333 E. Wonderview Avenue

Estes Park, Colorado

The Stanley Hotel is an iconic landmark famous for its charm and history.  The Stanley Hotel offers 60 minute walking tours that will introduce you to Freelan Oscar Stanley and his wife, Flora.  The Stanley was built by Oscar, co-founder of the Stanley Motor Carriage Company.  Brothers, Freelan and Francis Stanley were well-poised to immerse themselves in the many technological advancements happening around them.  In August 1899, Freeland and Fora Stanley became the first motorists to reach the top of Mt. Washington, the highest peak in New England.  

The Stanley Brothers in One of their Steam Cars

Circa 1898

History tells us Freeland gave William McKinley a tour of Washington DC in a Stanley automobile which was the first time a sitting U.S. President had ridden in a car.  

The hotel opened on July 4, 1909 as a resort for upper-class Easterners and a health retreat for sufferers of pulmonary tuberculosis.  On May 26, 1977 the hotel and its surrounding structures were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  

The Stanley Hotel is a 140-room Colonial Revival hotel about five miles from the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. The hotel offers panoramic views of Lake Estes and the Rockies. It was built at a cost of $500,000.  Some of the hotel guests were Governor Alf Landon while running for president in 1936 against Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez in 1976 and Emperor Akihito of Japan in 1994 during a state visit.  

F.O. Stanley

(1849-1940)

"Nature has endowed Estes Park in a wonderful manner.  The grandeur of it scenery its deep blue skies, its clear, cool and invigorating air, its mountain streams of sparkling soft water, its sunny days and delightfully cool nights, are things the summer visitor never forgets, and having enjoyed once, desires to enjoy again."

F.O. Stanley, 1928

F.O. Stanley Enjoying the Stanley Hotel Porch

And yes, the Stanley Hotel served as the inspiration for the Overlook Hotel in Stephen King's 1977 novel, The Shining.  King stayed in room 217.  In 1974, during a brief residency in Boulder Colorado, King and his wife, Tabitha spent one night at the Stanley Hotel.  The visit is known entirely through interviews given by King in which he present differing narratives of the experience.  At the time of his visit, King was writing a book with the working title Darkshine set in an amusement park. He was not satisfied with the setting so on the advisement of locals who suggest a resort hotel in Estes Park, they drove the hour's drive from Boulder to Estes Park..  The couple found themselves checking into the hotel just as its other guests were leaving because the hotel was shutting down for the winter season.  King and his wife were served dinner in an empty dining room accompanied by canned orchestral music.  The Shining was published in 1977 and became the third great success of King's career.