The Stanley Hotel

The Stanley Hotel, a historic Georgian Revival resort in Estes Park, Colorado, was built by Freelan Oscar Stanley after his health improved there following a tuberculosis recurrence in 1903. Seeking a more refined destination than the valley’s rustic lodgings, he opened the hotel in 1909 for upper-class vacationers and people drawn by the mountain climate for pulmonary health. Designed with modern comforts, electricity, fresh air, and sunlight, the complex expanded quickly despite an 1911 gas explosion. The hotel helped shape Estes Park’s growth and support Rocky Mountain National Park, and later became famous through The Shining, its haunted reputation, and other unusual attractions.

Estes Park, Colorado · United States