The Stanley Hotel
This grand heritage Georgian architecture hotel became popular after Stephen King spent a night here in 1974. He had one of the worst nightmares of his life and it inspired him to write The Shinning. After the book came out people have reported seeing ghosts and spirits here. The Stanley hotel is built on a mountain of quartz. It has a high energy and is prone to paranormal activity. Many spirits are said to live here. I didn’t see any but maybe you will.
History
This land was originally used by the Utes as a hunting ground. The first Anglo settler was Joel Estes. In the mountains a valley is considered a park so the site became Estes Valley and ultimately Estes Park.
Windham Thomas Wyndham-Quin was the 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl. Lord Dunraven was a big game hunter and when he heard of Estes Park, he wanted to use the land as a game park for his aristocratic friends. Problem is he was Irish and only American citizens could claim the land. The posted Act of 1862 allowed an American citizen to claim up to 160 acres of land in areas that had been open for settlement. All they had to do was build a house on it. The government didn’t specify what a house was so people would put 4 pieces of wood together, call it a house and claim the land. Dunraven hired 31 people from Denver to go claim the prized land and he would buy it back from them at a reasonable price. By doing this he acquired 6000 acres in Estes Park. It is known as one of the largest land steals in Colorado history. In 1877 he built a hotel called the Estes Park hotel. It burned down in August 1911 and was never rebuilt. Dunravens spirit has been seen by some guests, standing in the corner of room 407.
In 1903 Freelan O Stanley from the Stanley Motors Carriage Company purchased the land from Lord Dunraven with the intention of building a summer home. He built a hotel instead and wanted to name it The Dunraven but the locals objected because they didn’t like Dunraven. The locals suggested he name it after himself instead and it became The Stanley Hotel.
Freelan Oscar Stanley
Freelan Oscar Stanley and his twin brother Francis Edgar Stanley were entrepreneurs at a very young age. Their father gave them pocket knives and the boys would whittle tops that they sold to their friends. In 1859 when they were 10 years old they started their own maple syrup company.
F.O Stanley then became a teacher and he made compass kits for the school until his factory burned down. When his factory burned down his brother Francis suggested they work together on a dry plate photography process.
In 1885 they created the Stanley Dry Plate Company. They perfected the original design created by Richard Leach Maddox in 1871. They were the first to market the dry plate process (which made photography a whole lot easier) across the country. They made a small fortune selling these dry plates. They used this money to create a steam powered automobile called the Stanley Steamer. In 1898 they started producing their first steam powered automobiles. They sold the Stanley Dry Plate Company process to Kodak in 1904 for $500 000.
F.O Stanley was diagnosed with first tuberculosis in 1881 and in 1903 his tuberculosis came back so strong, it was life-threatening. Back then, there was no cure for tuberculosis. His doctors strongly recommended that he come to Colorado for the high altitude and fresh, dry air. He came to Estes park to recuperate and fell in love with the place. That summer he recovered from tuberculosis and in the fall of 1903 he purchased the land from Dunraven. Many believe that his spirit can still be seen roaming the lobby and billiard room at night.
The Stanley Hotel
In 1907 Stanley decided to build a grand hotel and resort. It took 300 men, working around the clock, 2 years to build an 11 building complex. It was opened in 1909. He wanted an all electric hotel so he built a power plant on Fall river. He built the landfill, the sewers, had a 12 hole golf course and he built a reservoir which is now Stanley lake.
The Bear Joke:
The Stanley’s were the first to introduce automobiles to the west. Early hotel guests would arrive in steam powered coaches from the Lyons train station. The guests had never seen a real bear before. Just before they arrived at the hotel a bear would get up and charge at the steam cars. The driver would shoot the bear, saying “this happens all the time”. It was actually a man in a bear suit that was staged by F.O Stanley and his wife to spook the guests.
He sold the hotel in 1920 to Roe Emery owner of the Rocky mountain tours. It is now owned by John W. Cullen, President of the Grand Heritage Management LLC.
Spirits
I have not seen or heard any paranormal activity here but I still believe it may exist. Here are a few spirits that are believed to live here.
