Stanley Hotel

Stanley Hotel, Estes Park Colorado…Do You Have The Shining?

After a day in The Rocky Mountain National Park we made our way to Estes Park for some dinner. When I texted my wife and the GPS came up on her end that I was in Estes Park, she replied back asking if I were truly there, and reminded me the Stanley Hotel was there, a top haunted location we have always wanted to visit. We were off to the Hotel to explore!

What a cool place, definitely have to come back and stay here at some point for sure.

The Stanley inspired horror novelist Stephen King to write The Shining. In 1974, King and his wife Tabitha spent one night in Room 217 while on vacation during their short residency in Boulder, Colorado. Upon arrival, they discovered that they were the only overnight guests. “[The hotel staff] were just getting ready to close for the season, and we found ourselves the only guests in the place — with all those long, empty corridors” He and his wife were served dinner in an empty dining room accompanied by canned orchestral music. “Except for our table all the chairs were up on the tables. So the music is echoing down the hall, and, I mean, it was like God had put me there to hear that and see those things.” The Kings were shown to Room 217. That night, a dream struck King with inspiration for his next book. “I dreamed of my three-year-old son running through the corridors, looking back over his shoulder, eyes wide, screaming. He was being chased by a fire-hose. I woke up with a tremendous jerk, sweating all over, within an inch of falling out of bed. I got up, lit a cigarette, sat in a chair looking out the window at the Rockies, and by the time the cigarette was done, I had the bones of the book firmly set in my mind.” According to King in later interviews, the Stanley served as his model for the Overlook Hotel, the ominous setting of the novel. The hotel in King’s book is an evil entity haunted by its many victims. Room 217 of the Overlook Hotel features prominently in the novel, having been the room at the Stanley where King spent the night.- from Wiki

Thanks for stopping!