Welcome to the Stanley Hotel
Do your best to enjoy your stay…..it’s up to you, because
we won’t be helping.
Monday, August 20, 2018
An Open Letter to the Current Owners of the Stanley Hotel:
My family and I recently stayed at the Stanley Hotel in
Estes Park, Colorado. We planned this
trip months in advance, coordinating a family vacation, a concert we wanted to
see, and a visit to the notorious inspiration for a work by one of my husband’s
favorite authors.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the location, it is
in Estes Park, Colorado, a popular tourist destination just on the edge of the
Rocky Mountains, approximately 90 minutes north-west of Denver. It is famous primarily for being the literary
inspiration for Stephen King’s, The Shining.
Although the Stanley Kubrick adaptation was not, in fact, filmed on
location, the later tv miniseries was. It
is rumored to be haunted, and there are hundreds of reports of paranormal
experiences, including some decidedly odd ones revolving around celebrities who
have stayed there. The hotel is actually
part of a larger historical district, with multiple buildings, an amphitheatre,
a sculpture garden, and several modern structures adding to the available rooms
to let.
Imagine my chagrin when, almost immediately upon arriving at
the hotel, everything was disorganized, confusing, inconvenient, and
frustrating. Below is a rough timeline
of our first night at the hotel, as well as a laundry list (ha…) of other
problems.
I. Arrival
at the hotel
a.
We could not figure out where to pull up to
offload our luggage and check in. There were
no signs explaining where we were supposed to go.
b.
There was no valet.
c.
We ended up parking in front of the Lodge, a
separate structure, and going in there trying to find out where to go. We were
directed to another entrance (the awning on the side of the main Hotel)
d.
Once going in this entrance, we were again
directed to another location – down the hall, up the steps, turn left, turn
right, there’s the registration desk. I
got hopelessly lost.
e.
Once we finally arrived at the registration
desk, we had to wait between 15 and 20 minutes just to get someone to talk to
us. Because of the confusion on where to
park, where to put our luggage, and so on, I didn’t have my ID on me, so I had
to send one of my children back out to the car to get my bag. I had no idea how to get back to the car at
this point. That led to a further delay,
while we waited for her to return.
f.
Once we got our registration taken care of, I
asked for a bellman to assist with luggage.
The people at the desk seemed baffled by this idea…and sort of fumbled around. The young lady who checked us in then made a
call to get us assistance. There was a
gentleman behind the desk as well, Kyle, who ended up taking us to our room and
helping us figure out how to get our luggage from the car to our room. Kyle was awesome. He also seemed a little befuddled, and inefficient,
but he was willing and capable and did his best to help us.
g.
At first Kyle was going to lead us to the room
just so we could find it. There were NO
SIGNS to direct us where to go. The
young lady behind the registration desk popped out the side-door from
registration to interrupt us as we were walking away, to rather snarkily say, “um,
someone is coming to help you get your bags,” clearly annoyed that we were
walking away. I had to stand by
registration for another 10 to 15 minutes until the bellman arrived…then the
bellman didn’t know what to do. Kyle
ended up helping us with our luggage. The
bellman didn’t understand where our car was, or how to get our luggage from the
car to our room.
h.
When we arrive at our room, the conditions of it
were disappointing. However, I will cover that in a later section dealing with
the conditions of the hotel.
i.
Upon checking in, I was given 2 photocopied
sheets – 1 was a short description of the hotel and what times various things occurred. The second was a map of the main floor. Both were on cheap quality paper, and had obviously
been photocopied from copies so many times they were nearly illegible. I felt like I was being handed a mimeograph
spelling list circa 1979.
j.
Bedding – we had booked the Heritage Suite, room
104, because there were 4 of us – 2 adults, 1 - 18 year old, 1 - 11 year
old. When we tried to set up the
pull-out, there was no bedding on it. We
searched the room, and found a single pillow, only. No sheets or blankets.
i.
My stepdaughter called down to the front desk to
request bedding. The desk staff appear confused, again, and said they were out
of blankets (?????) but would see what they could do. This was around 11:00pm.
ii.
Around 12:15am, I called down again, saying we
still hadn’t received our bedding. My
kids were exhausted and wanted to go to bed.
The person on the desk said she had just come on duty a short while
before and was unaware of a request for bedding. She said she would call them and try to get
it for us.
iii.
Around 12:50am, I walked down to the desk
personally, and spoke with the young woman on staff. She was the same one I had spoken with on the
phone at 12:15am, and she again said she wasn’t there when the first call came,
and she had already called housekeeping asking for the bedding, and she implied
there was nothing more she could do. I
insisted that I needed to know who else to call to get us some bedding. She made
another call and said someone was coming.
iv.