Flora Stanley:
Flora Jane Record Tileston was a teacher and a pianist when she met F.O Stanley. They were married in 1876, they did not have any children. She loved music so much that Stanley built her a music room so that she could entertain the guests on the piano. She was very particular about how things had to be placed and she still rearranges some things in her music room. Some claim to have heard her spirit play the piano.
The children:
Children loved coming to the Stanley Hotel and their spirits have been reported running down the hall or giggling.
Elizabeth Wilson:
On June 25th 1911 The hotel had it’s first power outage due to a flood. All the rooms had a backup gas lantern and chamber maid Elizabeth Wilson was going around and lighting them with a candle. The gas had accumulated in room 217 and when she lit the lantern she set off an explosion that destroyed 10% of the building. Parts of the hotel were found half a mile south of the location. Locals claim they saw a bathtub flying through the air. Miss Wilson flew from the second floor and landed in the dining room on the level below. Miraculously she survived the incident with only broken ankles and multiple burns all over her body. They managed to take her to the closest hospital in Longmont during a flood on a dirt road. She stayed in a coma for 2 days. 18 months later she recovered from her injuries and came back to work at the Stanley until she was 90 years old. She really loved this place and it would make sense that she returned here after she passed away. It is believed that her spirit still works at the Stanley Hotel. It is believed that she is the one who haunts room 217. She doesn’t do anything evil. She is known to fold people clothes and put them away. She tends to rearrange the room to keep it nice and tidy. One guest reported that she made the bed while he was sleeping in it and he had a hard time getting out of it in the morning. She is a friendly spirit.
Infamous ROOM 217
This room became popular after Stephen King spent the night in this room on Sept 30 1974. Back then the hotel closed for the winter and Sept 30 was the last day that it was open for the season. Stephen, his Wife Tabitha and his son were the only guests in the hotel that day. They stayed in presidential suite 217. They ate at the restaurant and had drinks at the bar, Stephen was starting to feel uneasy about the place and decided to go to bed. While he slept he had one of the worst nightmares of his life. He dreamt that a fire hose was chasing his son down the halls. It was constricting him and trying to kill his son. He woke up terrified! He stepped outside to smoke a cigarette and by the time he was finished he had the outline for his book, The Shinning.
The Shinning Movie
The Stanley Kubrick movie The Shinning, featuring Jack Nicholson, was not filmed at the Stanley Hotel. It was filmed in a Hollywood studio and the exterior shots of the hotel were filmed at the Timberline Lodge in Oregon. Stephen King hated Kubrick version and created a mini series in 1997 which was filmed at the Stanley Hotel.
Fun Facts
- The first president to ever ride in an automobile was William McKinley in November 1899. He rode in a Stanley Automobile.
- The Stanley Automobile was the first to reach the top of Mount Washington (the tallest peak in New England) in August 1899.
- The Stanley automobile broke the land speed record in 1906 with one of their steam powered automobiles called the “Rocket Racer”.
- The Stanleys were the first to bring automobiles to the west.
- F.O Stanley established the Fall River Fish Hatchery in 1907.
- F.O Stanley introduced Elk into this area in 1913. Their offsprings are the Elk you see in the valley today.
- In 2015 a hedge maze was built in front of the hotel to connect the hotel to The Shinning but the hedge is not present in the Stephen King book.
- The Stanley was featured in the 1994 movie Dumb and Dumber
Hours
Open year round
Stanley Historic Tour: $23/adult Reservations Highly recommended. 90 minute tour Tours run between 9:30-5pm
Night Spirit Tour: $28/person Reservations required. 90 minute tour Tours run between 6pm-8 pm
Bring good walking shoes. Pets are not allowed here, please leave them at home and not in the car! There is a couple restaurants on site and close by. There is a gift shop that. The restrooms are located downstairs, there are some on the sides of the main staircase as well.
From Denver, Take US-36 to Estes Park. Use 2nd lane from right to turn slightly right unto E Wonderview Ave. Destination is on your left.
From I25 north Take Exit 257 to merge unto US-34 towards Loveland, Slight Right on Big Thompson Ave, Slight Right onto Steamer Dr, left on steamer pkwy
Accommodations
The closest accommodations are in Estes Park, CO. You can also book a night in this hotel. My link will search through all the sites to find you the best prices!
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