The Stanley Hotel Ghosts and History Tour

Absolutely fantastic tour with an absolutely fantastic tour guide, Tiv!
We were lucky enough to have the guests staying in room 217 (the Stephen King room) offer to let us see inside, which is NOT part of the regular tour.
If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend getting your historical ghost on, at the Stanley Hotel!

Maaaaaan, yes I’m whining…
I wanted this to be good. I wanted it to even be just okay because being at the Stanley is an awesome thing to be doing in the first place so the tour didn’t even have to be stellar in order for us to have an amazing time.
Alas, disappointment.
First, it is supposed to last 90 minutes and we were back at our car and pulling out exactly 1 hour after it started.
Our tour guide tried to be too funny rather than setting the mood and giving people the creepiness they want. He also rushed us through the grounds, practically running to the point that we lost people and at other times just dumped us in a hall and left us there to give us «5−10 minutes of investigation time».or rather «I’m just going to sit over here and rest time».
Very little narrative, context, or history was given.
Way too expensive for such a weak tour. You can do better Stanley Hotel, you can do better.
Also…we ate a bite at the garden and the service was terrible but food was okay.

Just went tonight, it was very disappointing. We were shuffled about for 90 minutes. We were taken to a storage room and packed into it and told about a guy who lived there, taken to a room that was 10×4 and crammed in and had the light turned off asked if we were scared. Looked at a room with some old furniture in it, looked at two ball rooms and another non descript room of no importance. Took under the hotel to look at the underside. It was as if the group was shuffled around to areas that didn’t affect the guest and then our guide would from time to time pass his cracked phone around to show pictures of something he’d caught on his cracked phone. In the end it was $ 28 dollars per person and we had 5 people $ 130 dollars to get ripped off. Don’t waste your time save your money. The hotel is tired with water stained ceilings tired old torn up wood floors it needs a make over! I think the ghost have left as well looking for better surroundings. It was good family fun but so is Disney Land or a night out at the movies. This was a bucket list thing and I’ve got to say it was over sold and under delivered. Here they have a new owner and it’s all new stuff?! Hey new owner I’d like a full refund!

The tour was very informational but a little hokey. I would suggest it, mainly for the information, but just remember, the light orbs in the mirror are not spirits of people haunting, it’s just light.

We had our tour with Tiv, wow!!! The hotel and history is fascinating. Having a really great tour guide only makes it that much better. We had 5 people in our party and 2 were very curious children. She patiently took the time to answer all of their questions without frustration. I highly recommend the tour and remember to tip the guide.

My friends and I did the history tour and it was definitely worth it! I have visited the Stanley in the past and have never done the tour but you learn so much more than you could on your own. It is fascinating to hear about the history and going-​ons of the Stanley. Our guide, Ben?, had not been there long but was very knowledgeable and knew all of the answers to everyone’s questions. He was funny and made the tour interesting! Would love to go back and take the ghost tour sometime.

History Tour was excellent! Learned a lot and saw some amazing historical spaces within the hotel. There are some mentions of paranormal activity during the tour so you get a good feel for the overall character of the hotel. Tour guides were knowledgeable and approachable.

LWe took the tour tonight and lilly was awesome she knew how to make all of us laugh she was terrific I highly recommend Lilly for your tour guide she really knows her stuff we all had fun on her tour it was her first day by her self she did really well!
We had a great time and will do it again!

I did the night ghost tour. Our tour guide was Jofia aka Lady J. She was very informative and really enjoys what she does. I highly recommend doing a ghost tour. Next I will do the History tour.

Lady J was our tour guide for the Stanley tour and she was fantastic. She was fun, personable, and extremely knowledgable about the hotels history. It was the perfect way to end our Colorado trip; I highly recommend the tour. Thank you!

We were so excited to take the night ghost tour of The Stanley! I’ve always been interested in seeing the paranormal side of the hotel. Our guide was nothing more than an actress. She tried to hard to «scare» everyone. We went into the room where «Lucy» was active, and the door kept shutting on it’s own. Now having common sense, we noticed that the door was on an incline. So we asked Lucy to close the other door to the bathroom. At that moment our guide, Becca, immediately interrupted and said «oh no, she won’t close that door.» That was the start of our downhill experience. Everything after that was staged and exaggerated. It would probably be a little better if everything wasn’t so rehearsed. We were very disappointed.

