The Stanley Hotel has hosted many famous guests including The Unsinkable Molly Brown, John Philip Sousa, Theodore Roosevelt, the Emperor and Empress of Japan, and a variety of Hollywood personalities. And, of course, the Stanley Hotel hosted Stephen King for five months while he wrote "The Shining." In addition to its regular guests, the hotel is also said to play host to a number of other worldly visitors. The most notable is F.O. Stanley himself who is most often seen in the lobby and the Billiard Room, which was his favorite room when he was still alive. On one such occasion, he was said to have appeared during a tour group’s visit to the Billiard Room, materializing behind a member of the tour. Bartenders at the old hotel also report having seen F.O. stroll through the bar, disappearing when they try to cut him off at the kitchen. Not to be left out, Flora Stanley also haunts the hotel, continuing to entertain guests with her piano playing in the ballroom. Employees and guests have reported hearing music coming from the room, and when they take a peek into the room they can see the piano keys moving. However, as soon as someone walks across the thresh-hold to investigate further, the music stops and no more movement can be seen upon the keys of the piano. There are several rooms in the hotel that seem to be particularly haunted. One is Room 407, which is said to sometimes be occupied by Lord Dunraven, who owned the land prior to F.O. Stanley. Reportedly, he likes to stand in the corner of the room near the bathroom door. On one such account, witnesses reported that a light in that corner kept turning on and off. While the light was off, they told the ghost that they knew that he was there, they would only be staying two nights, and would he please turn the light back on. The light turned back on. However, later when the lights were turned off and they were trying to sleep, noises were constantly heard from the nearby elevator during a time when the elevator was not in use. At other times, a ghost has been reported to be looking out the window of Room 407, when the room is not booked.
Room 418 gets the most reports of haunting activity apparently from children’s spirits. Cleaning
crews report having heard many strange noises from the room, as well as seeing impressions on the
bed when the room has been empty. When guests stay in the room, they often report that they hear
children playing in the hallway at night. One couple reportedly checked out of the hotel very early
in the morning, complaining that the children in the hallway kept them up all night. However, there
were no children booked in the hotel at the time. |
Tour guides tell a story of the ghost of a small child who has been seen by many of the staff in various areas of the old hotel. Reportedly, Steven King also saw the child, who was calling out to his nanny on the second floor. Other past employees report footsteps and apparitions seen throughout the building.
In one of Denver's most noted hotels, The Brown Palace Hotel current hotel employees often run into a former uniformed waiter in the service elevator. Luckily, the ghost always leaves the elevator when it stops. In the boiler room, witnesses recount the sounds of babies crying. Also, where a United Airlines ticket office now stands, there was once a railroad station ticket office. Once, a man dressed in the style of an old-fashioned train conductor appeared just outside the ticket window and disappeared through the wall. Mrs. Louise Crawford Hill was a socialite who lived in Room 904 for fifteen years. The story of her heartbreaks and lost loves were told in ghost tours conducted by the hotel's historian. Soon after this began, the switchboard began receiving calls from Room 904. Interestingly, the room didn't have a telephone, or even furniture or wallpaper, because it was in the midst of a renovation. The historian stopped talking about Mrs. Hill on the tour, and the phone calls stopped.
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