siobhan

Booked Old Faithful Snow Lodge for 3 night stay in August- only rooms left last January were with 2 queen beds ("Lodge Room Two Double Beds"). As there are only 2 of us travelling I was wondering would they swap it for a room with just 1 queen bed? The logic behind it was:

- there would be more space in the room if it only had 1 bed in it

- there might be other people that would really need the extra bed

- a king bed would be nicer than 2 double beds

However, then we wondered:

- are the 1 double bed/2 double bed rooms actually the same size? Do they give bigger rooms to accomodate the extra bed?

- are there any king bed rooms available at all, because a king bed would be more comfortable than a double?

- last January, there were no 1 double bed rooms left, what chance is it that 1 might turn up between now and late August? I know that to get accomodation in the parks you need to reserve way in advance, so the only chance is if someone cancelled or made a special request to Xanterra- the park concessionaires. Right?

- would we lose our deposit/pay a cancellation charge to exchange rooms?

Thanks for your thoughts!

bob_brown

The problem you have is finding a room available. Right now there is zero availablity for 3 consecutive nights at the Snow Lodge during late August.
That means you cannot swap your room because there is nothing to swap for.
If the rooms were gone in January, they are not going to reappear in August UNLESS a major tour company cancels a block of rooms. That does happen from time to time when a tour fails to attract enough customers.
The only thing I can suggest is to call periodically, or check the website, and see if anything has come open. Old Faithful Snowlodge is very popular and any cancellations are sold to the first buyer who appears.
I never lucked into a cancellation.
One year I made someone happy by cancelling one night out of 4, but I have never been the beneficiary.

bob_brown

I was looking for myself just a few moments ago to see what was available in Yellowstone. The availability chart had a green block or two, meaning rooms were available. I dawdled for about 10 minutes, and when I tried to get the room, it was gone. The whole months of July and August at Old Faithful for any type of accommodation are full. Nothing at all is available.
Even Mammoth Hot Springs is fullll.
Even Roosevelt Lodge and Cabins are full for July and August.
When those pioneer accommodations are full, the park is full to the brim.

Photodog

Just a thought. I was trying to make winter reservations via the internet on their web page was they indicated all rooms for dates I was look for were sold out. Called them at 303-338-6000 and was able to get the rooms and the dates I wanted. Apparently website and phone reservations are not necessarily linked. Wish you luck getting through to them however. Best to try just before they close for the night.

gypsygirls

I stayed at the Snow Lodge cabins with the queen beds. Believe me it's not that big of a room anyway. The bathroom is very small. But all and all the cleanest place I stayed out west. Keep your reservations, because these are the newest cabins available. And some of those hotels, you have to share a bathromm with other guest, yuk.
Have a great trip we did!!
P.S. Being from MIchigan it was hard to get used to the time difference for example nice resteraunts didn't open until 5o p.m..which is 9:00 p,m, our time. We got used to eating a late lunch. ;o)

siobhan

Hi, it looks unlikely then, but in the hypothetical event that I can exchange rooms... do I want to?

'Gypsygirls'- you said that the room wasn't that big anyway. Is that the room with 1 bed or 2? Also, does the bathroom have just a shower or also a bathtub. I'm thinking of soaking my feet after a day on the trails. Also, do you recommend any places to dine at/ to avoid?

I'm surprised that there wouldn't be people -let's say 2 friends sharing a room who couldn't get a room with 2 beds when they booked. I would have thought they'd be glad to get a room with 2 separate beds so they wouldn't have to share a bed and would have made that request to Xanterra. Like the sort of request you make to a hotel- "room near elevator", "sea view" etc.