Overlook Hotel

“	When the place was built in 1907, there was very little interest in winter sports. And this site was chosen for its seclusion and scenic beauty.	”
	— Stuart Ullman, to Jack Torrance

The Overlook Hotel is the main antagonist in the The Shining franchise. It was a secluded hotel located in the Rocky Mountains. During the hotel's history, it was the site of many unsavory activities including suicides, gangland hits, and many suspicious changes of ownership. However, the Overlook has remained a luxurious destination known for its sumptuous grounds and spectacular mountain view. Due to its gruesome past, it was given the nickname of "The Sadistic Demon".

History[]

Personality[]

Overlook as a verb means to fail to notice something, to ignore or disregard something, to pass over in favor of something else, or to have a view from above. As a noun it means a commanding position or view. In The Shining, many things are overlooked: past murders at the hotel, leaving the hotel in the possession of an abusive alcoholic, and checking the boilers, among many other things. Because of this, the Overlook Hotel is an extremely haunted and evil place. The vacant halls are patrolled by several wrathful and murderous ghosts. It's also haunted by both poltergeists and demons.

The Shining (book)[]

In the novel The Shining, it's revealed that the Overlook was built between the years of 1907 and 1909 and opened on June 1st, 1910 by a man named Robert Townley Watson, grandfather of the current maintenance man, Pete Watson.

Jack Torrance, his wife, Wendy Torrance, and son, Danny Torrance, arrive at the Overlook Hotel just as everyone is checking out. They're given a grand tour by Mr. Ullman. Danny is told by Hallorann, the hotel's chef, that the Overlook has a dark history and warns him to stay out of Room 217. The Torrances watch everyone leave the hotel until the last person leaves and they are alone in the hotel.

At first, the hotel seems to be a blessing to them and Wendy claims this is the happiest she has ever been. But Danny is hiding dark secrets, and soon starts to see terrifying visions and ghosts. Danny enters Room 217 one day and finds a corpse in the bath, which smiles at him and tries to strangle him. He is found by Wendy, who blames Jack. However, Danny tells Wendy that it was Miss Massey and Jack enters the room. He finds nothing but hears the footsteps of Miss Massey coming towards him. Jack flees the room, frightened, and the room is not entered again.

Danny starts seeing more terrifying visions and the topiary animals come to life. Jack slowly starts to go crazy and the ghost of the previous caretaker convinced him to kill his wife and son so that the hotel can inherit Danny's power. Danny calls to Hallorann for help with his Shining, and he comes. The hotel manages to murder Jack by brutally smashing his face in with his roque mallet. Wendy, Danny, and Hallorann escape the hotel just as the boiler explodes, destroying the hotel.

The Shining (film)[]

Jack Torrance arrives at The Overlook Hotel for an interview with Mr. Ullman and Bill Watson. Mr. Ullman warns Jack about the tremendous sense of isolation and cabin fever and also tells him about the incident with Grady, to which Jack brushes off and says he and his family will be fine. After Danny has a terrifying vision about blood coming out of the hotel's elevator, Wendy calls a nurse, to which she says that the family will be fine in the hotel.

Jack, Wendy, and Danny arrive at the hotel. Jack greets Mr. Ullmann and Bill Watson, who explains that Wendy and Danny are in the hotel somewhere. Jack collects Wendy and Mr. Ullman and Bill Watson show Wendy and Jack the Colorado Lounge, their quarters, the hotel's famous hedge maze and the outside interior. Around them, several cleaners clean the hotel and heaps of staff members depart the hotel with their luggage and also help to clean the hotel. Mr. Ullman tells Jack and Wendy that the hotel is built on an Indian burial ground.

Wendy and Jack are shown The Gold Ballroom and meet Dick Hallorann. Mr. Ullman's secretary brings Danny to his parents, and Dick Hallorann takes Wendy to the kitchen while Jack goes with Mr. Ullman and Bill Watson. Dick telepathically asks Danny if he wants ice cream and warns him about the hotel's ghosts and to stay out of Room 237. A month later, the Torrances are settling in and Wendy and Danny explore the empty hotel, while Jack slowly goes insane, losing it at Wendy one night while she talks to him.

As the snow settles in, Jack gets irritable and nasty, Wendy starts to get lonely and Danny experiences terrifying visions, meeting The Grady Girls at last. Soon enough, the ghost of Mrs. Massey lures Danny to her room and strangles Danny. Wendy, hysterical, blames Jack. Furious, Jack enters The Gold Room and is served a drink by a ghost. Wendy finds Jack, terrified, and tells him about the woman that strangled Danny. Jack enters Room 237, and just like in the past, Mrs. Massey seduces Jack, until morphing into an ugly woman and chases Jack out of the room. Wendy, upset and distraught, tells Jack they must leave the hotel for Danny's health and sake, to which Jack loses it at her, angered that she wants to leave and not finish the caretaking job.

Jack goes to the lobby, and hears music. He enters The Gold Room and encounters a ghostly masquerade party. Jack meets Delbert Grady and Delbert tells Jack he must "correct his family." Danny, terrified, calls Dick Hallorann to come. As Dick makes his way, Wendy encounters Jack in the abandoned, ghostly Colorado Lounge. Jack attempts to murder her, but Wendy knocks him unconscious and locks him in the kitchen's pantry. Delbert unlocks the door and Jack goes upstairs to their quarters, chops down the door with the axe and enters. Danny is able to escape but Wendy isn't small enough to escape through the window and Jack attempts to murder her again, but Wendy slashes his hands with a razor, stopping him. Just as this happens, Dick arrives.

