The Stanley Hotel

My friend and I stayed here for one night at the end of our trip. Fair warning, the place is overly busy since you have hotel guest and people coming for ghost tours, “The Shining” tours, or just to look at the hotel. We stayed on a Thursday night, so less crazy than I imagine a weekend would be. It is a hotel built in the 1900’s, so expect dark wood, maybe some listing to the hallways, etc. Despite that, the bathroom was very updated, nice big tiled shower, and the beds were comfortable. It was really odd to have a lamp with no plugs in the base, and no wall plugs available and convenient to the nightstand. (an easy fix for them to make). The lobby was nice to sit in during the later evening - fireplaces were going and it was fun to talk and people watch. The coffee shop in the basement made good coffee and had good pastry

Positives: The hotel itself looks very nice from the outside. That's it. Nothing else. We stayed for 4 nights in the lodge building, not in the main hotel. Our room was beyond dated, it was worn out. The carpet was trash, the layout was odd, the armoire with the TV couldn't stay open, the one chair and the once couch were quite uncomfortable, and the heat never worked making some of the nights quite cool in the room since the windows were drafty. Bathroom was ok as long as you didn't want to put out any of the products you might want to use. There was only a 9" square end table there and tiny shelf over the sink making it very hard for two people to get ready for a wedding. This was not at all what was shown in the room descriptions and the front desk didn't care. First night found a spider the size of a stack of half dollars in the bathroom, and the last morning found a beetle crawling out of the bed we'd just been sleeping in. Walls are paper thin, you can easily hear your neighbors next to you as well as above and below. And it just didn't feel clean. Our son and his wife stayed in the main hotel and their room was just as dated, but less worn. They paid over $500/night vs the $360/night we paid. Service was non-existent, no daily service, and the times I called for clean towels, toilet paper, tissues, and trash removal, I always had to call twice to get the services. (I recommend you keep an eye to the hall and grab what you need off the cleaning cart...) No refrigerators, no microwaves, no extra blankets. No room service. During the weekend the place is absolutely overrun with gawkers, er, I mean tourists. Wait until Monday if you want pictures of the place. There is also always a queue of cars at the gate house waiting to get in during the day. Several places are onsite to eat, all are expensive. The food is ok but not worth the price they charge. ($36 total for French toast - $18, and a glass of orange juice - price unstated.) Dinner for 4 was over $600 and was nothing special. I don't mind spending this amount on a hotel if it is in good shape and has good service, but this was neither. There are a lot of other choices of places to stay in Estes Park and they are all better than The Stanley (I know because other wedding party members stayed in these other places...)

I so wish I’d done more due diligence before deciding to stay here. This place is apparently loved by ghoul fans because the movie The Shining was partially filmed here. So it is full if that type of tourists, and is loud, busy, super crowded with people not staying here and overall very unpleasant. The noise level is awful. There is constant yelling, screaming and dog barking outside our windows, literally all day and into the evening. The building and the rooms are very run down and shabby. We dislike it so much we changed our flight and are leaving a day early letting them keep our money for the second night. Can’t wait to get out of here. I wouldn’t come here again if they paid me.

Staying at the Stanley was on my bucket list, and I’m glad we stayed because we had access to the whole hotel (vs just taking a tour). As a paranormal enthusiast, I was able to roam the very creaky halls looking for ghosts (sadly no activity was experienced). We booked a “Stanley Experience” stay (not sure this is still offered) but it included a special (haunted?) room, two tour tickets, and a bottle of wine. Although we stayed in one of the “updated” rooms (family attic suite) it still was in need of updating (though the bathroom was very nice). There was a/c in the bedroom part of the suite but it stayed 78 degrees in the other room. The fancy lights in the bathroom made it very hot too so I showered with the lights off because it was already very warm in the suite. Considering how expensive it is to stay there, it should be a little nicer with better interior decorating in the rooms, better toiletries, and better towels/linens. Also, no vending machines so make sure to grab some drinks at the cafe before it closes at 9. I’m glad we stayed here but I consider it a once in a lifetime experience because it wasn’t a great value for the money spent so I don’t see myself going back.

We stayed two nights here in late September and there's no doubt it's a beautiful location and property. We had a room on the 3rd floor center and a gorgeous view out the front. The bed was comfortable and the late September temperatures were comfortable in the room. However, for a high-level resort and for the price, there was a lot left to be desired. First, just finding the right building and figuring out where to park was difficult. There's no pull-through circle for dropping off people and luggage, and no valet parking. The parking lot is on a steep hill about a half block to a block away from the main hotel, and the bottom levels are unpaved and very badly full of ruts and potholes. By the 2nd night we found some overflow parking behind the hotel that was easier to manage, but clearer signage or directions from the gatekeeper would have been helpful. We had a 4:00 check in and arrived at 3:55 and were told, "Oh, your room is still dirty. I don't know when it will be ready." No apologies, no suggestions of what we could do while we waited, and no idea how long that wait would be. We had to ask to store our luggage, and that happened, but it seemed to be a surprise/afterthought to the staff. Then they took my phone number and promised to text when the room was ready. We asked about a shuttle into town and were given vague handwaving of where to pick up, so we walked down quite a ways and waited around 30 minutes before giving up because it never came, and we ended up going back to the hotel restaurant. By now it was almost 5 pm and still no word from the hotel, so we ordered a light dinner. Around 6 pm we checked again and the front desk clearly had forgotten about us and said oh we got busy and must have missed calling you to say your room was ready. No apologies just a note that they don't do housekeeping while you stay. The room itself was historical with great pictures and a beautiful view, and the bed was very comfortable. However, the lighting was really dim and the bathroom shower was a walk-in with just a cloth curtain and as soon as the water was turned on it ran all over the bathroom floor. We only had two towels in the room and had to call to ask for more towels just to sop up the water. In addition, some cleaning supplies had been left behind by the staff, and there was a huge wet spot on the carpet where someone had clearly spilled a full glass of water or something. The hot water took several minutes to even get lukewarm, so while it did get hot eventually, it felt like we were wasting so much water! I know the hotel is historic and I was charmed by those aspects, but we have stayed at other places on historic registries that did a much better job of maintaining the charm and still updating the facilities, and not having great hospitality or competence from your staff is entirely preventable. As others have said, there are lots of tourists who stop by so the common areas are often crowded. We took the Stephen King tour and loved that-- lots of tidbits and cool stories with a great guide, although the tour was pricey at $30 per person and no discount for already staying at the hotel. Overall I'm glad we stayed here but I wouldn't return.