you will imbue the history and lore of yellowstone here ! near old faithful. great jumping off location inside the park for full days of touring and enjoying the majesties of this incredible spectacle !

I understand the frustration seen in other covid time reviews. People should have been warned better. All Yellowstone lodgings are usually rather bare bones and lacking certain amenities most expect. But with the lobby of the Inn being closed, it was more pronounced how stark the 2021 experience was. I had a more positive experience tempered only by surprise at checkout that the covid discount I was offered wasn’t on record and it took 25 minutes to sort out. This is the only reason for a reduction of one rating in this review. Yes, there was an offering due to the circumstances! But it was only to those who’d reserved old house or west wing rooms the year before which rooms never opened this year. I booked an old house room without bath for closing week 2020 back in May 2019. March 2020 we learned the Inn would not open. During the summer they changed their mind and offered a premium east wing room for my old house rate. It is true that food services were minimal, inconvenient, expensive for what you got and disappointing. However, we were there and made the most of it. It could have been worse. Because of the government shutdown in 2013 we had to miss our yearly holiday that year altogether. It is a special thing to lodge adjacent to Old Faithful. Lower prices are for those who reserve early, especially for cabins which go fast.

My family stayed in 3 “superior rooms” for 4 nights. I understood all of the closures due to COVID before we arrived. Some things I did not understand. Not allowed to call-in your food order;you have walk several hundred yards to place a food order for pick up. Even Jimmy Johns delivers and you don’t have to spend $400/night for the privilege. Entering the east wing to access our room was like walking up to a dilapidated cheap hotel (main lobby being closed). Xanterra could have done something to improve everything: gift basket? reduce room rates? Food truck? The hospitality stopped after they took my credit card, shame on you for making us feel like suckers! There’s more I’ll leave for a proper letter to the Xanterra president.

I booked a >$500 night at the Inn this weekend, only to find that no one was onsite, and there was no where to eat onsite. There was no one to help us or answer our questions, and we ended up waiting in line for 40 minutes at another lodge to get take-out food, that we then had to walk back to the Inn and eat in our room because there are no tables or chairs onsite. I cannot believe I paid so much for such a basic room, and room only. The Inn has not adjusted their prices for their COVID-19 experience, I felt robbed. Also, Yellowstone has not staffed up for the few places there are to find food or coffee.

We spent one night in the East Wing during a family trip to Yellowstone. I will echo previous reviews that you are paying for location only at this time. I would try to stay in the Snow Lodge or Old Faithful Lodge at this current COVID time as you will have to travel to either of those locations for anything including check-in. Our room was fine and you literally walk out the door to Old Faithful, which was great! However, there are not even coffee makers in the room and a cup of coffee will require traveling to another lodge. I understood that the main lobby was closed but I assumed there was an on-site market or even a simple coffee station. As we happened to be here during a snowstorm, it was not enjoyable to have to bring our food back to the room to eat through the storm. That said, I’m sure it is a much different experience when the lobby is open. Overall, for the price (no discount), there are currently much better options nearby.