The Stanley Hotel

Will not stay here again. Brought a big group. Rooms are mediocre at best. Service is terrible. Food is fine. Highlight of the stay were the bar staff. 5 stars to them. 0 stars to everything else. They have invested far more in their ghost tours and the production than the hotel experience.

The Stanley Hotel has an identity crisis.
The hotel portrays itself as a destination, high-​end hotel. But basics are missing. Our room (322) had dirty mirrors, sheets with stains on them, chipped paint, and was just worn. Granted, the hotel is old and that is to be expected, but the furnishings were sparse. Further, old doesn’t mean it should be dirty. The staff appeared to have pride in the building and their jobs, but that didn’t translate to the product.
The hotel also features many supernatural aspects of its history, including being the hotel which inspired Stephen King’s «The Shining.» But we took a tour of the hotel and the tour guide (Rob was great) says the owners are trying to downplay the supernatural aspects because those owners don’t like visitors playing Ouija in the halls at night. Meantime, «The Shining» plays on the TVs, the tour is all about the spooky history, and there is a freaking «house psychic.» I say embrace the hotel’s past, don’t make those visiting feel like they are not welcome. (I wasn’t there for the horror aspect, so it didn’t bother me. But it is an indication of a disconnect here.
Oh, and the Wifi didn’t work. I called the front desk several times about it, only to be told to try again in another 15 minutes. It never came on. I went without Wifi. It was bad enough to not have it, but to be told several times that it would be up in 15 minutes was ridiculous. I should have been called when it did come up… though I doubt it was fixed.
We paid $ 262 for a weekday evening. This was $ 100 too much, even if it was clean.
This hotel could stand to be owned by a management group or hotel chain. It’s too big, with too much history and necessary improvements. I prefer independents usually, so I do not say that lightly.
I only recommend this hotel if you are a fan of the supernatural, a history geek, or a Stephen King/​The Shining fan. Just be prepared to be afraid of the sheets.

Great tour for the price. Our guide Mary gave a nice overview of the history and fiction that surrounds the hotel. We plan to come back some day and stay in a «haunted» room.

Well, I been going to Estes Park for 40 years. My wife and I stayed a night at the Stanley, but mostly we ate and had drinks in the bar.
My wife and I spent last Wed night in Estes. We drove to the Stanley for lunch. The young man requested 10 bucks for parking !
Really ?
It seems the Stanley thinks they are going to keep out the riff raf by charging you to park so you can eat there. Been there plenty of times no need to see it agian.
Like others have said houses have been built right up to the back gate. Plus now a building is bieng built right next to the hotel that is made to mimic the hotel .
There have been some bad decisions made up there .
Gary

This is an overpriced tourist trap. The hotel is supposedly haunted and is the location for the miniseries The Shining as well as the inspiration for the book. Note: the hotel has nothing to do with the movie. The tree labyrinth was planted in 2015 so it’s still baby trees and shrubs. There were no signs of ghosts that I saw and I feel like almost every haunted location I’ve spent the night I’ve had something happen that was at least unexplained. Not here. It was too hot and they don’t have mini fridges or air conditioning in the rooms. There was a malfunctioning message notification on the room phone. The toilet kept running all the time. Although I told the front desk and they were very apologetic and responsive. The gift store and café have pretty limited hours, so plan for that.

The good: Architecturally this place is everything you would ever want with a historical structure that’s about 100 years old. There is a lot of history here from celebrity visits to ghostly encounters. The restaurant and whiskey bar is a great experience to have a couple of drinks before your stay and you must make a visit downstairs to see some of the archives of the hotel and it’s history.
The bad: It’s losing its historical appeal and is being overrun by amateur ghost hunters and haunting enthusiasts. I stayed in a room on the second floor within the vicinity of Stephen King’s room and there was foot traffic going by my room all night until about 10 PM. The lobby is always full with people walking around and taking pictures and participating in the ghost tours.
Despite the slight downsides, I still very highly recommend a stay here no matter what your intentions are. I came because I am an avid fan of the film Dumb and Dumber and was also looking for a nice spooky stay. And let’s just say I got the full experience.

