We spent three nights in June in a deluxe room in the Dunraven Lodge in Canyon Village. Our $500 a night deluxe room was in the basement (what they call the first floor) and it was directly under the social room for the lodge. So every night families and groups traveling together used the room as a play area for the kiddies. It was incredibly loud. You could not read or listen to music (you don't have the option of turning up the volume on the TV). This hell went on until 11PM one night. We never did get a good night's sleep, as we were up early to get a head start on the crowds. FYI, the room was number 5101. A secondary concern was with trying to get something decent to eat in Canyon Village without a huge exposure to COVID. Your choices are two: do not eat or the grill in the afternoon and the cafeteria in the evening. The grill has the best select, but you are literally sitting in the lap of the person next to you. If we had it to do over, we would bring more cold food (no microwave in rooms) and pretend that we are camping.

I’ll start by saying we paid $1000 for a one night stay in a room classified as a suite. This company knows you have very limited options, and they take advantage of that. I have stayed at many motels/hotels/resorts, and generally the cost is related to the value. This hotel falls short. - mediocre furnishings - large stains on both the sofa and one of the table chairs. Obviously someone spilled a large amount of liquid, or urinated on them. - suite was advertised as accommodating 6 people with the sleeper sofa. The sofa bed was so uncomfortable I wouldn’t even have my teen sleep there. You could feel the springs through the “padding” - there was no bedding included for the sleeper sofa. I called the front desk, she promised to send bedding and it never came - suite was advertised as including a mini fridge with complimentary snacks and sodas. When we arrived there was no fridge. Call to the front desk and she didn’t know what I was talking about. I had to read the description of the suite from the website to her. It took an hour for them to find a fridge, then another for them to wrangle up some snacks. - not sure why they have the sink separate from the bathroom, it makes no sense - no lock on the bathroom door. Remember, this is billed as accommodating 6 people. The staff, while polite, obviously lacked training. The food options are very limited and scarce. God forbid you are staying more than one night, as you will end up eating the same thing (assuming they can fit you in). Of course the location is fantastic, that is why they charge what they do. Just make sure your expectations are in line with reality.

Firstly, Yellowstone is one of the most amazing places we have visited. The staff we encountered at the hotel were very helpful and friendly, though many were clearly inexperienced. We stayed at the Old Faithful Inn and Canyon Lodge, both of which are extremely expensive to stay at. The Canyon Lodge is in a great location, and that is the only point of merit. We booked a Deluxe Lodge 2 Queen/Porch, there is no television in the room and there is no room service at present. Rooms are fairly basic. Given that there was no service we were told to call reception if we needed anything. When we called for replacement coffee supplies (we were there for three days) they never arrived. We collected from the lobby and there was no creamer available for the whole time we were there. The internet was not working and there was no mobile signal (though depending on your carrier some people did have reception). The internet was blamed on the location. I have stayed in islands in the Indian Ocean with fast internet! The worse part of our stay was the catering. We had to queue up at least 30 minutes each day for our meals and there were few options. The management claimed that there was a shortage of staff, seriously! Yellowstone is invariably fully booked and they are either not paying a sufficient rate to attract staff or just badly managed. Apart from the location there is nothing to merit the Canyon Lodge. My view is that the property is abusing its monopoly at the National Park and are getting away with poor service.

I was in Dunraven Lodge. Overall it was comfortable and quiet. Internet access was down as often as it was up. I’m told by an employee there should be a significant improvement in connectivity this year. I would expect a lot more for the price at a hotel outside the park. Food at the cafeteria was pretty good but I ate at the grill more often.

We just spent 4 nights in the Washburn Lodge at Canyon Lodge. I found it a great place to stay. Location is hard to beat: The Canyon Lodge is located at Canyon Junction, very close to Canyon Visitor Center and to all Canyon hikes. Norris Junction is close, 12 miles (25 minutes), as is Fishing Bridge and Yellowstone Lake. All in-park accommodations will have similar advantages. We had a room on the first floor of Washburn. It appears to be a brand-new building (less than 5 years old). Our room was nicely finished out and had two queen beds, a shower and tub, small refrigerator, one-cup Andis coffee maker, and a hair dryer. We were provided with 4 sets of fluffy towels, and the two beds had a total of 6 small-ish pillows. Our room had a table (round, I'd say 36") and two chairs. The room is carpeted and has high ceilings. No A/C but the window opens and is screened. The was more than adequate parking. The staff was without exception very friendly and helpful. They did not offer daily maid service, but I really prefer not to have it; we were able to get more coffee cups and exchange towels in 5 minutes one day. There is a laundromat in the building, 10 washers, 8 dryers (I think), $2.75 for wash and $2.00 for dryer. I got $1 bills for the change machine from the front desk; the change machine was out of order, so I returned to the front desk for $10 in quarters. No problem. The machines are quite busy from 6:30-9pm but I was able to get mine done. But be prepared to take a mid-day to do laundry if needed. Cons: There is virtually no food service here. Nothing in our building (not even coffee--hence coffee makers in the room). We stopped at the Canyon Lodge Eatery on Monday night at 6:15pm, and I couldn't even see what there was to eat because of the mass of people standing between the doors and the food. Every seat appeared to be filled, there was no obvious line, just a mass of about 200 people, some holding trays. We stopped by again about 8pm; there were lines (but more manageable) and seats, and it looked like there was a line with two choices (turkey or chicken, and a couple of vegetables) and a wok line (base, meat and vegetables, with a few choices). I don't say this to discourage you from staying at Canyon, but strongly suggest bringing your own food if possible. We were lucky to have our camper with a gas stove in the parking lot; but I saw others with Coleman stoves in the back of their SUV's, or just enjoying a picnic lunch or dinner. I know that isn't practical for everyone, but you will enjoy your trip more if you are not standing in a tired, angry crowd at 6pm hoping for dinner. BTW the vendor is well aware of the problem and makes the same suggestion (bring your own food if you can). And it is expensive. You are paying for the location. If cost is a significant consideration, staying outside the park (or in an older property) should be considered. One other note: No TVs in the room. VERY limited internet and cell service at the lodge (and none is most of Yellowstone Park). If you are planning to work remotely while in Yellowstone, or if your evening plans involve a couple of hours of TV after a nice dinner, you may want to consider staying outside the park. I think there are nice enough places in the surrounding towns; but it adds an hour+ of commute time each day. We started touring at 7:30am, snacked through the day and ate in our camper each night around 7:30pm; by the time we got to the room at 9 or so, we were ready to sleep! And slept well! I had stayed at the Canyon Cabins in 1997. They were tiny, dated, tiny shower. My expectations were greatly exceeded by this experience.