Around 1:10am, someone from maintenance
arrived and brought us a stack of 5 or so king size sheets, and a single
pillow. No blanket, no fitted
sheet. The gentleman said he couldn’t
find any blankets so he gave us multiple sheets instead.
v.
We ended up taking the bed spread off the king
size bed and giving it to the girls on the pull-out. They got to bed around 1:45am. We
lost nearly 3 hours they could have been sleeping.
II. Conditions at the Hotel. Below I will list all of the items in the
Stanley Hotel which were sub-par, frightening, dangerous, or just embarrassing.
a.
Heritage Suite, room 104:
i.
Shower curtain – the bathtub was tiny, and there
was a single, cheap vinyl shower curtain on a straight rod. Whenever you showered, the curtain stuck to
your body.
ii.
Water – in the shower, the water would go hot,
then cold, then hot, then cold.
iii.
Toilet – the toilet would not flush unless you
held the handle down. Then it would run constantly
until you manually lifted the handle.
iv.
Window in the bathroom – there was a small
window in the bathroom, with twin shutters to provide privacy. Inside those
shutters, the window frame was grimy, and looked as if it had not been scrubbed
or painted in years. It was also the
ONLY place in the entire bathroom to set anything down, such as a toothbrush,
toothpaste, etc.
v.
There were enough towels for 2 people only. I called down for additional towels our
first night, and they never arrived.
vi.
The large “sitting-room” area of the room
contained only a small desk, a single chair, a small coffee table, and the
pull-out couch. There is a dark,
dead-end hallway leading to a closet. There
was nowhere to sit if you had the couch pulled out into a bed except the single
chair at the desk. There was nowhere to
sit down together to eat a meal, despite having a full kitchen with stove,
microwave, fridge.
vii.
The kitchen floor and counters are all horribly
off-plumb. Anything round set down on
the counter immediately and violently rolls off and onto the floor, and if
running away in terror.
viii.
The cupboards were filled with an unpredictable
variety of glassware, dinnerware, and cutlery.
There was 1 spoon – a serving spoon.
There were no paper towels. There
was NO TRASH CAN anywhere in the kitchen or sitting area. The closest trash can was a small one right
next to the entrance to the suite, and then one other small one in the
bathroom, at the opposite end of the suite.
We requested a trash can (and those missing towels) because we had a
leak in one or our coolers on the way to Estes Park and had a bunch of spoiled
food. Housekeeping brought us a black
trash bag. I hung it from the washing
machine, held up by tucking it under the top lid.
ix.
The coffee service offered only pre-packaged
kits of of powdered creamer, an anemic sugar packet, a thin plastic stirrer
straw, and a paper napkin roughly the consistency of gift-bag tissue paper.
x.
Washer and Dryer in the kitchen area were sitting
in open view. This is minor, but it
would be nice to be able to close some louvers or something to hide these away.
xi.
Windows – all of the very large windows in the
suite opened easily. There were no
screens. We were on the ground
floor. Tours passed just outside our
windows through the gazebo – people could
easily climb right into our room. In
fact, at one point while we were out walking around, my 11 year old daughter
climbed INTO the room from the outside through the window we had left open, in
order to scare my husband, who was still in the room. Later my stepdaughter climbed OUT the window
in order to knock on the bathroom window from outside to scare her sister.
xii.
Pull-out couch – I don’t even know where to
start. It was old. It was worn.
It had an approximately 3” vertical cut in the back cushions, clearly
made with a knife of some sort. The
edges were frayed, as if it had been there a long time. The mattress had no mattress pad on it. The mattress was thin and worn. The couch was pink.
xiii.
Air conditioner –The entire main hotel has no
air conditioning. This is in large part
why having no screens is so disturbing. We
were aware of the lack of AC prior to making the reservation. However, our room (and at least 1 other in
our area) had a stand-alone air conditioner, connected to the window through a
vent pipe. The one we had malfunctioned
on our 3rd day in the room, and had to be repaired, and then
replaced the following day. It worked
well…but frankly looked very jury-rigged and unprofessional. In addition, the window the vent went out
could not be locked – the vent went through a wooden vent-plate that blocked
out the rest of the open window, but there was no block in place to prevent the
window from being opened the rest of the way allowing someone access to the
room from outside.
b.
The rest of the hotel:
i.
Fire Escapes:
While wandering the hotel late the first night, my husband and I discovered
the door to the front of the hotel on the 3rd floor open to what
appeared to be a balcony. I was excited
to check it out, so went outside. It
wasn’t a balcony, but a fire escape, with no railing around the opening for the
ladder/stairs down. My foot encountered
open air, and I caught myself from falling by grabbing the nearby railing. I almost fell 3 stories through a metal fire
escape.
ii.
Screens – there appear to be no screens anywhere
in the hotel. I remember looking up
while eating on the patio and noticing windows opening on the 4th
floor, and I could clearly see the person inside wave to someone near me on the
ground. Someone could easily fall out
those windows and get seriously injured.
iii.
