lodging

Recent Posts

Yellowstone lodging concessioner delays operations until June 15

By: |

CODY, WYO. — Yellowstone National Park’s primary lodging concessioner announced in an email to employees on Tuesday that it will not begin summer operations until June 15. Xanterra Travel Collection—which operates several hotels, campgrounds and tour activities in Yellowstone—told employees that the company is “waiting for directives from the National Park Service” as it revises its timeline for summer operations. Xanterra is the country’s largest park concessioner, operating in state parks and five national parks, in addition to Yellowstone. It relies heavily on seasonal employees who are housed in dormitories, cabins and other housing inside Yellowstone and other park properties. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Gateway Towns, News, Yellowstone, lodging, safety, xanterra collection

Yellowstone’s historic Mammoth Hotel reopens after $30 million renovation

By: |
Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly greets visitors during a celebration Aug 30 marking the reopening of the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel folowing a $30-million renovation. (NPS photo/Jacob W. Frank)

 
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WYO. — A beloved, historic hotel in Yellowstone National Park has reopened following a $30 million renovation that included room upgrades and major work to overhaul its electrical systems and stabilize the structure in the seismically active park. While the Mammoth Hotel has already been reopened and hosting guests for several days in August, the National Park Service made it official Friday, with a ribbon-cutting, room tours and a morning celebrating the history of the hotel that serves as the hub of Mammoth Hot Springs, where the Park Service’s Yellowstone headquarters are located. “We’ve got some of the most important cultural resources in the world in this park, and this is one of them,” Superintendent Cam Sholly said of Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel during Friday’s festivities. The multi-year renovation and upgrade was in the planning stages for nearly 20 years, and preserved the building’s late 1930s art moderne style, as originally designed by architect Robert Reamer, who also designed the Old Faithful Inn and redesigned Lake Hotel. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Yellowstone, accessibility, lodging, mammoth hotel

Yellowstone Lake Hotel reopens after $28.5 million renovation

By: |
People gather Tuesday for a ribbon-cutting celebrating completion of a 2-year, $28.5 million renovation of Lake Hotel in Yellowstone National Park.

The oldest hotel in the world's first national park had a distinct aroma of fresh paint as summer guests began arriving this week. But the major renovations being wrapped up at Yellowstone Lake Hotel go far beyond new paint, as workers are completing a 2-year, $28.5 million makeover that has focused on restoring the iconic property to its historic elegance. Continue Reading →

Filed under: News, Yellowstone, construction, dining, history, lake hotel, lodging, xanterra

‘Glamping’ on Yellowstone Lake: Roughing it in style in remote backcountry

By: |

I loved arriving and simply finding my tent already set up - it's one reason my husband and I shifted from tent camping to a pop-up camper years ago. The tents provided for this trip were large enough to stand up in, and were furnished with a rug, a cot with a comfy sleeping pad and sleeping bag as well as a night stand with a lantern. I slept very well both nights. And at the end of the trip, they took care of the packing up as well. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Yellowstone, dining, far and away adventures, glamping, lodging, trending, yellowstone lake

Grand Teton National Park sets 2012 summer opening dates for roads, facilities

By: |
Grand Teton National Park will close some of its roads to seasonal travel in preparation for winter.

The summer season officially gets under way Tuesday in Grand Teton National Park when the Teton Park Road opens to auto traffic. Most facilities and campgrounds in the park will be open by the end of May. Park officials reminded motorists in a statement released this week that wildlife are migrating throughout the park. Animals are crossing park roads, especially from dusk to dawn. Spring road repairs may be underway on park roads as well. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Grand Teton, campgrounds, grand teton, lodging, opening dates, visitor centers

Options growing for sustainable dining in Yellowstone and Grand Teton

By: |
Concessioner Grand Teton Lodging Company offers severl items made from scratch using organic, sustainably raised ingredients in its Mural Dining Room at the Grand Teton Lodge. (courtesy photo - click to enlarge)

A rising interest among both restaurant owners and diners is driving a burgeoning movement in sustainable, farm-to-table dining around Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. As more producers and chefs make their operations greener, locals and visitors to the parks and their gateway communities have a growing number of choices for sustainable Yellowstone dining. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Grand Teton, Yellowstone, chico hot springs, dining, grand teton lodging company, lodging, natural, organic

Free entry to Yellowstone and Grand Teton during National Parks Week April 21-29

By: |
The Roosevelt Arch greets visitors at the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park. (Flickr photo by Pete Zarria - click to enlarge)

National parks across the country will open to visitors without entry fees during National Park Week April 21-29, and Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks will be open for the start of the summer season, but with limited visitor services and amenities. Road crews are working to plow snow from roads in both parks, and if weather conditions allow, roads along the west side of Yellowstone National Park will open to automobile traffic on April 20. Visitors will be able to travel by car through the park's north and west ntrances to Norris, Madison, Canyon and Old Faithful beginning at 8:00 a.m. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Grand Teton, Yellowstone, grand teton, lodging, national parks week, opening dates, trending, yellowstone

Yellowstone Park wins approval for plan to convert cabins to visitor lodging

By: |

Yellowstone National Park planners have received approval for a proposal to convert 67 cabin units used for concessioner employee housing in the Old Faithful Lodge Area to visitor use, and to construct a new dormitory in the Old Faithful administrative area. An environmental review of the plan found there would be no significant impact to repurpose the cabins to provide more affordable visitor lodging at Old Faithful. Park managers also will build a new employee dormitory to house employees now living in the cabins. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Yellowstone, concessioners, lodging, old faithful, planning, yellowstone

NPS aims to convert Old Faithful worker cabins back to Yellowstone visitor lodging

By: |

The National Park Service has released for public review and comment a proposal to return some cabins housing workers in the Old Faithful area back to visitor use. The preferred alternative in the Old Faithful Cabin Repurposing and Dormitory Construction Plan Environmental Assessment would increase available summer lodging units in the Old Faithful area. Continue Reading →

Filed under: Yellowstone, comment, concessions, employees, lodging, old faithful, plan, workers