According to the Stanley Hotel’s website, when inventor Freelan Oscar Stanley arrived in the valley of Estes Park in 1903, he discovered the mountain air helped ease his tuberculosis symptoms. He planned to return to the town every summer until the day he died — but he and his wife, Flora Stanley, were accustomed to a different lifestyle than what Estes Park could offer. They built the Stanley Hotel, which officially opened in 1909, as a home away from home where they could host friends and other guests. The hotel was designed to be top-of-the-line, with electric lights, telephones, bathrooms attached to each room, and a staff of uniformed servants. Stanley Hotel even boasted a fleet of steam-powered automobiles, one of which has been on display at the hotel for decades. By 1917, the tiny hamlet of Estes Park was an official municipality that owed its development to Stanley and his hotel.
Throughout the hotel’s history, there have been reports of ghostly apparitions. When I visited with my family about a decade ago, guests could sign up for a ghost tour that highlighted all of the most haunted rooms in the hotel. Stanley himself is said to wander the halls, most often in the hotel bar. Sightings of his wife Flora have also been reported, usually of her playing her piano in the ballroom. Employees and guests both have reported hearing piano music coming from the room and seeing the keys moving. I didn’t hear the music or see the keys move, but the ballroom does feel colder the closer you get to the beautiful grand piano.
Room 407 is supposedly haunted by Lord Dunraven, the man who owned the land prior to Stanley. Some guests have reported seeing his face in the window even when the room isn’t booked. Room 418 is haunted by children, whose laughter can be heard in the hallways by guests and cleaning crew inhabiting the room. The ghost of a small boy is said to appear outside of room 217, where author Stephen King stayed, and he reportedly saw the child, who was calling out for his nanny. Brave guests on the hotel tour can stand in the closet in one of the haunted rooms, where voices are said to be the loudest. I volunteered, and while I didn’t hear anything besides my own heartbeat in my throat, I can definitely appreciate the kind of fear King must have felt while visiting back in 1974.
