This hotel is located in Estes Park, Colorado, just outside the east entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park. It was used for most of the exterior shots in the original 1980 film “The Shining,” as the Overlook Hotel.
The hotel was built by F.O. Stanley in 1909. His twin brother, F.E. Stanley, designed the Stanley Steamer automobile (not the carpet cleaning company). A restored 1910 Steamer sits inside the hotel lobby. It originally sold for $850 and there were more than 10,000 of them built.
Those of you familiar with the movie know the significance of Room 217
If you haven’t seen the movie (the original with Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, NOT the remake) you really need to. It is a classic. I plan to order the full, uncut version when I get home and pay particular attention to the exterior shots (the hotel interior was constructed on a soundstage in England).
A few weeks ago I visited the Timberline Lodge, at the base of Mount Hood, Oregon, which was also used for the opening scenes in the movie.
I was disappointed to learn that the huge hedge maze seen in the movie doesn’t actually exist (they have built a quasi-maze in front of the hotel but it isn’t quite the same). It, too, was only a model built in England. Ah, the magic of Hollywood…..
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