Touring The Stanley

The Stanley Hotel, in Estes Park, attracts millions of tourists from around the world every year. One reason is because it is a beautiful old hotel, built by F.O. Stanley in 1909, as one of the most elegant hotels west of the Mississippi. It is nestled in our gorgeous Rocky Mountains. But another reason why it is so popular is because it is also one of the most haunted hotels in the United States and the world as well. I love it for both reasons.

After a week of college tours, Skyler really wanted to go see the Stanley, for the haunted reasons mostly. So as a reward, on their last full day of visiting Colorado, a trip to the Stanley was on the books.

We weren’t sure if we were going to make it though, since we had a little automotive setback on our way up the mountain. It was raining, not hard, but raining enough where the windshield wipers were needed, and on the freeway, not to long after we started our trek, my windshield wiper flew off as we were driving. We had to stop and replace it, and even had to cancel our original reservation. But we got the windshield wiper replaced, and were only set back by about an hour, so we all decided to pursue with the plans. We could not get another time for the same tour we booked, but fortunately, we were able to do another one instead. It was probably a better tour anyway. Everything all worked out and we were all happy. 🙂

Outside with our tour.

The famous maze from “The Shining”.

Estes Park is only about an hour northwest of us, so we go up quite often, but it is always a great tourist destination for visitors and locals alike.

We took the historic tour, rather than the tour based on “The Shining”, the book, movie and TV series inspired by Author Stephen King that he made so famous. This tour included a lot of history, as well as the spirited sightings and about the movies and TV shows that have been made up there. The tour did not take us into any of the haunted guest rooms, though I have actually stayed in one before, but we did get to see them.

The tour started in the Opera House, and we all definitely knew we had some new tour group members joining us. We could smell their presence. Sometimes we smelled a musky fragrance in certain locations, and other times we detected the scent of strong, sweet smelling roses, the fragrance of Flora Stanley, the owner’s wife.

We visited the Billiard Rooms, where the men would go, and we definitely picked up on the smell of cigars from the men.

Room 217 is the infamous room that started all the folklore about the hauntings. This is where Stephen King had his inspirational moments.

The tour ended down in the basement, in the tunnels. A lot of ghostly encounters occur regularly down in the tunnels.

Because The Stanley was actually built into the mountain, there are petrified tree trunks that are now part of the foundations of the hotel.

The most “spirited room” in The Stanley, however, is The Whiskey Room.

We all (except for Skyler) tried some of the distilled spirits too.

Now I am not sure if there are ethereal spirits in these photos or not, but they have an air about them that says they just might have some friendly ghosts who photobombed us. I will let you decide. These were taken from a “portal” looking into the seance room. Yes, there is some glare from the window, but it also looks like there is someone looking back at us as well.

After touring the grounds and mingling with spirits of both kinds, we worked up a bit of an appetite, so a few snacks and more “spirits” at the restaurant were in order.

As were we leaving the hotel to return home, there were a few young white-tailed mule deer just outside.

There is something for everyone at The Stanley Hotel. I love going up there, and I have had quite a few other-worldly experiences there too. In fact, I seem to have them almost every time I go. That is part of the whole Stanley experience. I say “bring them on”. For the most part, the spirits at The Stanley are friendly and don’t wish anyone any harm. They just want to be included and never forgotten.

Enjoy the spirits however they come to you. Have a great day and make everyday a spirited day. Stay well and stay safe. ‘Til next time.