The Stanley Hotel

DON’T GO IF YOU HAVE A SERVICE DOG!!! I was absolutely humiliated when I went there with my family. I had a service dog with me with his vest on just enjoying the hotel when Katelyn approached me and demanded that I leave immediately because there were no dogs on the property. I began to tell her/him that my dog was trained as a service dog and I have a card that proves he went through training. She/he began to tell me that my dog didn’t ACT like a service dog because he was to friendly and couldn’t possibly be one and to leave immediately. WHAT!!! She/he can’t assume anything! I told them that even service dogs can sometimes get excited. She/he wouldn’t listen to anything I said and I was forced to leave out of sheer humiliation. Everyone was staring. Horrible experience!!! I have been there before but NEVER AGAIN!!! Just save yourself a trip if you are disabled and don’t waste the $10 parking fee.

Very disappointed in the room. The first room they put us in had mold on the bathroom ceiling, tiles were cracked, caulking was moldy, the paint on the window sills was peeling badly. Because the “view” was of the rear of the building, we asked to be moved to a room with a view towards the front. They did move us and the room was better, but it was missing locks on the windows, the toilet made strange noises when refilling, there was no extra blanket. I have much better rooms in other hotels for half the price. The prices are ridiculous. We are planning to have Thanksgiving dinner in the Cascade Restaurant, but they want $99 for a basic turkey dinner, so we are looking for another option in town. It is an interesting place due to its history, etc. However, I would recommend just coming to take the tour and staying at another hotel.

This is long, for good reason: please read! We chose the hotel because I'm a big Stephen King fan and also have always wanted to see Estes Park. Re: The Shining: I knew the TV limited series was shot there and Kubrick's film was done mostly on a sound stage with the exterior of the hotel being Timberline Lodge. That being said, I was thrilled to see the exterior of the hotel and the door to (haunted) room 217, where King stayed when the story was "born". He hates Kubrick's movie and insisted that the Stanley be used for the TV version. Suffice it to say, I was pretty surprised that their little "museum" of the Shining had pictures of Nicholson and Duvall and nothing of the series. The ball room and another large room were cordoned off. There wasn't so much as a chair in either room - just big open spaces - and you weren't allowed to walk in them. At the very least, a table with a typewriter in the middle of the ballroom would have been a nice touch. On to the hotel. Talk about a disapointment! We found it to be incredibly unfriendly and way overpriced. For $400/night, we expected real coffee mugs and glasses in our room. Nope: the same crappy cups and plastic cups-wrapped-in-plastic that the Motel 6 down the road offers. There were 2 Kuerig pods. The creamer and sugar came in those little cellophane packets with the plastic stir sticks provided at Motel 6. Seriously? Not even liquid creamer? The beds and bedding were great, except for the stained sheet. The towels were good quality, the bathroom very nice. The room was comfortable, with 2 sitting chairs that were also comfortable. It was a very nice room. The highly touted restaurant was shocking. It's part of the bar. Eating a $68 steak on a hightop while watching folks in baseball caps do shooters was not my idea of high-end dining. The chili is good as is the Ceasar salad, tho'. Our server disapeared and we had to go look for her when we were ready to go. The wine bar is gorgeous and the wines reasonable. The service was very good. While we were in the lobby, cozied up to a fireplace with glasses of wine and our books, several couples came in. They walked over to the wine bar only to find it'd closed at 8pm (it was 9:15). Then they walked over to the restaurant, which had closed at 9. They went to the front desk and asked if there was any place to get a drink or a snack, and the clerk said "in town". It was 9pm! They were not happy, suffice it to say! There's not even 24/7 coffee and tea service in the lobby. If you want more than what you get in your room, you have to go to the basement coffee shop and pay for it - if it's open. When we were there, it closed when the breakfast restaurant opened. The breakfast restaurant is indepently owned, so there's no room service. And if you go during bad weather, be prepared to walk outside and down the sidewalk to get to it. The Stanley does have a coffee shop on the ground floor, but it closed when the breakfast restaurant opened (at least that's how it was when we were there). Aside from the actual hotel -which really is very grand - we saw no difference in our stay, except that the price was double, than any Hilton Garden Inn or Holiday Inn Express we've stayed at. Oh, wait: those hotels have real coffee cups and glasses, and coffee service. TIP: Go see the hotel. Get some chili in the restaurant or a drink at the bar and enjoy it in the lobby by a fireplace. Ride the really cool old elevator to the 2nd floor. Take a picture of room 217 and the creepy, long hallways. Go down to the bottom floor and look at the "museum" of the movie. Then go back to your Hilton and be happy you didn't spend more money than that.

My wife & I have stayed at a few iconic hotels over the years. The El Tovar in the Grand Canyon, the Ahwanhee in Yosemite, the Lake Yellowstone Hotel in Yellowstone National Park. We felt like this hotel surpassed those hotels for comfort. By definition, older hotels (built in the late 1800's or early 1900's) have to be retrofitted for modern conveniences expected in today's world. The Stanley Hotel has accomplished this is a nearly seamless way. The rooms were large and light-filled. The beds, chairs & TV's were comfortable. The floors did not creak. The hallway carpet insulated the foot traffic noise. Had you not known this hotel was originally built in 1909, you would have thought it was a modern hotel. Perhaps the best part was the well thought out bathroom. A large sink area adjacent to the large, glass-enclosed shower complimented by an accessible commode. We didn't eat in the restaurant but we did sit at the bar twice to have a meal. We used the Colorado Cherry Pie Company for coffee. We took the historic tour and enjoyed the whiskey tasting event. We found the entire experience to be rewarding. And overall, a much better experience than many of the other iconic hotels in the world.

The bed was great. However, we had no heat. Two days in a snowy town. Painful. My friend slept on the couch & said it was killing his back. Food was fine at Cascades but really expensive...and ice cold. Hard to eat when you are freezing. They dont have room service. HUH? They do not change the sheets daily. HUH? At these prices that is insane. The dry sauna did not work. The steam room was great. Staff were lovely. We asked for a handicap room. They put us in a regular room. So we had to move our luggage AGAIN. There was no handicap parking.