Yellowstone

I googled this group for info on Yellowstone and one uninformative post
showed up. We're hoping to visit near the end of next May, for 4 days.
Can anyone here recommend a good place to stay, preferably in the
park, but would consider staying someplace very close outside the park.
We're looking for a strategically located place, not at the upper end
of expensive. Middle priced or less. Any tips on what not to miss?

Thanks,
Marsha

Marsha wrote:
I googled this group for info on Yellowstone and one uninformative post
showed up. We're hoping to visit near the end of next May, for 4 days.
Can anyone here recommend a good place to stay, preferably in the park,
but would consider staying someplace very close outside the park. We're
looking for a strategically located place, not at the upper end of
expensive. Middle priced or less. Any tips on what not to miss?

Thanks,
Marsha

Yellowstone is a big place. I would suggest spending two days in the Old
Faithful area and two days at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. Staying outside
the park may be a bit cheaper, but for only a four day trip you don't
want to be doing that much driving every day. Better get moving on those
reservations.

Dymphna wrote:
All of the places in the park are booked through this company
'Yellowstone Cabins, Accommodation, Inn, Lodging, Camping, RV: Xanterra.
- Welcome to Yellowstone National Park '
(http://www.travelyellowstone.com/) Book early - things fill up. If you
want to stay just outside the park, I suggest looking at West
Yellowstone. There are some very affordable places there. 'ALL West
Yellowstone Montana: Lodging, Hotels, Vacations'
(http://www.westyellowstonenet.com/) This has most of the hotels there.
Although I don't see the Holiday Inn on the list. I have stayed at the
Holiday Inn there and it is nice. It has a refurbished train to go
through as well as much more. It has been renovated just a couple of
years ago. I do recommend it.

Thanks.


Which direction are you coming from? I know you are going to run into
some road construction. They are hoping to get done with the road
construction this fall on the Cook City Highway going in from Red Lodge.
This is an impressive drive and very beautiful. But not for anyone who
is afraid of heights! I have attached a couple of pictures of it so you
can see that. Those were not even taken from the top.

We'll be coming from the east. I found the web site that will keep me
up to date as far as construction.

Put me on your friends list and contact me before you go and I can get
more traffic information for you before you go. In May some roads may
still be closed due to snow.

I'll remember that. Thanks again. We're hoping to go the week before
Memorial Day, coming back Friday 5/28.

Marsha

SMS wrote:
Marsha wrote:
I googled this group for info on Yellowstone and one uninformative
post showed up. We're hoping to visit near the end of next May, for 4
days. Can anyone here recommend a good place to stay, preferably in
the park, but would consider staying someplace very close outside the
park. We're looking for a strategically located place, not at the
upper end of expensive. Middle priced or less. Any tips on what not
to miss?

Thanks,
Marsha

Yellowstone is a big place. I would suggest spending two days in the Old
Faithful area and two days at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. Staying outside
the park may be a bit cheaper, but for only a four day trip you don't
want to be doing that much driving every day. Better get moving on those
reservations.

Thank you very much. We're still working on it, but I've heard these
places fill up fast.

Marsha

Yes they do fill up fast. I have seen the hotels fill up all the way to
Billings in the summer.


--
Dymphna
Message origin: www.TRAVEL.com

Marsha wrote:

Thank you very much. We're still working on it, but I've heard these
places fill up fast.

Marsha

Some good information about Old Faithul can be found at
"http://nordicgroup.us/yellowstoneoldfaithful/".

SMS wrote:
Yellowstone is a big place. I would suggest spending two days in the Old
Faithful area and two days at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. Staying outside
the park may be a bit cheaper, but for only a four day trip you don't
want to be doing that much driving every day. Better get moving on those
reservations.

I tried making reservations though the web site today. They ask you to
list your top three preferences and then you have to list all your
credit card info and address, etc. Then the final page tells you about
the 10% non-refundable fee, based on your total charges. What a bunch
of bulls***. You can't tell me that if I have to cancel a reservation,
that they wouldn't be able to re-rent in a heartbeat. And you don't
even know which one they'll reserve for you. Call me naive, because I
had no idea they did this, but that's crap.

