‘Shining’ Hotel Borrows $300 Million to Cater to Horror Fans

The new owners of the Stanley Hotel, which is in Estes Park, Colorado, roughly 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Boulder, plan to borrow nearly $300 million this month to expand its facilities, bond documents show. The majority of the offering, which will be issued through a state authority, is tax-exempt and will be backed by revenue generated by the hotel as well as other streams.

The project, which includes a new event center, is the result of a decade’s worth of planning by the state and the hotel owner along with cultural and film organizations around how to attract more regional tourism. Part of the goal is to tap into the Sundance Film Festival’s planned move to Boulder in 2027 from Utah.

The Stanley is a 196-room independent hotel that opened in 1909 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its campus encompasses more than 40 acres with amenities including outdoor pools, a spa, restaurants, and a concert hall. Located near the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, it’s the only full-service hotel in the area.

King and his wife stayed in the hotel for one night in 1974, and had the unusual experience of being the only guests as it was closing the next day for the winter, the author recalls on his website. The empty hotel struck him as a good setting for a ghost story, but it was a nightmare he had that night — of his then-toddler-aged son screaming as he was chased through the hotel’s corridors by a fire-hose — that set The Shining story in motion.

The book, which was turned into the 1980 movie starring Jack Nicholson, is about a writer who, with his family, is hired to take care of a remote, haunted hotel during the winter and progressively goes insane. The hotel exterior featured in the movie was in Oregon.

“The Stanley is a great old hotel,” King said through a representative. “For me it’s full of ghosts.”

Expanded Campus

With the proceeds of the debt sale, the hotel will add 65 guest rooms, build a new lobby and arrivals area and the event center.

The debt is unrated, a category that tends to be on the riskier side and is sold only to qualified investors. Among the risks cited in bond documents: the prospect that tariffs on imported construction materials could boost costs and lead to higher prices that ultimately weigh on revenue from the hotel and the new center.

The center will be dedicated to the horror genre with a museum and a film archive with exhibits and events curated by Blumhouse Productions, which produced films including 2018’s Halloween and Paranormal Activity. Exhibits will include movie sets and artifacts from films, bond documents say.

It will also have an auditorium with the capacity to hold 1,100 people, a 176-seat theater and a speakeasy.

The renovated hotel will continue to host the annual Sundance Directors Lab program, which moved to the Stanley in 2024 and features up-and-coming and established filmmakers.

Mark Heller, executive director of the Colorado Educational and Cultural Facilities Authority, the issuer, said in a statement that the hotel’s agreements with Blumhouse and Sundance will “greatly enhance Colorado’s standing in film-making.” The lab will also fill the hotel during low-tourism winter months, he said.

As part of the renovation, the property will also become a fully-owned subsidiary of the issuer, which is a public entity that provides financing for cultural and educational institutions in the state.

By Erin Hudson