The Stanley Hotel, in Estes was fantastic. We stayed there in 2008, 4th floor room right near the room that is haunted. The movie The Shining, with Jack Nicholson, was filmed there and they have ghost tours every night.
An old hotel that has been updated, lovely grounds, great staff, dining room is wonderful, bar is fun. We had a room in the main hotel, small, no air conditioning, but just so much fun.The lobby is gorgeous and the porch in the front is large, with rocking chairs and serves drinks.The grounds are beautiful.
There are more updated extensions to the hotel that are more modern.
You can walk into Estes Park downtown, shop at great little stores, have breakfast if you wish at a pancake restaurant. Bring your camera everywhere you go, you will have elk right near you everywhere.
Nearby Estes Peak in the park is an easy climb (well sorta tough on out-of-shape 55 year olds like myself) and is well worth the effort. If one leaves the car about 9:00 am you could take it slow, enjoy some time at the top, and get back to your car by early afternoon. Snow could be around the approaches to the peak through most of June.
That’s enough to make you want to stay forever, and ever, and ever...