The Stanley Hotel

I was so excited to stay here as it's such a beautiful historic hotel. I was, however, let down a bit. We stayed at the main bldg. A beautiful old hotel but they seem to just cater to Steven King tourists! The girl at the reservation was a snot to be blunt. Very rude but I think she thought we were "tour people" and not guests. Understandable as you trip over the Shining people but still... (BTW the movie was NOT filmed here.) For the amount of money charged the room shouldn't be 80 degrees at night. The bathroom was filthy with the previous guest's soap left, trash full, and an inch of grim over the fixtures. Blech. The beds were wonderful though and the rooms were nice....just really hot so none of us could sleep. The pool was torn out to put up a perm wedding tent. So your front view is that of a gaudy tent. You can't even see the place driving up as this blocks the view. They want this place to be more of an event place and Steven King tour location than a hotel. Again a beautiful hotel but sadly, poorly ran.

To be clear, we loved the hotel. It is nostalgic and the ghost tour rocked. The bar in the main hotel was crazy awesome. So why not excellent. So for 250.00 a night and being a guy who worked in the Casino Business for 10 years, I expect the hotel to be in tip top shape. The main building is not. paint was peeling on the exterior. There was visible wood rot. The inside had paint peeling off of the ceiling. The public bathroom needed a serious update. The curb appeal is horrible. the shrubbery was dead or dying, no flowers to speak of. My point here is this....The place is darned near sold out every day. 250.00 + a night. The owner needs to re-invest in the bldg. Our room was very clean, the beds were extremely comfortable. We were staying in the new addition. Very modern and vey nice. I stopped in the bar and the selection of wine and scotch was crazy awesome. Did the ghost tour and actually did capture a ghost on camera. It was an awesome time and would recommend this place big time.

Love this place! It was so great to see it in person. I love the shining and Stephen King, so it was right up my alley. Stephen King got inspiration for the shining at this very hotel. If you ask me that makes it pretty friggin fantastic and a huge part of history. I recommend anyone who comes here to at least stay for a night. Try out the tour whether it's daytime historic one or the nighttime haunted one. An extra bit of fun is that a lot of the hotel scenes for Dumb and Dumber were filmed here. For example the handing out 100s scene and the bar scene where he waits for Mary. "We made it to the moon!"

Well worth the $250 for a normal room if you want to sleep in a piece of history. If you are coming to visit, keep in mind that there is a $10 parking fee for non-residents. You will enjoy every part of this historical hotel and lodge.

We didn't stay here because our itinerary would not allow it, but we definitely visited and really enjoyed ourselves. The hotel is clearly where they shot the cult classic Dumb and Dumber. After you do the maze in front and take in the grand facade and lobby, head inside to the bar and look for a framed facsimile of the MAN LANDS ON THE MOON newspaper headline and take it form there. In the basement, they have some displays featuring more "Hollywood comes to the Murray" type stuff. The restaurant looked nice, but we didn't eat there. Would definitely like to stay here some time. They have guest entertainers on occasion, so check out the schedule and book accordingly..