The first week of August I was in Estes Park, Colorado. When you enter the downtown area, this is what you see:
Beautiful white buildings on the hill. Built by F.O. Stanley and his wife, Flora. It has 139 guest rooms.
I remembered being here in the 1980's before the Stanley Hotel was restored. Then it was pretty much there by itself, but now there is new construction all around it. The town has greatly expanded.
Here is a closer view of the lovely white structure. Love their patriotism with the six American flags out front. Presidents have stayed here as well as other famous people. Theodore Roosevelt, Molly Brown, Stephen King and Jim Carrey all stayed in Room 217.
This room is all the way to the right looking at the front of the building. Can you imagine the dances held here in 1909 with ladies in long white gowns? Or how about a wedding or a formal dinner.
Let's sit on the veranda for awhile and take in the mountain view.
View of the side of the hotel. Very pretty windows.
This Stanley Steamer is in the lobby. Jay Leno has a few of these in Jay's Garage. These cars could go over 65 miles per hour.
The lobby disappoints if you are expecting something more grand.
The backside of the hotel has a patio, fountain, arbor, gardens and other white outbuildings.
You can see the mountains in the background.
Pretty waterfall and fountain.
I loved the circular detail of the arbor supports. The red is a reflection from the umbrella.
Marguerite Daisies in the back garden.
Pretty gazebo.
Here is the concert hall where famous orchestras played. John Philip Sousa opened the hall in 1910 and performed yearly until his death in 1932.
The Manor House.
The President's Quarters adjacent to the Executive office buildings.
White Petunias in the back garden.
We noticed that the guest room windows were open so I asked at the desk about air conditioning and was told that there is no A/C on the property. Most days the high mountain air is cool enough, but I would choose wisely what month I was going to be staying there.
Be sure to check out their website. Find out what the Stanley has to do with Stephen King and his book The Shining as well as the mini-series. Here is a model used for the structure fire in the mini-series. They made two and only used one for the fire scene. You can see it on the basement level of the hotel. There are also ghost tours if you are interested for $50 and a short tour of the building for $15. Parking is $5. There is a restaurant onsite as well as a gift shop.
Looking majestic in white.
Estes Park is a lovely small town an hour north of Denver. It has a beautiful park with small river running through it in the downtown area. The streets are landscaped with beautiful flower boxes and hanging baskets.
I do hope you get the opportunity to visit Estes Park. It is also at the entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park.
All the best,
Summer
Photo Credits: Swede