Marsha

Marsha wrote:
SMS wrote:
Yellowstone is a big place. I would suggest spending two days in the
Old Faithful area and two days at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. Staying
outside the park may be a bit cheaper, but for only a four day trip
you don't want to be doing that much driving every day. Better get
moving on those reservations.

I tried making reservations though the web site today. They ask you to
list your top three preferences and then you have to list all your
credit card info and address, etc. Then the final page tells you about
the 10% non-refundable fee, based on your total charges. What a bunch
of bulls***. You can't tell me that if I have to cancel a reservation,
that they wouldn't be able to re-rent in a heartbeat. And you don't
even know which one they'll reserve for you. Call me naive, because I
had no idea they did this, but that's crap.

Marsha

10% cancellation fee? -- Not according to Xanterra's Web page:
http://www.travelyellowstone.com/sum...icies-114.html

Their words, not mine:
"In the event of a cancellation, 48-hour notice is required to receive a
full refund of your deposit amount."

Marsha wrote:
SMS wrote:

Yellowstone is a big place. I would suggest spending two days in the
Old Faithful area and two days at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. Staying
outside the park may be a bit cheaper, but for only a four day trip
you don't want to be doing that much driving every day. Better get
moving on those reservations.

I tried making reservations though the web site today. They ask you to
list your top three preferences and then you have to list all your
credit card info and address, etc. Then the final page tells you about
the 10% non-refundable fee, based on your total charges. What a bunch
of bulls***. You can't tell me that if I have to cancel a reservation,
that they wouldn't be able to re-rent in a heartbeat. And you don't
even know which one they'll reserve for you. Call me naive, because I
had no idea they did this, but that's crap.

Marsha

Which website did you try? I think you might have gone to a fake
Yellowstone web site.

Here's the official website for Yellowstone's concessionaire (Xanterra):

http://www.travelyellowstone.com/

And here's the web page with their official cancellation policy:
http://www.travelyellowstone.com/sum...icies-114.html

Note: you can cancel your reservations up to 48 hours in advance and receive
a full refund. I think the website you went to wasn't the correct one.


- Peter

A good source for lots of info from a lot of experienced Yellowstone people
is the Yellowstone Chat site:

http://www.yellowstone-natl-park.com/wwwboard/chat2.htm

Be sure to do some reading, both on the chat archive and other places,
because no one likes to have to read thru a bunch of questions on things
that can easily be found on the National Park site. Scroll way to the
bottom of all the messages for links to a lot of good sites related to
Yellowstone.

Here's a link to the Old Faithful webcam:

http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/oldfaithfulcam.htm


"Peter Lawrence" wrote in message
...
Marsha wrote:
SMS wrote:

Yellowstone is a big place. I would suggest spending two days in the Old
Faithful area and two days at Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. Staying outside
the park may be a bit cheaper, but for only a four day trip you don't
want to be doing that much driving every day. Better get moving on those
reservations.

I tried making reservations though the web site today. They ask you to
list your top three preferences and then you have to list all your credit
card info and address, etc. Then the final page tells you about the 10%
non-refundable fee, based on your total charges. What a bunch of
bulls***. You can't tell me that if I have to cancel a reservation, that
they wouldn't be able to re-rent in a heartbeat. And you don't even know
which one they'll reserve for you. Call me naive, because I had no idea
they did this, but that's crap.

Marsha

Which website did you try? I think you might have gone to a fake
Yellowstone web site.

Here's the official website for Yellowstone's concessionaire (Xanterra):

http://www.travelyellowstone.com/

And here's the web page with their official cancellation policy:
http://www.travelyellowstone.com/sum...icies-114.html

Note: you can cancel your reservations up to 48 hours in advance and
receive a full refund. I think the website you went to wasn't the correct
one.


- Peter