LOL ok. I think I’m finally emotionally ready to write about this part of the trip. For awhile, I was kind of sick of rehashing it, and I felt like every time I brought it up or someone asked about it, I was manifesting something. After a little break, and having to recently tell the story again last weekend, I feel a little bit less paranoid about it. Not going to lie, I have also done a lot of shit to my apartment to be able to feel better.

For good measure, though: I don’t claim any of this negative energy.

LOL at this point, the people who haven’t heard about this yet are probably like, “Girl WHAT happened up there?!” I’m not going to get into specific details about the paranormal stuff. If you’re interested, you’re more than welcome to ask me privately and I will share more about it with you. 

I should also note, The Stanley Hotel has a copyright on all the information shared in its tours, and lets their guest know this. Some of it is common knowledge and easily searchable, though, so I think I should be good to share some basic historical information.

When retelling the story, I’m learning that the background of the hotel isn’t always common knowledge, so for those who don’t know, The Stanley is a hotel on the National Register of Historic Places, built in 1909 in Estes Park, Colorado. It’s most infamous for being the source of inspiration behind Stephen King’s The Shining (then transiently the newer sequel, Doctor Sleep) and Pet Sematary. To be honest, I didn’t know about the Pet Sematary part until after we left. We didn’t want to do a lot of research into the hotel beyond what we already knew, which in hindsight, was both a good and bad idea. 

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In the movie, The Shining, the hotel is called The Overlook, and the hotel they used for exterior shots was actually in Oregon. The movie uses the room “237” instead of “217,” because there wasn’t a room 237 at the hotel, and they didn’t want to avert guests from visiting. The irony now being that the 217 suite books up months in advance, with diehard fans and ghost hunters vying to get a few nights’ stay in one of the most haunted rooms of the property.

So. Here’s what threw me for a loop: the website markets a few select rooms as the ones with the most paranormal activity. So I was like, “Okay, great, we won’t be staying in any of those so we should be fine.” LOL. That was not the case. Those mfs TRAVEL. If you’re staying at The Stanley, be prepared to be directly victimized. I feel like this is a thing they should warn people about more heavily, but whatever. 

If you’re staying, you also have to stay a minimum of two nights, which makes sense, because they do need to make money somehow, and I reckon most people would opt for just one night if they could. The hotel has never been one to generate much of a profit. True to the story, they used to shut down for the winters and only open for the warmer months. Nowadays, they are open year round, but the expense of keeping up with the outdated buildings really makes it more of a break-even situation, from what was alluded to.

A lot of people come for the tours and don’t stay the night. You can pay $25 for an hour-long day tour, or a 90-minute night tour, say you were at The Stanley, and peace out. If you’re scared of this kind of shit, going that route would probably be your best bet. I will say, though, you probably won’t experience anything at all on those tours, so don’t go into it expecting the unexpected. They are quite interesting, though, and worth the price. 

Saturday during the day was PACKED at the hotel. Many people were just taking the tour, or drinking at the whiskey bar, or walking around and taking pictures. There were a lot of ghost hunter groups, outfitted with their branded t-shirts. The vibes were much better Saturday because of that reason. The hotel was much emptier Sunday and not at all chill. Both evenings were worse than the daytime. I was relieved when we were checking out Monday, because the hotel was even more desolate, and even creepier. I think the spirits have less people to take an interest in when it’s less crowded, so they start looking for other people’s chops to bust. No thanks. 

If you are planning a trip, my recommendation would be to stay Friday night and Saturday night, unless you are actively seeking trouble. Then by all means, stay Sunday through Thursday. 

I enjoyed the whiskey bar, which was fashioned to be more like the one from the movie, and not vice versa. The food at the restaurant was pretty good and had a nice variety on the menu, but it was really crowded and our server was pretty dang slow. I think we got particularly unlucky in that department.

The bartenders will make you whatever you want, with whatever whiskey or bourbon you want. A lot of people were ordering whiskey sours. I prefer bourbon so I asked for a bourbon amaretto sour concoction, which I was nervous about, but it turned out quite tasty. They had local beers on tap, too, namely Estes Park Brewing’s Red Rum Ale and The Shining Pale Ale. Hey, they’re a small town and they gotta milk this thing for all it’s worth. 