Very cute and well decorated hotel. Lots of history and great stories. The history isn’t much on «The Shining» or «Dumb and Dumber» but more history on the people that built the hotel. BUT $ 240 for a hotel room with an old cotton mattress, no closet, no air conditioning, and very expensive restaurant. I think not. Also, the floors are so creaky, it’s ridiculous. I understand that an older hotel is going to have squeaky floors if they are wooden, but these are so bad that you can hear the neighbors on both sides walking through their room, people walking past your room in the hallway and a couple of rooms and the hallway above you… I would not choose to stay there again.

We came to the hotel by chance. It is a wonderful place. Service is great. Rooms are nice. Historic old hotel. There are supposedly ghosts, but we didn’t see any. They do ghost tours, but we didn’t do those. The Shining was inspired by this hotel. Bar is beautiful and we ended up eating at the bar. Food was good too. Wasn’t anything over the top, but good. A little pricy.

I’m giving four stars because the hotel visit was more than just a place to lay my head at night. It is a beautifully maintained historic hotel. The grounds and the setting are breathtaking. I did get that spooked out experience, which is exactly what I expected. The only dissapointments were the ghost tour and dinner at the Whisky Bar. Also, the staff were friendly, but seemed as if it was everyone’s first week on the job.

The Stanley Hotel used to be the «Palace on the Hill» overlooking Estes Park…
They are slowly, but surely being squeezed out of their beautiful property surrounding the hotel.
Sooo… soooo… sad on what the management has done to my favorite, historic, beautiful hotel.
The property around the hotel is slowly, but surely being filled up with «support» buildings. There used to be a huge piece of land out front for the elk to graze… Not any more.
Who put up the tree «maze» in front of the steps… BAD IDEA
Who put up a terrible piece of art that does not match the décor in the front where the wedding ceremonies take place.
Now a message to the thousands of people who visit this treasure of Estes Park.
STOP having your little kids jump all over the historic, old furniture in the lobby and the stairwells.
STOP leaving your litter on the grounds and the lobby.
STOP changing your kids diapers in the bathrooms and leaving a mess behind for the rest of us to see…
I know that it is a tourist attraction… but please…
Show a little respect.

Our stay at The Stanley Hotel was a wonderful experience. Excellent service, beautiful setting, spectacular views, and a certain charm that sets this hotel apart from the others. We came for the Great Escapes event and fell in love with this charming Victorian hotel.

I paid an extra $ 130 for «haunted room» 428, but the only thing haunting was the behavior of the other guests in the hotel. It didn’t help that the walls are paper thing and that the obnoxious children could fit under the gap between the door and the floor.
Throughout the night, there was an ungodly banging. It wasn’t a ghost or a spirit or Bigfoot, just the wind clanging against the taped-​up window. It could have been the heating because it was hotter than hell in the room also.
Instead of going to the Cascades Restaurant for whiskey, we should have walked down the street to the local liquor store and bought whiskey there. It would have been cheaper and more pleasant to get tanked in our room than with the annoying table of local drunks schmoozing it up with the owner of The Stanley.

I really wanted to like The Stanley but even being a low maintenance guy I was disappointed. It’s historic and beautiful but the accommodations are over priced and underwhelming. I paid the same rate as my friends who were getting married and while they got a «full size» room, we got a shoe box so small I had to turn sideways to get in and out of bed. Like a slice of toast. There was a 4 inch drop in the floor from one side of the room to the other because the beams are sagging. Same in some of the hallways. Housekeeping wakes you up every morning at 930. Happy vacation! Touch anything in the hotel and you will see purple sparks and regain lost childhood memories. The Stanley is a static electricity farm. Even my friend’s room was small and unremarkable for the price. This is not a luxury hotel. It’s banking on history and ghost marketing and they charge accordingly.
The hotel has some cache as a hotspot for ghosts, and both nights we stayed there were drunken derelicts going up and down the hallways yelling, swearing, slamming doors and trying to convince each other they coukd see busted ghosts. «Dood! Did u hear dat? What the hell made that door move!?» «Holy £€¥# brah, I just saw sumfin!» You wanna see some ghosts, jacka$$? Go play pac man. Or watch The Shining, which runs on a 24 hour loop in every room because they used a shot of the exterior for 10 frames of the movie. It’s 2 in the $&@%ing morning.
The restaurant was quite good at least. The hotel is beautiful, but you can visit without paying 250 a night for a converted janitor’s closet. I would not stay here again.

