What Makes The Stanley Hotel A Haunting Destination In Colorado?

Would you like to visit a place so spooky it inspired a best-selling novel, a TV miniseries, and one of the greatest horror films ever made?

There’s haunted, and then there’s The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado.

It’s that spooky time of year when ghost stories feel especially real, but the Stanley Hotel is eerie year-round. Majestic and unsettling at the same time, this historic hotel was built by F.O. Stanley, inventor of the Stanley Steamer automobile, as a healing retreat for tuberculosis patients. Decades later, it became a legendary spot in horror history after Stephen King stayed there and used it as the inspiration for The Shining.

A Place Where Beauty Meets Fear

I’ve stayed at the Stanley myself, and while I didn’t run into any ghostly bartenders, I did have an experience I can’t explain. One night I clearly saw what looked like a wolf charge at me—only for it to vanish when I tried to find an escape. Whether it was a spirit, a hallucination, or something in between, I can’t say. But the atmosphere of the place leaves little doubt that something lingers in those halls.

Inside, the hotel embraces its reputation with Shining-inspired décor, photographs, and memorabilia. But it’s the unshakable vibe of the building itself—the silence, the creaks, the shadows—that makes it so haunting. Even if you don’t believe in ghosts, the Stanley makes you question what’s real.

Getting There

From Lubbock, the Stanley is about a 10-hour drive, or you can fly to Denver and still make the 75-mile trek to Estes Park. Either way, the journey is worth it. The combination of breathtaking mountain views and an undercurrent of chilling mystery makes it one of the most memorable places you could ever stay.

If you’re looking for an experience that blends incredible beauty with undeniable spookiness, I can’t recommend the Stanley Hotel enough. For me, it remains one of the most unforgettable—and unsettling—moments of my life.