BED AND BREAKFAST IN SURREY

Sorry for the delay everyone - and now, back to the Stanley Hotel Ghost Tour!

By the turn of the century it appeared that the lives of the ingenious F.O. Stanley and his twin brother were truly blessed. They had become millionaires in their 30s by inventing "Dry Plate technology" and being bought out by George Eastman of Kodak. They followed this up with the extremely successful Stanley Steamer company. But the turn of the century saw a change in their luck; F.O.'s brother Freeman would shortly be killed in a car accident, while in 1902 F.O. was diagnosed with tuberculosis.

The doctors worked feverishly, but to no avail. Eventually all they could do was to recommend he move somewhere less humid. After consideration, the extremely ill F.O. and his wife Flora made their way to Denver, Colorado having been assured that its dryness made it the best location to relocate to.

Unfortunately, upon reaching their destination the local doctor they contacted also sadly told them it was the most polluted city in the United States. Ironically, life in Denver promised an even swifter death from tuberculosis for F.O..

Unable to help F.O. and hoping to ease his passage, the Doctor told the dying tycoon that he had a cottage near the Rocky Mountain National Park in a place called Estes Park. He offered it to them as a place to live out the last few months of F.O.'s life where he would be surrounded by the beauty of the Colorado countryside.

F.O. and Flora made their way to Estes Park. But the lingering, painful death they expected never happened. Miraculously, and to the shock of their Denver doctor, the air of Estes Park cured the deathly ill F.O..

To preserve his health, F.O. and Flora made their permanent home in Estes Park. They purchased large lots of land from Lord Dunraven and built a beautiful new home. But Flora, who was used to the busy social circle back home in the east hosting hundreds of dinner guests, grew lonely and bored. Not one to lay idle, she reckoned that if she couldn't go to her friends, why couldn't they come to her and also enjoy the wonders of Colorado. She asked F.O. if they could invite all their friends out west to visit them, which F.O. wisely agreed to. Flora instantly threw herself into the building of a guest house to house all her friends.

That "guest house" is now called the Stanley Hotel.

Since Halloween is soon upon us I thought it was time to get back to the Stanley Hotel and finish the ghost tour.

This is the Music Room. It was the favorite room of F.O. Stanley's wife, Flora. It's also the only room left on the main floor that retains the original look of the hotel.

In 1997 when The Shining miniseries was filmed at the hotel the walls and moldings of the entire main floor with the exception of the Music Room were painted to look like wood. Originally they were all white plaster to provide this clean, fresh look that you can still see in the Music Room.

The piano in the alcove is the original piano that was played by many celebrities, including John Philip Sousa. Sousa played it several times and each time he would scratch his name and year into the underside of the piano cover to mark the date. Several years ago the piano was sent out for refurbishment and tuning. When it came back the refurbisher proudly told the hotel manager that not only had they re-tuned the piano, they'd also, "removed a bunch of scratches on the wood some vandals must have done" so sadly Sousa's signatures are now lost.

This room is said to be haunted by Flora's ghost. She can be seen sometimes standing near the windows or seen standing behind the viewer when she/he looks into the mirror that hangs over the fireplace to the far left. Ghostly music is heard late at night and ghostly dancers seen from time to time. One story tells of a patron or tourist to the hotel who sat at the piano, tried a few keys, and then complained about the fact the piano was out of tune... at which point the cover for the piano key's came slaming down on his hands.

Apparently Flora is sensitive about her piano.