Stanley Hotel; Arrival

Arriving at The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. We stayed two nights in a row in room 401, the second most 'active' room. It was also the room Jason from TAPS (Ghost Hunters on SciFi) stayed in, and captured a few things happening on video such as a glass breaking and the closer door opening and closing, silently, on it's own. We recorded ourselves opening and closing that same door, and just as Jason stated, it's not quiet at all and latches firmly.

Did we experience anything while staying there? Yes, but nothing as dramatic as a glass breaking (though I did put one on the bedside table the moment we got into the room, just in case). We heard children in the hallways at night, going back and forth, yet there was no footsteps, and no children were seen. Each night I also laid out my rings in specific ways, taking a photo each night of how they laid. The first morning there, one of them had been completely moved. I told the tour guide about this, and he proceeded to tell us about many different occasions where guests in 401 have either lost rings or had them moved. As for the closet, the first morning we found it cracked open after having made sure it was firmly closed that night. The second night I tried leaving it wide open, hoping to find it closed in the morning, but nothing happened.

The hotel was built in 1909 by F.O. Stanley (construction having begun in 1907) who came to live in Estes Park due to poor health. He drove to the small town in a Stanley Steamer, a car that he and his brother had built that ran off steam, while his wife arrived by carriage, having refused to ride up the mountains in the automobile. Stanley built sewers for indoor plumbing, a power plant for electricity, and farmed fish for the local lake as well as brought elk down from the mountains. The only thing the hotel lacked was heating, making it a summer resort. The two loved their hotel greatly, and took great pride in it.

In October of 1973, Stephen King and his wife visited the hotel, and after much credit-card waving was allowed to stay even though the hotel itself would be closed for the season. He had been working on his next novel (a family stranded in an abandoned theme park) but it had not been going well. The Stanley was immediate inspiration, as was the town and mountains surrounding it. Creation of The Shining quickly followed, all inspired by the marvelous hotel and his personal experiences while staying there.

I'll add more once I go back on the recordings I took during the two-hour tour we had while there.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• the
• stanley
• hotel
• colorado
• estes
• park

[drybones703]

holy shit u no that place is haunted

[itsmisty]

It was quite fun.

[mtndrgn]

@mwr0585 Im in room 409 right now, 530 am cant sleep, loud banging woke me up, lol

[dayzee101]

wow!! i like really wanna go there. i live in vail, co and im like so excited to go!!! do they give tours????

[mwr0585]

NO SHIT really i stayed there last summer in room 409

[hellquin]

I live in Boulder, I use to go up to the Stanley in Estes Park every weekend, we know that place like the back of our hands, it really is a spooky place (especially the basement of the music hall)

[winxclubrocks894]

you know the place is huatned

[JASAMisthePHOENIX4Gh]

i loved it up there! it was so pretty, and we did the ghost tour! i lived in colorado at the time though, so i got to go frequently!

[sueishere25]

Wow, that's pretty! I'm glad it wasn't torn down. Is there really a maze there? My nephew says yes and I say no it was just Stephen King's imagination. Thank for sharing.

[Missamelala0]

I went their recently! My friend and I were like screaming!!!!!!!!!!!!

[musthandlewithcare]

Isn't it awesome?? You and I almost reacted the same exact way!! WOW!! That's funny! I hope you guys had fun! We sure did!

[fxcklabels]

Did anything coooool and scary happen to you?!?!

I'm going with my friend summer of 2011 when I graduate high school!

^_^