A Visit to the Historic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park

Nestled in a lush valley in Estes Park, Colorado, and situated on 160 acres at a 7,500-foot elevation (2286 M) is the historic Stanley Hotel.  My husband and I wanted to take a few days to celebrate our June birthdays by staying in the Stanley Hotel for a second time--our first visit was nine years ago--click here- to read that post.

Located about five miles from the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, the Stanley Hotel was built by Freelan Oscar Stanley, co-founder of the Stanley Motor Carriage Company, and opened on July 4, 1909, as a hotel resort and also as a health retreat for sufferers of pulmonary tuberculosis in that era. The hotel and its surrounding structures are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the hotel includes a restaurant, spa, and bed-and-breakfast; with panoramic views.

It's a beautiful hotel in a beautiful town!

Please click on the photo collage above to enlarge it and to read the quote by FO Stanley on the statue pedestal.

 F.O. Stanley(1849–1940) was stricken with a life-threatening resurgence of tuberculosis and had been sent west by his doctor, as it was thought that mountain air would improve his health. He did feel better staying in the town of Estes Park and fell in love with the area. He bought land from Lord Dunraven and built his magnificent hotel there--a complex of eleven buildings, some of which are still in use today.

The hotel recently went through some interior renovations... 

...and everything looked bright and shining!

The Shining paraphernalia in the hotel gift shop.

Speaking of "shining" the Stanley Hotel is also considered one of the most haunted hotels in the country! It earned this reputation after the author Stephen King stayed at the hotel in room 217 and had a paranormal experience that was so impactful to him that it inspired him to write one of his scariest novels: The Shining.  The novel is much scarier than the movie!

The Stanley Hotel features a variety of rooms with high paranormal activity including the famous Stephen King Suite 217, the Ghost Hunters' favorite room 401, as well as 407, and 428. These are among their most-requested rooms, so availability is limited. Among many tours, the hotel also offers The Shining Tour.

Did we see a ghost this time or have a paranormal experience during our stay? No, not this time, although I was on the alert for one. If you read my post from nine years ago you can learn that these keys behind the check-in desk began to sparkle and glow as we were in the process of checking in. I was confused by how they were appearing that way and quickly lifted my camera and took a photo of them. When I returned home and downloaded my photos I saw a blurry form to the bottom left and a woman's hand reaching out towards the keys. The hand had an old-fashioned ruffled cuff and I like to think it was Mrs, Stanley who was welcoming us to the hotel!
This time the keys remained normal, or perhaps my imagination wasn't getting carried away "seeing things"? Nonetheless, we enjoyed our stay at the hotel and its historic beauty.

After checking in to the hotel we were excited to drive to Rocky Mountain National Park! Beginning May 26 through October 22 the park requires an advanced purchased timed entry permit for peak hours of 9AM to 2PM. We were entering after 4PM so we knew we'd have a few hours to enjoy the park that evening, and we had our permit for the next day. In my next post, I'll show some of the sights in the park. Although it was June, there was still lots of snow in many areas!

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