The Stanley Hotel

This place is simply not worth it. It Leans into The Shining to the point of being tacky. We arrived at 18 mins to 3 but if we wanted to check in before 3 we had to pay $28. You have to pay to use the gym. There’s no daily housekeeping and this place is not cheap. The rooms were meh. The restaurant is really just ok. The porch is lovely but for my money, if you want to see it go and do a tour and maybe have a drink but stay elsewhere, this old girl is simply not worth it.

It might look beautiful from the outside, but sadly, this hotel is in disrepair. We stayed on the first floor in The Lodge. I don’t recommend if you are elderly as you have to lug your suitcase up a flight of stairs. There is no valet service and the parking situation is difficult at best since you competing to park with people who are not guests of the hotel. Once there, the rooms were tiny and dark with no mirror in the bedroom, only the bathroom. It was extremely hot in the rooms as you have no way of controlling the register heat in the bedroom or bathroom and is set to “on” constantly. We were trying to get ready for a wedding and ended up having to open the door to the hallway so we didn’t pass out. They had a portable air conditioner with a large tube venting to the outside but it didn’t help. Their only redeeming quality was the waitstaff in The Post, Brunch Co, and Cascades. Those employees do the best they can with what they are given. They are constantly apologizing for things that are beyond their control. We have stayed in most of America’s historic hotels. It pains me to say that The Stanley, by far, was THE absolute worst.

The Stanley hotel is located in a beautiful area and you can see what the hotel once was. Sadly, this hotel is very rundown and in dire need of renovations. The furniture was shabby, there was broken glass outside of our window in the hotel room, and there was a strange air contraption connected to the window with no formal heating or air-conditioning unit in the room. Hopefully with new ownership and renovations the hotel will be restored as there is much potential here.

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...)