For the price I would stay somewhere else it’s over 180 a night and not impressive at all… the resturant are ridiculous in price and portions are small… only thing that makes it 3 stars is staff is friendly and there is a lot of history. I would recommend just taking tour and staying at the other hotels in estes.

Walked around the grounds! Had a patron shot at the onyx topped bar! Incredible! Estes Park is unrivaled in its majestic beauty! This hotel is grand and beautiful! A must see! Stephen King fans know!

We booked and paid for our room in June 2015 2 beds and show up in March «sorry problem with your room we only have one bed (not even a king) for you»
No compensation and no real reason expect obviously they can charge more giving a 2 beds room to a party of 3 or more since we are only a couple! Well we don’t even sleep in same bed at home since a drunk driver hit us and messed up both our backs in September — staying here last night was torture. And not the haunted variety!
These people must have Failed their hospitality management courses do yourself a favor and DO NOT STAY HERE or lie and say you have 4 people if you have 2 so they don’t sell off your other bed!
I won’t be back here ever unless they try and make it right and upgrade me a to the room I paid for 9 months ago!

Never checked into the hotel. Just walked through to check out the Shining hype. The maze out front is awesome. The history of the hotel/​mansion is interesting. There was some messy construction out front, but I’m sure it’s gorgeous at its best. I don’t do ghosts and paranormal, so I probably will never stay here.
Gift shop is stupid overpriced. The props and touristy stuff were fun!

Heeeere’s Johnny! This place has great architecture and good views of the mountains. Not really the feel I expected it to give off, The Shining vibe was cloud covered that day. all in all the grounds were beautifully scaped, A lot of construction was going on though. I would definitely recommend anybody to go, due to the history of the house. But, don’t expect to be blown away.
Jack Nicholson was here, that’s enough reason for me to enjoy being there.

Took the night ghost tour with Bekah. She was very informative and entertaining. The tour was a blast! Suspenseful, and interesting! We were in the concert hall while she was talking about a stowaway from the 70’s named Lucy, who likes to sing and dance. And all of a sudden we started hearing humming! The entire room heard it, off and on for a good couple of minutes, it was creepy! Can’t wait to come back and do the day ghost tour!

I’m a little late in this review. A couple of years a go, went there to celebrate our birthdays. A lot of people went. Got a special cake made. We booked room 401. Went and checked in. The room wasn’t ready and were told we would get called when it was. They were nice enough to store our cake their restaurant refrigerator while we walked around town. After walking through town, got the cake and put it in our room. Went to the downstairs bar for a while. The bar was decent.
We partied in our room, had food, drank and played games. Then everyone left. Don’t know if we were visited that night. Not in the correct frame of mind to see them.
Everything was nice. I have no complaints. If you are willing to spend the money its an awesome place to stay, even for 1 night

REDRUM
That’s the first thing I think of when someone mentions the Stanley. Of course, that iconic line is from the horror movie, The Shining, which was inspired by a book written by Steven King… and what inspired him to write this novel? The Stanley Hotel.
We drove around and wanted to park but it was cold, snowy, we had a car full of people and parking was limited and sadly so was our time.
I think what was the most surprising was that this hotel suddenly pops out of nowhere and it’s kind of in the middle of «town». Where in the movie it looks like its completely isolated and located somewhere in the wilderness.
I plan on coming back… maybe to stay… I don’t know because I’m scared of ghosts and I hear this place is haunted!