After becoming addicted to the Sci Fi channel’s “Ghost Hunters”, my wife and I could not resist the opportunity to tour the Stanley Hotel while staying in beautiful Estes Park Colorado. In my mind I had pictured the hotel to be in an isolated valley, remembering the depiction in Stephen King’s “The Shining”. However, when we arrived, we discovered that it is actually right in the town of Estes Park and not very isolated at all. This did not take away from the grandiose stature of the hotel. An overnight dusting of snow, made our first glimpse of the hotel look like a majestic, peaceful, and welcoming resort.
The ghost tour of the hotel was quite interesting, and there was a large group of people in attendance. Be sure to make reservations at www.stanleyhotel.com as there only a limited amount of people allowed per tour. There was a good balance in story telling between the history of the hotel and its infamous ghost stories. I would not recommend bringing kids on this tour, as they will probably not enjoy the story of F.O. Stanley and his Stanley Steamer company and/or may be frightened by the ghost stories. Oh, and I almost forgot, don’t forget your camera! This is a very old building, built in the early 1900’s, and there is plenty to take pictures and marvel at.
After hearing the tales of how the hotel came to be, the story of how Stephen King came to the hotel and was inspired to write “The Shining”, and finding out that parts of Dumb and Dumber were shot in the hotel, it was finally time to hear the ghost stories. Strangely enough, there was a story about Jim Carrey staying at the hotel during the filming of Dumb and Dumber. He was only checked into his room for a short time before he came out and refused to stay the night there. There was also an empty ballroom with a piano in it. Sometimes, late at night, guests will complain of someone playing the piano, only to find out that the room was closed and no one was in it. There were countless stories from guests, of the paranormal experiences they had in their rooms. Since the Stanley is a functioning hotel we did not get to see very many of the rooms. We did however, get to go down in the basement where there are tunnels, and take a few pictures. I was able to capture quite a few orbs, and whether they were paranormal phenomenon or just dust, it was still fun!
I have been on quite a few ghost tours, and this one ranks high on the list as far as the presentation of the tour itself. The tour guide was fun, incorporated guests into the story telling process, and was very knowledgeable when asked questions. The tour was lacking however, in the scare factor, due to the fact that it was in the middle of the day and it was with a large group of people. I will say that the tour made me want to stay the night there, just for a chance to do a little of my own ghost hunting. So if you find yourself near Estes Park while you’re in Colorado, make sure you visit this famous haunted hotel and take the tour or maybe even stay overnight.
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