As the wind howls outside, Jack walks through the hotel with his ax and hides in the lobby as Dick enters. He is able to murder Dick with the axe. Danny witnesses this and screams. Jack chases him outside and follows him through the hedge maze. Wendy, terrified, tries to find her son so they can leave. As she does so, the hotel starts to show it's true evil when ghosts show up and terrify Wendy. Eventually, Danny escapes the hedge maze by tricking his father. Wendy finds him and the two escape in Dick's snowmobile, leaving Jack to freeze to death in the hedge maze.

The Shining (miniseries)[]

Jack Torrance is given a rundown of the boiler with Bill Watson (renamed Pete). Pete informs Jack about Miss Massey. Jack later goes outside with Mr. Ullman. Outside, the hotel is full of families njoying themselves, such as riding ponies, playing croquet, and relaxing at the patio. Mr. Ullman tells Jack about the hotel's history. On Closing Day, the Torrances arrive. All the guests and staff are gone, except for Dick Hallorann and Pete Watson. The family are given a tour, and Dick warns Danny about the hotel, before leaving them alone in the hotel. The Torrances find themselves grateful for looking after the hotel. Both Wendy and Jack are extemely happy with their new lives.

This, however, doesn't last long when Danny goes into a trance and wasps attack him from their nest which are resurrected by the ghosts when a bug bomb had been detonated in the nest. Jack soon starts to become restless and Danny soon sees frightening visions. Danny enters Room 217 and is trangled by Miss Massey. Wendy accuses Jack, and he enters the bar, and is served a drink by a ghost. When Wendy tells him that a woman strangled Danny, Jack enters Room 217 and finds the corpse of Miss Massey behind the shower curtain. He flees, terrified.

The Torrances try to make the most of their stay, including decorating the hotel to their liking. However, Jack starts to go insane and is told by Delbert Grady to "correct his family." He tries to kill Wendy with a roque mallet, but does not succeed. Dick arrives at the hotel, after Danny telepathically calls him and Danny, Wendy and Dick escape just as the hotel's boiler explodes, destroying the hotel. In a last shot, the hotel's rubble is seen, including the lobby, the playground and several other sections of the hotel.)

Doctor Sleep (book)[]

By the time the events of Doctor Sleep occur in 2013, the remains of The Overlook Hotel have been removed and a vampire group called The True Knot have set up camp at the old site, building a campground which is never open.

Doctor Sleep (film)[]

Dan returns to the abandoned Overlook, believing it will be as dangerous for Rose as it is for him and Abra. He starts up the boiler and awakens the hotel. In the banquet hall which leads the Gold Room, he is offered a drink and talks with the bartender who resembles his father. When Rose confronts Dan and Abra they mentally pull her into the Overlook's hedge maze. After a failing to trap her in one of the boxes, Dan tells Abra to run. As rose overpowers Dan, he releases the Overlook's ghosts from his boxes and they kill Rose. Dan finds Abra and fighting the hotel's influence over him he tells her to run. He returns to the boiler room, which becomes engulfed in flames. Abra escapes and watches as the hotel burns down.

Inhabitants[]

Locations[]

There were several parts to the hotel. Below you can find a list of each of them. Certain locations were created strictly for the film.

Interior[]

Exterior[]

The Hotel Exterior
Topiary Animals (novels only)
Hedge Maze (films only)

Appearances[]

Trivia[]

It is a brief location in the film 'Ready Player One'.
In the 1980 film, the Overlook Hotel's exterior is represented by Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood in Oregon.
- Additional exteriors were filmed on the backlot of Elstree Studios.
- Interior scenes were filmed on Stages 3, 4, 5, 8, and 9 at Elstree Studios
- The Hedge Maze was filmed on the backlot of MGM Borehamwood Studios.
The interiors of the Overlook in the films are based heavily on the Ahwahnee Hotel at Yosemite National Park in California. The film's Colorado Lounge is a near copy of the Grand Lounge at Ahwahnee. The elevators and Lobby of both are also nearly identical. It has been noticed that from scene to scene the layout of the Overlook changes. There are several impossible shots in the film.
In Before the Play, it was revealed that Robert’s wife, Sarah, died the same year the Overlook finished construction.
In the novels, the hotel is open from May 15 to September 30. In the films, the hotel is open from May 15 to October 30.
In the miniseries, the Overlook hotel was filmed at The Stanley Hotel, the real life hotel Stephen King wrote about when he conceived the idea for the original story.
It is mentioned in the novels, Doctor Sleep (which is a sequel to The Shining), Misery, and Billy Summers.

Locations
The Overlook Hotel	The Lobby • Ullman's Office • The Colorado Lounge • The Gold Room • The Red Bathroom • The Kitchen • The Storeroom • The walk-in freezer • The Games Room • The Boiler Room • Room 237 • The West Wing • The Caretaker's apartment • The Red Hallway • The hotel exterior • Hedge maze
Colorado	Boulder, Colorado • Boulderado Hotel • Boulder apartment • Sidewinder, Colorado • Estes Park
Real Locations	Ahwahnee Hotel • Elstree Studios • The Stanley Hotel • Timberline Lodge • Stovington
Category:Locations