Address: 333 E Wonderview Ave, Estes Park, CO 80517
Pricing: $23/day tour, $15/family history tour, $28/night tour
If you know me, you know I love everything scary, haunted, paranormal, creepy and downright terrifying. I'll watch a horror movie alone in my room at 2a.m., and whenever an opportunity presents itself, I'll find myself of the doorstep of some of the most haunted places in America.
That's how we ended up at The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado.
Most notably the face claim for the Overlook Hotel in the movie adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining, The Stanley Hotel is a 142 room Colonial Revival hotel built to entertain some of the most prestigious visitors flocking to Colorado from the coasts. Today, the hotel features a restaurant, spa and bed-and-breakfast, and provides guided tours (and ghostly encounters). While we didn't take a tour of either historical or paranormal nature, we did do our fair share of research and wandering to learn all we could about the hotel, the grounds, and just how haunted one of America's most haunted locations actually is.
And by we I mean, you guessed it, me and Ashley.
If you take anything away from this post let it be this... these are the haunted hot spots: Rooms 217, 401, and 428, The Concert Hall, The Grand Staircase
While you can immerse yourself in a rich historical tour, I can also give you a brief rundown of each and every hot spot that will take much less time and won't require a trip to Estes Park. But if you do venture that way, you have to promise me you'll at least visit the grounds.
Room 217
The birthplace of the idea that became Stephen King's The Shining, this room has a library of King novels. The room is thought to be haunted by Elizabeth Wilson, the hotel's head housekeeper. Guests have reported items moved, luggage unpacked, and lights being turned on and off. Oh, and Mrs. Wilson is old-fashioned: She doesn’t like it when unmarried guests shack up together, so some couples have reported feeling a cold force come between them.
Room 401
Guests will report hearing children running around, laughing, giggling and playing. Plus, there’s a famous closet that tends to open and shut on its own in this room. The entire 4th floor was once an attic where female employees, nannies and children stayed.
Room 428
Guests have reported hearing footsteps above them and furniture moving about. But that’s actually physically impossible given the slope of the roof, tour guides say. There's also a friendly cowboy who appears at the corner of the bed.
The Concert Hall
A paranormal hub in our favorite haunted hotel... Paul, one of the well-known ghosts haunting The Stanley, was a hotel handyman. His job now? Enforcing an 11 p.m. curfew at the hotel, which could be why guests and workers hear “get out” being uttered late at night... a favorite spot for hotel founder Flora Stanley’s ghost to play the piano... Lucy, who entertains the requests of ghost hunters, often communicating with them with flashing lights.
The Grand Staircase
A popular passageway for the hotel’s resident ghosts with many apparitions appearing in photographs at the top of the stairs.
And other attractions...
The Stanley Hedge Maze
After you have your fill of the paranormal, another "cool" location on the grounds of the Stanley Hotel is the hedge maze inspired by The Shining. Designed by a New Yorker, the maze is free to Stanley visitors.
And don't forget, the views from the hotel are phenomenal...
This won't be my last paranormal post. In fact, a lot of my trip planning in the future is based around particularly haunted locations.
More later.
Ciao,
Courtney
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