We are driving from Boston to Seattle and are thinking of staying in West Yellowstone and taking the bus tour that departs from West Yellowstone and tours Yellowstone Park.
Has anyone done this?
Which company and how did you enjoy it?
Any recommendations on hotels?

I don't know why this cracks me up but what an oxymoron!

A bus tour of Yellowstone (I need to go eat lunch, blood sugar is low).

He he he he!

I don't get the oxymoron.

This doesn't exactly anwer your question but it may keep your thread going until one of the board experts checks in.

We visited YS a few weeks ago. At dinner in West YS we met a young woman who does some of the van tours of the park (and I'm sorry I don't recall which company) and were impressed with her knowledge and passion for the ecology and wildlife. She mentioned that most all of the tour/rec businesses in town (and there weren't very many) were locally owned and operated. She spoke highly of each one.

Xanterra, the in park consessioner, does a whole hosts of tours. See the NPS website for specifics. We ended up on a de facto tour when travelling to and from the Roosevelt cookout my DH sighed us up for. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of hauling around on a bus for 3 hours but boy was I wrong about the quality of the experience. Our driver was a fascinating guide (he was a graduate geology student) and knew where to spot the best wildlife in the early evening.

Sorry, we stayed in the park so I can't comment on hotels. From the outside they looked fine.

Sorry, GoTravel, but "Tour buses of Yellowstone" is not an oxymoron. It's more of an ambiguous statement in that it can be interpreted two ways. An oxymoron is a figure speech that contains in inherent contradiction. A good example is the woman's clothing size "petite large."

Good one, Howard! And how about these, in a somewhat *TRAVELing* context:

There is a *deafening silence* within some of these threads!

OR:

Has anyone had the *jumbo shrimp* at the restaurant dujour?

topping for *memommy*

It's been 20 years since I've been to Yellowstone but 90% of Yellowstone is still unaccessable by everyday tourists meaning no trails, rugged topography, and the like.

Bus tours to me (operative phrase, "to me") mean hoards of people traveling through an area.

Most of Yellowstone Park is wild and unreachable except to few hearty souls.

Does that clear this up as to why I (again, "me" and not the popular opinion) find this funny and an oxymoron?

I do know what the word oxymoron means so thank you the explanation Howard. To me (again "me" and no one else) the words Yellowstone and Tourbus is an inherent contradiction.

I don't mean tour buses traveling TO YELLOWSTONE I mean tourbuses giving tours THROUGHOUT YELLOWSTONE.

Sorry travellingcouple, I did not mean to hijack your thread.

Topping for Plumeria