We went to both the history and night ghost tour. I wouldn’t say I was scared but I think the history tour is very informative and the Stanley is just a nice old hotel that’s well preserved with the beautiful view of the rockies. Both our tour guides are fun and nice. The ghost tour is something for fun whether you’re a believer or skeptic. I would definitely recommend going to the historic tour if you’re in the area.

The ghost tour was lackluster. The guide was an actor/​storyteller and didn’t provide any relative information about why the ghosts. She just told us stories about them like, «he worked here, died of a heart attack, and came back here as a ghost.» Don’t ghosts have reasons for haunting places? We were not allowed in the confirmed «condemned» areas, so we did it witness any paranormal activity. She talked a lot about this «room 217» but we did not go there. Nor to the haunted floors.
Waste of money if you’re looking for ghosts.

Thought the ghost tour would be an interesting way to spend part of a night in Estes Park… wrong! We were excited to explore the hotel in the dark and maybe get a little creeped out by ghost stories and a weird noise or two.
Unfortunately our guide who seemed to have drank a case of redbull before the tour made it a lame night. He was constantly TRYING to be funny, making loud sounds to try to scare people, or just ramble on about crap that had nothing to do with the hotel or ghosts. I wasn’t expecting a serious ghost experience, just a fun night with a couple creepy moments but our guide never shut up long enough to make it happen.
A really annoying part was how another tour kept crossing paths with us. We’d be in a dark room and they’d come through talking or taking pictures or even turning on lights. Not as bad as when our tour guide had us sit in a pitch black room for 3 minutes and turn on the lights without warning. He didn’t even bring up the connection to The Shining until I asked him when the tour was over.
Overall a complete waste of money. The hotel is nice and would be great to visit just on your own at night, but avoid the ghost tour.

Was a fun time and the tour was 1.5 hours and you started out with a small video. You got to see a separate building most of the ball rooms and the tunnel underneath the building. It was ok I feel it was a little overpriced for what you got. They also didn’t have a bathroom break. glad we did it.

Ghost tour with Jofia was excellent! Highly recommend asking for her. Very genuine, communicative guide.

I have long wanted to visit the Stanley, and try to experience some «spooky» stuff up there. The Shining is one of my favorite books of all time, and when I’ve seen the Stanley while in Estes, perched up to the north, I’ve been dying to really see it for myself.
I finally took the opportunity when my friend was in town, and took a tour on Saturday night, after buying tickets online a couple weeks before.
Parking is a snap and the roadways are very clearly laid out, which is a great start. We went in and grabbed a drink at the Cascades bar, where the bar tenders were very friendly and the atmosphere was already well set-​it was beautiful, with a creepy undertone.
We met up for the tour down in the basement, in a cool tour office with framed and signed posters, both from The Shining, and Dumb and Dumber (which was filmed there) All in all, there were about 12 of us in the group.
Kaeligh, our tour guide, took our tickets and welcomed us all. Our tour started with a video highlighting the paranormal history of the Stanley, which is rather deep and rich. Interestingly, Kaleigh said that on our tour that unlike the ghost hunters in the video, we wouldn’t be «provoking» the spirits.
As others have mentioned, our tour started in the Concert Hall, a building that’s a little away from the main hotel. Right away, it was very very erie and creepy. What I liked about our visit there was that Kaleigh didn’t get dramatic and cheesy when telling us the history, and the sightings/​experiences people have had. Truth be told, the building was incredibly creepy on its own and I often had strange feelings-​as with a lot of haunted places, it felt very «heavy». After giving us some history, we were able to walk around and talk pictures with the hope of finding «orbs» (and I found a few!)
The next stop was the old billiards room, as well as the room where the original bar was. It was here we learned the in depth story of Stephen King’s fateful stay at the Stanley, and his inspiration of writing The Shining. This part felt a little less creepy as there was a hustling and bustling lobby right next door, but it was still interesting to hear more history.
Our tour concluded in the employee tunnel, a fascinating area that’s actually in the mountain and was used by employees to go from their clock in area to the main hotel, as well as a place to take out trash without being seen by guests. While the tunnel is smaller now than it was historically, it was still cool to see and pretty creepy in its own way.
The only downfall of the tour was that we didn’t go into the hotel itself, and near some of the infamous haunted rooms. As Kaligh explained, however, this is because the Stanley is still an active hotel and tour groups tromping around at night isn’t exactly pleasant.
Still, I had a great time on the Ghost Tour. The history was fascinating, our tour guide was great, and the experience was enjoyably creepy. I’d highly recommend it.

