The Stanley

"The whole place was empty.
But it wasn't really empty. Because here in the Overlook things just went on and on. Here in the Overlook all times were one."
                   The Shining, Stephen King, p. 339

Just over a month and a half ago, I had the opportunity to go stay at The Stanley for a couple of nights - that infamous hotel which was the inspiration for Stephen King's The Shining. I had seen the movie by Stanley Kubrick a few years ago. And after being thoroughly terrified while watching it for the first time, it became a Halloween favorite.

Then I saw the Ghost Hunters episode when they visited The Stanley in Estes Park, CO. And I knew I needed to go there! A few years later and I finally had the chance.

And it did NOT disappoint!

My sisters and I arrived in Estes Park on a Friday afternoon. It is a beautiful little town situated in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Check-in time at The Stanley wasn't until 4pm, so we had a few hours to kill - which we did browsing through the gift shops and stores along the main boulevard.

After eating and shopping and buying some belt buckles, we made our way up the hill to The Stanley. It sits impressively over Estes Park...you really can't miss seeing it from any point in town.

We still had some time to spare, so we toured the grounds and hung out in some of the very comfortable chairs by the fireplace.

Finally, it was 4pm and I went to check us in. I had been hoping that we would get a room on the fourth floor - that is the floor that is supposed to have the most activity (not the floor that Stephen King actually stayed on - but the floor where he heard the children playing up and down in the hallway). To my great delight, as I was handed the hotel keys, I saw that we were checked-in to room 418...so excited to be on the fourth (and topmost) floor!

We grabbed the elevator (an Otis Elevator, wtih many of its original trappings from 1909) and rode it to the top.

As we stepped off onto the fourth floor, we walked by room 401 - the room made famous from the Ghost Hunters' first stay at The Stanley...and were excited to see (at least the outside of the door) that infamous room.

Our room was around the corner, about half-way down the hallway on the east side...room 418.

The room was cozy...as in not very big. But a beautiful room, nonetheless. It held a queen bed, a dresser, a small beside table, and a chair...with just enough room to maneuver around.

And since there was only one bed, they had brough in a roll-a-way bed for us to use...which my sisters promptly elected me to sleep in. Their reasoning: since we were to be sleeping in a haunted hotel, I got to sleep in a bed all by myself. Gee...thanks.

The room was very nicely decorated. One of the best features of the room was the walk-in closet, which was right by the bed. Instead of a bar to put hangers on, it had a row of hooks all the way around. Which I thought was very quaint.

I joked about the closet being big enough that I could just place the roll-a-way bed and sleep in there. As I was soon to find out, though...it was a good thing I didn't.

We settled ourselves, freshened up, and then headed out to take the last history and ghost tour being offered that day. The tour was interesting. They took us all around the grounds - which consist of the main building:

The manor building (built after the likeness of the main hotel, but just on a much smaller scale):

and the Concert Hall:

We were told the history of The Stanley, as well as the ghostly happenings that have been reported in particular areas. Many of the areas we couldn't necessarily go into. There were so many weddings happening that weekend, and every room in the hotel was booked. For many of the places, we just saw the outside of them.

Room 217 was our first stop. This is where it all started - at least for Stephen King. The story goes that back in the 70s, in the month of October I believe, King and his wife were trying to drive over the Rocky Mountains. However, winter sometimes comes really early to those high passes, and they were eventually stopped by road closure and forced to turn around. as they travelled back down the mountains, they passed through Estes Park and King saw The Stanley sitting on the hill.

Thinking it would soon be dark anyway and that they would need to find a place to stay, King and his wife decided to see if they could get a room in that hotel. However, as they were informed by the manager that the hotel was closed for the winter...that the night before had been their last night open (at this time the hotel regularly closed for the winters due to snow and lack of tourists). The place intrigued King, though, and somehow he convinced the manager to let them stay the night. And they were shown to room 217.

The story continues that King and his wife dropped off their luggage and then left for awhile. When they came back to their room later that evening, their clothes had been neatly folded and put away, and their luggage stacked int he closet. Thinking that the housekeepers had taken care of their things, King later thanked the manager for their thoughtfulness. The manager replied that no one had gone into their room (they were working on a skeleton crew, since the hotel was officially closed) and even if they had, they would not have touched any of the guests' things.

Baffled, and intrigued, King spent the evening exploring the lonely and empty hotel. Other stories I've heard relate that King actually heard the sound of children playing with a ball on the fourth floor. And later that night, he had a dream where one of the white firehoses, attached to the nozzles that are found on each floor, came alive and began chasing one of his sons. This dream went on to become a part of his book.