I had to chuckle because the bartender we kept going to kind of reminded me both of Lloyd and the butler version of Delbert Grady from the movie, just because he was so courteous and so apologetic if they were out of something. All of the staff had black COVID masks with “redrum” scrawled in red in the corner—another touristy touch. I thought it would have been more authentic if they were dressed up in early 20th century uniforms.

Everything was very free-roaming, which was fun. You could take your drinks wherever you wanted in the hotel or on the grounds, which is really refreshing for 2021, especially for a historic hotel full of things you could probably ruin with your drink. The views from the wrap-around patio were beautiful. I highly recommend grabbing your drink and sitting out there, day or night.

By the time we got there and settled Saturday, we spent the rest of the day just roaming and taking in the hotel. Sunday, we spent the entirety of the day in Rocky Mountain National Park, with a lunch break at Estes Park Brewing. The Stanley is about a 25-minute drive to the Bear Lake trailhead, and about 15 minutes or so to the national park entrance. Bear Lake trail has several lakes as part of it, including Emerald Lake, which was our final stop on the ascending hike.

Naturally, the drive is gorgeous, and that alone was worthy of photos. I felt fine the whole way up to the trailhead, but once we got there I was dying just walking in the parking lot with my daypack on. My heart rate was borderline concerning during the beginning of the hike, to be honest, but Sage was completely fine as I heaved behind him. This went unnoticed, of course, even though I specifically told him twice before the trip to make sure I was able to do all of the things he was doing. 🙂 Thank God I’m in really good shape and did not go into cardiac arrest. 

I don’t remember at what point, but I was eventually able to even my breathing out somewhat early on, and the rest of the hike was quite enjoyable. When we were getting closer to Emerald Lake and into the higher altitudes, like maybe 9-10K feet, Sage was starting to feel it a bit. Not a lot of empathy from me there. Moral of the story, we both survived; it was very pretty, challenging and fun; and the hike down was a lot easier. It really was exciting—we were giddy from the once-in-a-lifetime views, and maybe the altitude.

Sunday evening—got back from hiking, took the 5 p.m. day tour at The Stanley to learn about all the historical stuff, which was so cool. Then we kind of chilled in the room and got ready for dinner. But uh, we couldn’t find a place to eat. Apparently every restaurant in town, including the hotel restaurant, closes at 8 p.m. on Sundays. However, Sage and I were really pleasantly surprised when the hostess at The Stanley called the nearest open, recommended restaurant for us to check if they had space. We didn’t have to ask; she just did it. 

“Restaurant” was a bit loose, actually. We ended up at a dive bar with good comfort food but questionable health codes: Cousin Pat’s. Cousin Pat was personified as a cartoon on the outdoor sign, an indoor chalkboard, and some of the beer glasses. 

As we were enjoying our food and beer at the bar, we saw a man with a Hawaiian shirt and open-toed shoes emerge from the kitchen. We couldn’t believe our eyes. We were star-struck. It was him—Cousin Pat himself, live in the flesh. With the mix of altitude and substances, we naturally thought all of this was hilarious. We truly thought Cousin Pat’s was going to be the highlight of our Sunday evening, but we were very mistaken. 

Do it:

• Stop for the day and get a craft cocktail from a nice Lloyd-like bartender, take the tour, take photos. Stop at the coffee shop for a Honey Bear Latte and the gift shop, if you’re brave enough to bring home a souvenir.
• Get some pics on the creepy stair landing, even though you’re technically not allowed to sit there during COVID.
• Hike Rocky Mountain National Park, get to Emerald Lake if you’re physically able.
• Bring cramp-ons if the mountains still have snow. They’re $25 on Amazon and worth it.

Skip it:

• Staying in the guest rooms on a slower night.
• Breaking “the rules” of the hotel if possible, like taking your mask off in a common area where you’re not supposed to, or staying out/coming back late. (We learned there used to be an 11 p.m. curfew.)
• Trying to get dinner anywhere in Estes Park on a Sunday after 7 p.m.
• The hedge maze installed at the hotel a few years back to be more like “The Overlook” isn’t yet tall enough to be any fun.
• The Redrum Latte from the coffee shop would be really good in theory, but if you’re into a decently strong coffee, it’s too sweet with all the added syrups. You could maybe ask for half the amount of syrup.
• Cousin Pat’s, unless you really want to meet local Estes Park celebrity, Cousin Pat

I would go back for:

• I will not be going back to The Stanley. LMAO.
• I would like to see Rocky Mountain National Park in warmer weather, when the lakes are melted. It was still beautiful in the snow.