6 Most Haunted Hotels in Colorado: The Stanley and Five More
Stephen King spent one night in a nearly empty Colorado hotel at the end of its season, had a nightmare, and wrote The Shining.
That hotel is still open, still charges a premium for the room he stayed in, and is only the most famous of six in this state.
We pulled this list from our directory of haunted places across Colorado. All six are operating hotels and inns, ranging from a Denver luxury landmark to a gold rush building at 10,000 feet.
Here are the 6 most haunted hotels in Colorado, the spirits attached to them, and the rooms people book on purpose.
Why Colorado Hotels Are So Haunted
Colorado’s grand hotels were built by two kinds of money that both arrived suddenly.
Gold and silver strikes threw up towns like Victor and Cripple Creek almost overnight, with mining accidents and violence at a rate the towns could barely process. Several of those towns then shrank to a fraction of their peak.
The second wave was tuberculosis and mountain air. Wealthy invalids came west for the climate and the hot springs, and the resorts built for them handled a great deal of illness and death behind the elegance.
1. Stanley Hotel, Estes Park
The Stanley Hotel opened in 1909 at 7,522 feet, built by Freelan Oscar Stanley of the Stanley Steamer company after the mountain air improved his own tuberculosis.
It is the most famous haunted hotel in America, largely because Stephen King stayed in Room 217 near the end of a season and left with the idea for The Shining.
Room 217 is the room, tied to a housekeeper named Elizabeth Wilson who was injured there in a 1911 gas explosion. Flora Stanley is reported at the Steinway in the Music Room, with staff describing full performances at two or three in the morning in an empty room.
2. Hotel Colorado, Glenwood Springs
Hotel Colorado opened in 1893 beside the hot springs at Glenwood Springs and served as an unofficial western White House for Theodore Roosevelt.
It has taken presidents, celebrities and invalids for well over a century, and the reports go back nearly as far.
Room 408 draws the most activity, tied to a chambermaid seen in period uniform. The signature report is finding a room tidied when housekeeping has not been in: towels folded, bed made, belongings arranged. Guests also describe voices and laughter from empty corridors.
3. Brown Palace Hotel, Denver
The Brown Palace Hotel opened on 12 August 1892, a triangular Italian Renaissance building with an eight storey atrium that cost two million dollars to build.
It has never closed in more than 130 years, which is unusual and is part of why the reports accumulate rather than reset.
Room 904 generates the most reports, connected to a 1911 love triangle that ended in a killing. Staff describe a string quartet heard in the empty atrium, a formally dressed conductor in the lower corridors, and a Victorian woman in black on the second floor.
4. The Victor Hotel, Victor
The Victor Hotel is a three storey brick building at nearly 10,000 feet in Victor, at the centre of the Cripple Creek gold district.
Victor produced enormous wealth and an equally serious toll of mining deaths. The town today holds a small fraction of its peak population.
Its best known figure is Eddie, a bellhop reported in an early twentieth century uniform carrying luggage on the stairs. Guests also describe conversations heard through walls, belongings relocated overnight, and doors slamming hard with no draft to account for it.
5. Baldpate Inn, Estes Park
The Baldpate Inn sits at 9,000 feet above Estes Park and is named after the novel Seven Keys to Baldpate.
It once gave every guest a key to their room, stopped when the war made metal scarce, and instead began collecting them. It now holds more than 30,000 keys sent from around the world.
Room Eight is the most active. The recurring report is a woman in a long white nightgown pacing the second floor corridor near rooms seven and eight, looking into rooms, before fading at the end of the hall.
6. Patterson Inn, Denver
The Patterson Inn is an 1891 Capitol Hill mansion built for Senator Thomas Patterson, who owned the Rocky Mountain News.
It cost around $50,000 to build, with imported marble fireplaces and hand carved woodwork, and now runs as a seven room boutique inn.
Room 5 accounts for most of the reports. Guests describe waking to a light touch on the face or hair, doors opening and slamming at night, and a Victorian woman in the upstairs hallway who appears not to notice anyone.
How to Visit Colorado Haunted Hotels Safely
All six take normal bookings, but the price range is wide. The Stanley and the Brown Palace run from around $300 upward, while the Victor Hotel and the Baldpate are a fraction of that.
Room 217 at the Stanley books months ahead and carries a premium. If you cannot get it, the hotel runs evening ghost tours that do not require a stay.
Altitude is the real practical issue here. The Baldpate is at 9,000 feet and the Victor Hotel close to 10,000, which is high enough to affect sleep and alcohol tolerance on your first night. Mountain passes also close in winter, so check conditions.
If you want to record anything, our ghost hunting equipment guide covers the EMF meters, recorders, and cameras that actually capture evidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most haunted hotel in Colorado?
The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, by reputation and by a wide margin. Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs has the longer and more consistent record of guest reports.
Can you stay in Room 217 at the Stanley?
Yes, but book well ahead and expect to pay a premium. It is the room Stephen King stayed in and the most requested haunted hotel room in the country.
Is there a cheaper haunted hotel in Colorado?
The Victor Hotel and the Baldpate Inn are both far cheaper than the Stanley or the Brown Palace, and both have strong, specific reputations of their own.
Plan Your Colorado Haunted Hotel Trip
Denver is the natural base, and three of the six are within about ninety minutes of it.
Start at the Brown Palace or the Patterson Inn, then run up to Estes Park where the Stanley and the Baldpate sit within minutes of each other. Glenwood Springs is about three hours west on I-70, and Victor is roughly two hours south through the Cripple Creek district.
For everything beyond the hotels, browse our full directory of haunted places in Colorado or read our roundup of the most haunted places in Colorado.
