins of the original Grand Hotel at Goomeri which was destroyed by fire on December 24, 1939.Photo John Oxley Library. Picture: Contributed

There are more guests at that hotel than the ones who ring and book a room, but I don't mean that in a disrespectful way.

Spooks and scares often sound like jokes, but the hotel's tragic history - in which nine people perished in a horrible 1939 fire - casts a more sombre mood over those who may or may not still lurk on the same grounds today.

Luckily the haunts don't dominate the hotel itself. Emma and the staff are wonderful and welcoming to all visitors, the building looks beautiful inside and out, and the atmosphere is as jovial as any Aussie pub.

So if you find yourself visiting fair Goomeri, stop and stay awhile. You never know what you might find.