Hi everyone. My first trip to Death Valley will be this upcoming October. I am going to book either Stovepipe Wells or Furnace Creek. Stovepipe is a little cheaper but I am wondering which is better for sightseeing early and late. I like to stay close by great places for photography around dawn and dusk. I am way more interested in convenience for that purpose than I am in luxury or resort activities (we won't do any of them anyway really). A good restaurant would be a plus though and character/charm is always something we like. Any thoughts?

We have ruled out Panamint Springs as it seems to be pretty far out of the way and some of the reviews are scary in terms of things like cleanliness (that is a deal breaker).

Yes Panamint is a bit rough.. Also stayed at Stovepipe wells (basic but OK).
Stovepipe wells is just minutes away from the dunes, which is great for photography. Cant say how it looks like at dawn.
Artist Drive is a must, but mainly at sunset. And it is of course much nearer to Furnace creek.
But, as far as I remember, distances are not that long between the 2 places

We have stayed at Stovepipe Wells once and Furnace Creek Ranch several times, because FCR is very much worth the extra cost.

For "character and charm" go to Furnace Creek Inn.

Dining at Furnace Creek Ranch is "good enough." I don't know about the dining room at FCI.

HTtY

We just returned from 6 night at Stovepipe, a last minute trip and they had availability.

We were happy there, but if we were to do it again, and could choose, we'd split the time between Stovepipe and Furnace Creek. The latter is closer to Zabriskie, Badwater, Artist Palette, Twenty Mule Team Canyon, all good places for early and late sightseeing.

It's about 30 minutes drive between Stovepipe and Furnace Creek Inn.

Thanks for the update. Was the desert abloom?

HTtY

Yep! Check here:
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...uper-bloom.cfm

BTW, the bar area at the Inn was a great place to spend some time in the afternoon, sitting at one of their big picture windows with a beverage.

We've stayed at Stovepipe and Furnace Creek Inn.
The inn is lovely and we got a really good rate in December. More convenient location and the food was excellent at breakfast (we also had the buffet brunch there on the morning before, Sunday and this was excellent value as it filled us until dinner).

Stovepipe was a mixed bag. The room we'd booked was a basic queen (not the courtyard rooms which are very basic) and on arrival it smelt pretty bad. Bad drains? Anyway we returned to the front desk and upgraded to the roadrunner room which was much nicer but was almost $40 extra.
We saved money by not having breakfast the following morning.. Not our original intention but the dining room was musty, dark and unappealing. After a quick hike at Mosaic we headed to FCI, checked in early and had the brunch I mentioned.
You mentioned you weren't into the resort activities but I will mention the heated pool with outdoor fireplaces and sauna at FCI. After all day hiking we enjoyed this late night treat especially as it was our 'private pool' as no one else was there.

Thanks everyone. Great feedback. We only plan to spend 2 nights in Death Valley and I am wondering now if I should spend one night at each place. We pack super light so moving nightly isn't a big deal - will probably only take in a little backpack with toiletries and a change of clothes. Maybe I will just book both! Thanks.

At Stovepipe we stayed in Roadrunner, their better rooms, and it was fine. I think I read somewhere that they had recently remodeled, everything in our room seemed clean with no odors. My wife is highly sensitive to mold and can smell a spore at 100 yards, but she was fine in our room.

Of course it could be the luck of the room you wind up in.

We are mostly vegetarians, and finicky eaters at that, so we packed most of our food in with us from Whole Paycheck in Vegas. There is a small fridge in the room. That worked out perfect for us. We had one meal in the Stovepipe Dining Room, it was OK but pricey and service was very slow. We hung out at the Furnace Creek Inn bar a couple times, much nicer.

Yes, our upgraded room was in the Roadrunner section.
Nice slate tiled bathroom, no mouldy/sewage smell and better linens & pillows than the first room we checked which I think was in the cottonwood section.

Thanks again for the responses. They are very helpful - often times when I plan a trip I have family or friends who have visited the places I am going and so get tips from them. For some reason, no one I am close with has been to Death Valley (or Sequoia where we will be going after Death Valley) so I am relying heavily on the forums.

Can anyone who has stayed at the Furnace Creek Ranch tell me how close it is to the Furnace Creek Inn? Are they walking distance?

I find on maps.google that they are 1.5 miles apart.

HTtY