Haunted Halls: Discovering the Spirits of the Stanley Hotel
My first stay at the famous Stanley Hotel had me up all night long.
My first visit to the Stanley Hotel, located in the mountain town of Estes Park, was a sleepless night filled with unexplainable experiences. The Stanely is known for its connection to Stephen King’s “The Shining”. King says he dreamed of the concept of the story while staying in room 217.
What I didn’t know before my visit was the stories of hauntings that often occur on the fourth floor of the main hotel.
History
The Stanley Hotel was built by F.O. and Flora Stanley in 1909. Back then, F.O. was suffering from tuberculosis and found the clean mountain air of Estes Park, Colorado, to be a cure. He and his wife decided to build a massive hotel for wealthy summer vacationers coming from the East Coast.
As custom with the times, guests would travel with their children and staff. Children were to be seen but not heard. Along with their nannies, they would be housed on the fourth floor of the hotel. Parents resided, mingled and dined on the floors below.
Hair raising
My experience during my first stay was during the Valentine’s Day weekend celebrations. During this time, the hotel hosts fancy dinners and weddings. It’s a time for couples, engagements and romance.
My room was on the fourth floor, in a small room on the corner of the U-shaped layout. The ceilings are slanted and the windows stand out against the slope. Because my visit was in February, it was also windy and snowy outside.
At one point in my evening, I ventured out to look for an ice machine. While wandering the halls, I passed the stairs leading up to the bell tower. It was roped off and unaccessible to guests but when I approached it, the hairs on my arms stood up. It was not drafty or anything but I still had a bit of a chill when passing by. I was startled by laughter coming from a nearby suite. I found my reaction a bit silly and headed back to my room, never finding the ice machine.
Sleepless night
When I finally turned in for bed, it was past midnight. I struggled to sleep the first night of being in a new space and it didn’t help that this room was noisy. Between the wind rattling the windows and the snow blowing down the slope of the roof, it was hard to fall asleep, but at some point I did.
A noise woke me around 3 a.m. when I glanced at the red lights of the clock. I shifted in bed and closed my eyes but new sounds kept me awake. It sounded like someone was running down the hallways. The muted, repetitive thumps outside my room were irritating. Who was up at this hour?
I got up from my bed and peered out the peephole at the door but didn’t see anything. I headed back to bed and waited. The footsteps returned, along with the sound of a bouncing ball. It had a higher pitch than the footsteps which reminded me of those large, pastel balls kids play with. I could hear it bounce off the walls and then the floors and I became angry.
I went back to the door opened it swung my head out the door and peered down the hallway to my right. It was empty. I peered down to the left, as far as I could see, and nothing. The hallway was silent.
Heading back in the room, and shutting the door, the hairs on my arms stood up again. I lingered for a second and made sure the lock on the door engaged. I climbed back in bed only for the sounds to start up again before I was fully under the sheets.
At this point, fear was taking over and the lack of explanation had my brain filling in all kinds of missing blanks. I pulled the blankets over my head and laid there, eyes pushed closed. I listened to the running and the bouncing ball, and child laughter. I convinced myself that I was imagining everything and none of it was really happening.
I never went back to sleep and as soon as the sun was up, I packed up and headed down the the reception desk to check out and I returned home with an unsettling feeling.
Imagination, or real?
A couple of nights after my stay at the Stanely Hotel, I was watching the Travel Channel’s program on haunted hotels. The Stanley was featured and they talked about the ghosts of the children and servants that had stayed on the fourth floor. They interviewed people who had told a very similar story to my own. Balls bouncing at night. Children laughing. And running.
I can’t say for sure if I experienced a haunting or if there was some kind of trick in my brain. I can’t even rule out that the hotel doesn’t have some trickery going on to maintain its haunted reputation.
What I can say is that my experience was something I can’t explain but I know, to me, it was real. I have stayed at the Stanely a few times since that first visit and have not had other paranormal experiences, which just adds to the uncertainty of proof of a haunting or something else.
In either case, I would recommend a visit to the historic Stanley Hotel. The town of Estes Park is one of my favorite places to visit and the hotel is a beautiful building.
