The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado

In this episode of The Midnight Drive, we begin our Colorado series with one of the state’s most famous and most misunderstood locations.The Stanley Hotel is often reduced to its connection with The Shining, but its story starts much earlier. Built in 1909 by Freelan Oscar Stanley as a retreat for health, rest, and mountain air, the hotel was designed to feel ordered, elegant, and restorative. Over time, though, it developed a very different reputation.Tonight, we move through the history of the land, the creation of the hotel, the 1911 explosion in Room 217, and the guest experiences that have kept the Stanley suspended somewhere between documented history and legend. We also look at the quieter question underneath all of it: what happens when a place built for comfort begins to feel unsettling instead?Some of the reported hauntings and guest experiences in this episode are folklore and personal testimony, not verified fact. As always, the goal is not to prove anything, but to sit with the atmosphere of a place and the stories people carry out of it.Topics covered: Estes Park history, Freelan Oscar Stanley, Room 217, the 1911 gas explosion, reported hauntings, Flora Stanley, Stephen King, The Shining, haunted Colorado history.© Hondira LLC 2026