Housekeeping – Due to our very late night upon
check-in when we didn’t have bedding until after 1:00am, we were not up for housekeeping
to clean our room the next morning. They
never returned later to do it. They
never come the next day at all. The
third day they came when we were in the room, and we asked them just for towels
and washcloths. They left us 3 towels, 2
washcloths, and a half dozen hand towels.
There were CLEARLY 4 OF US!
1.
No one on the housekeeping staff spoke ANY English.
Not any at all. They were completely
unable to communicate with us, and at one point one of the housekeeping staff
left to find someone who could translate for them.
2.
On the other hand, housekeeping appear to be the
only people who worked at the hotel who enjoyed their job.
iv.
Staff –Most of those who worked at the hotel, with
the exception of housekeeping and possibly some of the spirit tour guides,
appeared to hate their jobs. They never
seemed happy, they never wanted to help you, they always gave you the
impression that you were putting them out if you asked for anything. This included front desk help, wait staff,
bartenders.
1.
Added thought – the staff of the café on the
lower level were quite friendly. Of
course, for $6 for a 20oz Mocha with an extra shot of espresso, they BETTER act
happy.
v.
The steps that led from the heritage suite
corridor to the back of the hotel are rotting.
You can flake the wood off with a fingernail. They visibly bow when you step on them.
vi.
Hedge Maze – the hedge maze was an embarrassment. I understand from speaking with someone on staff
that there was a former groundskeeper who planted items which the elk love to
eat, and that the new groundskeeper is working to repair it. I find it amazing that a hotel of this
callibre would allow such a disaster to take place, especially after the amount
of money that went into creating the maze to begin with.
1.
The initial design for the hedge maze is so
tiny. I felt claustrophobic when I walked
through it. Why on earth did you invest that
much money, and block off the front of the hotel, for something so undersized? It very much feels like someone said “build a
hedge maze, but don’t spend too much.”
vii.
Signage – There are not nearly enough signs around
the property directing people where they need to go for particular things. You just have to wander around to find
things, and being a historical structure/site, it is not at all intuitive.
viii.
Ice Machine – there is one ice machine in the
entire hotel, on the 3rd floor in the one wing. It’s a long walk, especially with the altitude.
1.
There are NO SIGNS to help you find it.
ix.
Room number plaques – at least 3 room number
plaques were missing, and the room number was written on the torn wallpaper in
pencil: 217, 401, and some room on the 3rd floor.
x.
Veranda – the iconic main veranda at the front of
the Stanley is obviously a main gathering place. However, there were a lot of problems with
it:
1.
The wicker-esque furniture was often missing
cushions.
2.
The “bar” outside was never staffed.
3.
The area was never bussed (There were always
empty glasses and cups sitting around).
4.
The ice-water decanter was usually empty. In 5 days I found it containing water once.
5.
The area was often overrun with spirit tour clients,
making it impossible for guests staying at the hotel to enjoy the scenery or
just sit and relax.
6.
One of the 2 carriage lights bracketing the
front entrance was broken – Again, by talking to some of the staff I discovered
that a contractor broke it during the off season, and there was a delay in
getting it replaced. This also appears
to be a case of someone not caring to spend the money to expedite the
repair. I know due to the historical
nature of the structure there are limitations of materials allowed,
manufacturing process allowed, and so on.
However, I would think such a prominent fixture would be a high
priority.
7.
There were clearly openings in the ceiling for 2
smaller chandeliers to hang on the veranda.
The chandeliers are gone, and the holes are sitting there open, with
visible wires.
8.
There are hooks to hang planters between the
pillars, and no planters hanging there.
I understand not wanting to obstruct the incredible view, but a couple
of plants would really make the veranda more welcoming. Since it’s almost impossible to truly enjoy
the view with all of the kerfuffle of spirit tour participants coming and going
and taking photos and being generally loud, a few plants can’t hurt the view
much.
xi.
No Coffee Service – there is nowhere in the
hotel to just grab a cup of coffee. I
have never been in a high-end hotel before and not had access to coffee service
at all times on the main floor near registration. Usually it includes infused water as
well. There is neither. I seriously annoyed a waiter in the bar by
taking up a table in order to get a cup of coffee. I tried standing at the bar and got
ignored. I tried standing in the open
bar area and flag down a waiter, and they ignored me. I finally had to take a table in order to be
served, and he was clearly annoyed that he wasn’t going to get a solid tip out
of the transaction.
xii.
No room service – there is no room service at
all. Not even coffee. I have never, ever, been in a high end hotel,
including more than one historical structure, where you couldn’t arrange for
coffee to be delivered to the room during normal business hours or at least
during routine breakfast hours.
xiii.
