It is officially Spooky season and there is no better way to give yourself a scare than to stay at one of Colorado’s most haunted hotels. We have rounded up a list of the 5 most “spirited” hotels in Colorado to check into.
1. Hotel Colorado- Glenwood Springs
The Hotel Colorado located in Glenwood Springs has a rich history from housing Teddy Roosevelt, converting into a Navy Hospital and morgue during World War II, to being home to alleged murders and fatal accidents. The historic hotel opened its doors in 1893 and has been a popular tourist destination ever since. Of the many people that come and visit, some guests and employees have never left and are still roaming the halls years after their deaths.
Guests report elevators opening and closing with no one inside, hearing phantom screams, and strange smells throughout the hotel. People report smelling cigar smoke inside, even though smoking has been banned for decades. It’s speculated that Walter Devereux, the former owner of the hotel, is still roaming the halls smoking his cigars and making sure that everything is still running smoothly.
There are stories of screams and the specific smell of ‘gardenia’ perfume, allegedly coming from a nurse during World War II who was caught in a love triangle and murdered by her jealous lover. Guests staying in room 661 report seeing a woman in a floral dress standing over their bed.
2. Stanley Hotel- Estes park
The Stanley Hotel, located in Estes Park near Rocky Mountain National Park, was built in 1909. Nicknamed “Disneyland for ghosts,” this building is so haunted that it inspired Stephan King’s The Shining. Guests and employees describe hearing children’s laughter emanating from the fourth floor, seeing shadowy figures, and items moving by themselves across the room.
During a winter storm in 1911, a housekeeper was lighting lanterns in the rooms to keep guests warm when there was an explosion. She was blasted from room 217 down into the dining room below. Though she survived the blast, she never stopped caring for the room above. Guests report items moving on their own and their luggage being mysteriously unpacked. The housekeeper seems to be vexed by unmarried couples staying in room 217, and she purportedly packs up the man’s stuff and leaves his luggage by the door.
If you are feeling brave you can take a ghost tour and explore their underground tunnels; maybe you’ll run into one of their ghostly inhabitants.
3. Oxford Hotel- Denver
The Oxford Hotel, Denver’s most historic hotel, opened its doors in 1891. During the prohibition era their bar, The Cruise Room, acted as a speakeasy during prohibition. Apparently, a ghost of a postman can be seen drinking a beer at the bar, repeating to himself “the children, the children, I have to get the gifts to the children.” In the 1930s, a postal delivery man got lost delivering gifts to Central City during Christmas when he stopped at the Cruise Room for a drink. That spring after the snow had melted, his body was found surrounded by gifts that never made it to their destination.
The most haunted room in the hotel is room 320. In 1898 a woman by the name of Florence Montague found her husband in bed with another woman. She purportedly took his life before taking her own in the hotel room. She likes to mess with male visitors, turning faucets and light switches on and off and ripping the sheets off of them while they sleep. According to the owners, they try to avoid letting single male visitors stay in room 320.
4. The Patterson Inn- Denver Capitol hill
Nestled in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood stands The Patterson Inn, built in 1891. Originally a mansion-turned hotel, this spooky stay has a few spooky stories attached to its name.
There are rumors that a grieving and distraught mother buried her baby named Sarah in the basement. Guests report hearing cries coming from down below. Purportedly, two Dobermans got trapped inside of a room in the house and jumped out of an upstairs window to their deaths. Some people who stay here can still hear the sound of phantom barking.
5. Victor Hotel- Victor
The hotel with the most morbid past is the Victor Hotel, located in Victor, Colorado. After opening its doors in 1894 to accommodate travelers riding the Cripple Creek Railroad it burned down along with the whole town 1899. It was rebuilt that same year to house more guests; however, I do not think that the owners were anticipating it being the home to more deceased than alive. During the winter months, the ground was too frozen to dig graves, so they stored dead bodies on their fourth floor until the ground thawed enough that they could dig.
The fourth floor seems to be the most active, where guests report seeing foggy apparitions, feeling cold, hearing footsteps, and seeing things flying around the room. Their most haunted room, however, seems to be room 301 which was home to a guest named “Eddie.” He fell down the elevator shaft to his death decades ago but can still be seen in that room, the elevator, and down the halls. The elevator of the hotel, although regularly checked, tends to go up to the third floor by itself around 3am. If you ever find yourself in Victor, maybe you will feel brave enough to take a ride with Eddie during the witching hour.
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