I have taken both the ghost tour and the history tour and greatly enjoyed myself both times. The drive up to Estes Park is fantastic and the hotel is easy to locate. Over the winter months parking is not regulated however in the warmer months be sure to purchase a parking pass (even if you are just stopping in).
My travel companion and I arrived quite a bit early but enjoyed exploring the gift shop, sit by the fire, enjoy a snack on the porch and look at pictures from the annual Stanley Film Festival (Elijah Wood came out last year to accept an award and do a DJ set).
During our tour we were able to walk to various buildings on the property and enjoy some exploring (last tour I was on the tour was kept indoors due to inclement weather). The tour was set up to be strictly a history tour but due to the suggestions of fellow tour goers our guide was happy to sneak in a bit about the ghosties as well.
I did note differences between the two tours I took regarding facts about the Stanley twins and their beginnings but I didn’t mind so much & doubt if many others would pick up on these things if the weren’t themselves from Maine (in particular our recent guide noted that the Stanleys attended Bates College which was previously the University of Maine, when in fact they attended Western State Normal School, now known as the University of Maine at Farmington).
My travel companion and I greatly enjoyed our tour even though one of us misplaced our wallet during the tour (this has actually been known to happen on the ghost tour). The Stanley Staff gave us a call before we made it home and my travel companion was beyond the moon that not a dime was missing from his wallet.
I look forward to attending a nighttime ghost tour soon.
*As a side note Groupon currently has a special for rooms at the Stanley hotel and if our tour guide is right, many of haunted rooms go for the same prices as the other rooms.

These are 2 separate tours, just so you know. I did not take the history tour, we did the ghost tour.
Our tour guide was Scary Mary. She was cute, charming a little cheesy and very knowledgeable!
The tour itself is fun and creepy. She took us around to multiple different rooms and buildings in the dark and had us try to sense for spirits.
I enjoyed that she did not seem to be trying to trick us. There were a couple times some pretty creepy things happened (music playing, water turning on etc) and each time she investigated it and found out it was something else or someone else in the building. She could have easily tricked us because we all thought it was supernatural.
Couple real things might have happened:
In the beginning of our time in the concert hall, Mary went down to the stage and closed the door and curtain that lead backstage. While we were sitting in the balcony, she pointed out that the curtain she had «closed all the way» was now partly open. This could easily be the power of suggestion. I saw her walk over there and close it, I think, but also I could’ve just thought she closed it because she told us she had. It was pretty spooky either way.
In the basement of the concert hall, we sat in a creepy, pitch black room and tried to talk to a ghost named Lucy. Mary asked Lucy to close the door and the door never closed. In reading other reviews, I saw that sometimes the door does close so maybe that gives it some credibility? That it doesn’t happen every time?
In the billiard room there was an ornament on the Christmas tree that was moving when none of the others were. Maybe that was a ghost?
All in all it is a very cool tour. You leave feeling a little creeped out and also much more knowledgeable about the history of the hotel!

Even if you don’t believe in ghosts, you’ll still have a good time exploring the property (mostly in the dark).
Although I’m a stone-​cold skeptic, I have to admit there is something unsettling about the Stanley property. It could be the rural backdrop, the old fashion architecture, or that ‘ve seen The Shining too many times — regardless, there’s something about the place. The tour takes full advantage of this in their ghost tour ($ 25 — but you can get it for $ 20 if you’re a guest, AAA member, Military, Student, etc.). It’s a 90 minute walk around the property that takes you to the most active haunted areas, such as the old reception hall, the billiards room, and the basement tunnels. Our tour guide was very peppy and knowledgeable about the property, and you can tell she honestly enjoyed giving the tours.
So anything paranormal happen to us? Well, in the basement of the reception hall, our tour guide tried to get a ghost named Lucy to close a door for us. We were unsuccessful and left the room to complete the tour. The door was open and secure (it was caught on the carpet and not moving) and I was the second to last one to leave the room. Approximately 10 – 15 seconds after leaving, the door SLAMMED shut, making all of us jump. Now the tour guide showed us that if you have the door halfway it will close on its own, but pushed all the way back it doesn’t move. Also when the door closes on its own, it’ just a slow close, not a slam that we heard. A group of us rushed back to the room but, alas, nothing was there. If you’re rolling your eyes you have every right — I’m not convinced it was anything paranormal either. But it was a good adrenaline rush and made the tour all the more interesting.
In sum, it’s totally worth the money to take one of the many tours they offer on the property (the history is pretty cool too). Who knows you may turn from skeptic to a believer.