The next morning, King and his wife packed up, thanked their hosts, and left Estes Park. Seven weeks later, King - who had been struggling at that time with a suitable story to write - had a complete outline for the book now known as The Shining.

Disclaimer: don't quote this for gospel on my part. This is just how I remember our guide at The Stanley telling the story, and other rumors I have heard. Is it all true? I would like to think that it is, but I can't say for sure. Either way, it is an undisputed fact that King's stay at The Stanley was his inspiration to write The Shining.

From room 217 we continued on our tour of the main hotel. We were next taken up to the fourth floor and told the story of room 401. It is thought that Lord Dunraven - the man from whom F.O. Stanley bought the 160 acres on which to build The Stanley - is the active spirit in that room.

While we were clustered around the door to room 401, the guests who were stying in that room, disembarked from the elevator. You could tell they were a little annoyed that yet another group was outside of their hotel room, being told the ghost stories. But that's what you get for staying in one of the most popular rooms in a haunted hotel! The guide finished telling us the stories, and just as we were leaving to head to another part of the floor, the door to room 401 opened and the man staying in that room asked if anty of us would like to come in and see the infamous closet. The closet was said to be the place where the ghost like to "hide" while in the room. What is it about ghosts & closets? Or ghosts & attics for that matter? Anyway, there had been reports of people going into the closet and feeling like they were being touched and other strange things. No one was stepping forward to take up his offer, so I raised my hand and said "I'll do it!" I went into the room, stepped in the closet, and he closed the door behind me.

The closet was small...very, very small. There was just enough room for me to stand inside with the clothes that were hanging there and the ironing board. Definitely not big like the closet in our room.

I could hear the guest and the others on the tour talking right outside the door. I waited for about a minute - I know, not nearly enough time to have anything happen, if anything was going to happen (but I really didn't want to intrude on the guy for very long) - took a couple of pictures with my camera, then opened the door and stepped. Inside it had felt like...a closet. No heavy feeling. No cold fingers trailing through my hair, or hands touching my back. Nothing. As far as I was concerned...it was a closet.

After I came out, another woman on the tour went inside. She stayed inside for less time than me and came out totally freaked and claiming that there were weird feelings in there. Not to discredit what another thinks they are experiencing..but come on...reall? Yeah...I don't think so.

We thanked our generous host, and continued our tour on the fourth floor. Our tour guide brought us about halfway down the hall toward our room, and stopped us at a point where there is a little nook in the wall and a couch. The fourth floor, back when the place was built, was where the children and their nannies would stay. That was one reason why so much of the activity on that floor was attributed to children. As our tour guide was telling us about the going-ons, she mentioned that, besides room 217 and room 401, there were two other active rooms in the hotel - rooms 418 & 428.

What the...??? Wait a minute...did she just say room 418? Really? Room 418? As in...our room...room 418? The three of us looked at one another. Uh oh. It's one thing to be staying in a haunted hotel...and another to be staying in one of the actual haunted rooms!

The guide told us that a mother and her nine-year-old daughter had stayed in room 418 in The Stanley. The next day, as they were checking out, the desk clerk asked how their stay was. The little girl piped up that a little boy had awoken her in the middle of the night, tickling her toes! The desk clerk asked what the little girl had done when she woke up and saw that. The girl replied "I told him to stop bother me." "And did he?" was the desk clerk's question. "Yes," the little girl replied.

I think I'll keep my toes covered tonight.

It wasn't long after that we finished the tour. The last stop was down in the basement of the hotel. The employee passageways are down there. In some parts you can see where the tunnels had been cut out of the mountainside.

This passageway is no longer used. During the Ghost Hunters' live Halloween show from The Stanley, the two main investigators - Jason and Grant - were down in these tunnels and while inside this tunnel they heard a voice say hello, hello...and then some creepy, ghostly laughter. We didn't hear anythign like that down there. And even if there were a voice, there was so many things going on in the hotel right then, we wouldn't even have noticed.

The tour was interesting. We enjoyed taking it and learning the history of this beautiful old hotel, as well as hearing the ghost stories. I don't mind confessing that we were a little leery as we headed back to our "haunted" room. However...it felt no different as we walked in. And I regret to say...we never really felt anythign out the ordinary while we were in the room that weekend.

Earlier int he day I had convinced my sisters to get tickets to go on an actual ghost hunt of The Stanley that they offer on the weekends. So, our night of ghostly stories wasn't over quite yet. It turned out to be kind of an interesting night...but I'll save that story for the next posting.

Sweet dreams.