Spending a Spooky Night at the Stanley Hotel

I tossed and turned all night, but it was no use – I was not going to get a good night’s rest at the Stanley Hotel. As someone later put it to me, I was like a kid on Christmas Eve all full of anticipation. I wanted to have a ghostly experience in my room during my first night staying at the Stanley so badly that I couldn’t actually fall asleep for it to happen.

Earlier in the day, after lounging for an hour on the stunning veranda, I had joined another historical ghost tour of the hotel. Our group had no interesting experiences of which to speak like my past ghost tour, but we were able to go into the infamous room 217. And without a doubt, that was a treat worth enjoying! After the tour and dinner in the hotel’s restaurant, I returned to the hallways to do a ghost hunt of my own. I was not the only one, either, as the halls were full of people talking to themselves or sharing their experiences with others. Some claimed they were grabbed or pushed, that their hair stood up when they walked by a particular room, or that they simply weren’t experiencing anything at all and believed it to all be a farce.

I returned to my room after several hours spent touring the hallways, content and looking for a good night’s rest. That never came, but at no fault to the room or hotel itself. While coworkers had warned me every noise would be heard at night throughout the hotel, comparing it to a barn, I found it to be quite comfortable. Sure, there were gaps on the unevenly cut door, but I heard no more noise in the hallway at the Stanley Hotel than I have at any other hotel previously. I thought the room was quite spacious with a large bathroom and walk-in closet and, overall, tastefully decorated. The view from my window of the surrounding mountains and other outbuildings on the Stanley Hotel’s property was also quite pleasing, presenting an excellent panorama to wake up to in the morning. My only disappointment came in not being able to sleep.