Inga W.
Yelp
UPDATE: After filling out a survey post our stay, I had a manager reach out with an apology and refund for the first nights stay. This was beyond generous in my opinion. This shows to me they care about their customer experience and reputation and pay attention. Mistakes happen, but it's how you handle them that makes the difference between customers coming back, recommending your business or not. While this does not change what happened, it gives me confidence they will most likely not have this happen again. So yes I increased my review from three to four stars.
We came across this place on our last trip to Yellowstone. I never thought I'd be back twice in one year, but when Covid ruins your international plans, we wanted to get away to a place that is relaxing and free. This place is beautiful, remote and very relaxing, they do lots of weddings and I can see why. The lobby is a great place to have drinks, play games, and just relax or read. They don't get a lot of snow, at least in December, so you won't be snowshoeing right out the door. Everyone is very friendly, wanting to help. There were a lot of kids there, which I did not expect, but perhaps it's the time of the year.
Unfortunately I was quite disappointed in a few things here. We were paying $600 per night so I expected much more professional service and no issues with the room. The staff is super friendly but not necessarily trained or detail oriented. They did provide us a humidifier that we asked for before we came, which was great.
We checked in and noticed the heater in the room was not working. When we told the front desk all she said was give it time, but I can't fix it and the maintenance person is not here anymore. The room was at 64 the entire time. Wow! I asked for an extra comforter and slippers, and she said they were out. Next, our shower was not hot and the shower head was clogged so the pressure was abysmal. This was not the first night in a luxury lodge I was expecting. Finally, the bed was hard, it is not a luxurious pillow top mattress and the bedding is polyester, the kind that sparks.
Next day, they fixed the heater, replaced the shower head, and had plenty of comforters and slippers, which we used to pad up the mattress. They made no reparations for this, they should have discounted the night by at least 25% for the amount of issues we had.
Our room was cleaned every day very late, around 3pm, usually when people return from park excursions, so this was a bit annoying. They never restocked the supplies like lotion, toilet paper, there were no vanity kits, etc. One day they did not make the bed and young staff member at the front desk said it was because of Covid. We are way past using that as an excuse to not service rooms, it also just makes no common sense. The manager did give us a $50 credit for this.
The food at the lodge was the fireside room and the grill. The fireside room is the casual dining place and it was for the most part good, except the burger, which was sad given the location and great local beef. There should be a few more or at least one more fish options as well. The breakfast was great. The togo food that you preorder for an early park day was not, the breakfast and lunch was pretty basic and they charged a lot. The drinks were amazing!
The Grill is the more formal space, great food, inventive, fun environment and bar. They are understaffed so it's hard for them to operate at capacity, but they do their best. Loved the play on different dishes here.
New Year's Eve however was a disappointment. The bar closed at 11pm, there was no music or anything going on in the lobby, and this place has the potential to have a fun party where guests can mingle and have fun. When I asked about it before, they said they would have music and the bar would be open.
The spa was great, my stone massage was amazing, the facilities are nice, but it's a separate building so not a fun walk in the cold. I would have loved to just go there in my robe and slippers. Maybe in the winter they can do a heated, covered walkway.
The rooms themselves are spacious with nice sofa and sitting space. We did not have a balcony even though this is a premium room, while it was not necessary in the winter, in the summer I'd prefer that to a window seat, so something to note when you make your plans. There was no real closet or drawers so we had to live out of our suitcases, a bit messy. The bathroom had a single sink, I would have expected a double. Also, the shower and toilet were in the same room for us, which was not convenient layout. It would be nice to have a rain shower, shower with adjustable handle too. While we did not use the tub, it looked nice and relaxing.
All and all, for 4 nights we paid $2600 in lodging fees and another $1600 in food and activities, this was quite expensive for a short getaway but given the remote location and having everything at the lodge, worth it.