Shuttle into town – when we were offloading our
luggage, we saw a white van with lettering on it saying it was some sort of
shuttle. After we spent time in Estes
Park the following day, I realized that it made a lot of sense to have a
routine shuttle that allows hotel guests to go into Estes Park without taking
their cars. However, I never saw that shuttle again, no one mentioned it being
available, and I never saw any signs or alerts showing how one could catch
it.
III. Local Opinions:
While visiting Estes Park, I took the time to talk to some of the locals
about the hotel and its operating conditions.
A few facts became clear. The
opinions of the local residents are that:
a.
The current owners are the hotel are extremely wealthy,
have no interest in the historical or aesthetic value of the property, and are
using it to generate as much revenue as possible as quickly as possible.
b.
It is only a matter of time before someone is
seriously injured on the property due to the poor maintenance, unsafe
conditions, and general lack of concern for employees’ and guests’ safety.
c.
The owners do not pay a living wage; the cost of
living near Estes Park is very high, and those who work at the hotel cannot
afford to live nearby.
d.
There are dormitories on-site, but they are
unpleasant in some vague way. No one
would say more than, well, there ARE dorms….” In a very uncomfortable tone of voice. I read this as, they are unpleasant to live
in, possibly crowded or dirty? No air
conditioning? I don’t know. However, the local opinion is clearly that
they are not a nice place to live.
e.
They have a very high turn-over of staff. Other than spirit tour guides, of those I
asked, I didn’t meet a single person who had worked there for more than 3
months.
f.
It is only a matter of time before the place has
a significant fire. I didn’t find out
from this one person I spoke with why she felt that way…but she clearly felt
that the place was a firetrap. I sensed
that was one reason she no longer worked there.
g.
The different departments within the hotel do
not get along. I had instances where
hospitality/management had difficulty dealing with housekeeping, the restaurant
refused to talk to management, reservations does not communicate with
hospitality.
h.
Cascades, the restaurant, is overpriced, and the
food is just bad. I met 1 particular
local who said she’d eaten there on 2 separate occasions, and both were
terrible.
i.
The owners would rather hire immigrants at
sub-par wages than shell out the money to allow people to afford to live
nearby, or provide adequate housing for nearby residents.
i.
n.b., the vast majority of the hotel staff I
interacted with were non-native English speakers. This includes hospitality, wait staff,
bellmen, and housekeeping.
What is the point of this long, obnoxious letter, do you
ask? I wish to ask, nay BEG, the current
owners: Sell the place to someone who
cares for it. Stop raping a beautiful,
interesting, historical structure for cash.
Shut down one wing of the hotel for an entire season, and upgrade
it. Drop around $20Million to get the
entire property upgraded, build decent housing for your staff, hire a crack
hotel manager who has ultimate hiring power over all branches of the hotel
complex. Hire a new chef for the
restaurant. Buy only local produce,
meat, toiletries, etc, and advertise that.
Instead of doing constant, disruptive, spirit tours, offer classes in
spirituality. Install a day spa and
offer massages, meditation rooms, and a Himalayan salt room. Build a laundry facility on-site, so that you
aren’t farming it out to an outside contractor who may or may not return bedding
in a timely manner.
Go back to the old skeleton keys. Get rid of the digital ones. Or,
if you must use digital keys, use a skeleton key design. It will add to the hotel’s cachet. You WILL lose keys…but include in the
reservation a deposit on the key, to be returned only upon the return of the
key itself.
Buy enough bedding to clothe every bed 3 times. Have spare bedding in every room.
Install a DVD player in every room and leave a copy of The
Shining (both versions) in each room.
Talk to King or Kubrick about getting a version you can put the hotel name
on, and leave a note on the box saying it is $20 to keep the movie. Alternatively, upgrade your digital
entertainment system to include streaming video, and have The Shining available
to view at all times.
Provide monogramed robes.
Put a tag on them saying they are Egyptian cotton, locally embroidered,
and the guest is welcome to keep it for a charge of $150 per robe. They will disappear.
Install a falconry.
Have classes.
Teach archery. Have hiking
guides on-staff, with regular hiking tours.
Offer maps of local areas and local events. Not ONCE did someone explain to me what was going
on in Estes Park the weekend we were there.
I found out later it was a wine festival.
Fire. Anyone. Who. Isn’t. Helpful. Make
it EASY to order a drink, not a chore.
Give a good manager the hotel for 2 years, and a budget of
$20 – 40 Million, and they will give you a gem that will be the envy of every big
resort hotel for generations, and which will make you millions in profits.
On the off chance that he might actually have read this, I
ask Mr. King to use whatever influence he might have to urge someone with a solid
reputation in the real estate / hospitality industry to rip this property away
from its current owners, before it is lost to us forever. Go read the reviews on Google or Facebook. The staff hate their jobs, the owners don't care, and a piece of history is being systematically raped to line someone's pockets.
