west yellowstone v. gardiner
Aug 19th, 2005, 08:36 AM
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west yellowstone v. gardiner
i need lodging for one night near yellowstone and am confused as to which town to stay in. i have decided not to stay at the park lodging and have narrowed my selection to either gardiner or west yellowstone. i would like as much of a "park feel" as i can get and also possibly an upscale restaurant for dinner. am i asking for too much? can anyone help?
Aug 19th, 2005, 08:59 AM
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Hi geezer. We just returned from a week in the park and we stayed in both Gardiner and West Yellowstone. Where you go for lodging should depend to some extent on what you want to see and do during your stay. West Yellowstone is closer to Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin if that's important to you. Gardiner is more convenient to Mammoth Hot Springs and the Lamar Valley, which (along with the Hayden Valley) is prime territory for wildlife viewing and one of the most beautiful areas of the park, IMO.
Of the two towns, West Yellowstone is a bit bigger. We stayed at the Holiday Inn, which was very nice but it doesn't really have a "park feel" if that's what you're looking for. Options for fine dining seem to be pretty limited--in fact, we didn't find anyplace that would fit that category in West Yellowstone. Most places in town are family restaurants, pizza joints, saloons, etc.
In Gardiner, we stayed at a lovely B&B called Cabin by the River. I suspect this would be much closer to the kind of experience you're looking for. The name pretty much says it all--you actually stay in a small, single-family cabin situated right on the banks of the Yellowstone River. We loved falling asleep to the sound of rushing water and the cabin itself was clean, modern and comfortable. Here's the web-site if interested:
http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/monta...the-river.html
For some reason, the selection of restaurants in Gardiner seemed better to us than in West Yellowstone. The best place we ate was the Park Street Grill and Cafe, which is also probably the closest thing Gardiner has to fine dining, although the atmosphere is quite casual. The service wasn't great, but we thought the food was very good. If you decide to go, be sure to make reservations.
Hope this is helpful. Have a great trip!
Of the two towns, West Yellowstone is a bit bigger. We stayed at the Holiday Inn, which was very nice but it doesn't really have a "park feel" if that's what you're looking for. Options for fine dining seem to be pretty limited--in fact, we didn't find anyplace that would fit that category in West Yellowstone. Most places in town are family restaurants, pizza joints, saloons, etc.
In Gardiner, we stayed at a lovely B&B called Cabin by the River. I suspect this would be much closer to the kind of experience you're looking for. The name pretty much says it all--you actually stay in a small, single-family cabin situated right on the banks of the Yellowstone River. We loved falling asleep to the sound of rushing water and the cabin itself was clean, modern and comfortable. Here's the web-site if interested:
http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/monta...the-river.html
For some reason, the selection of restaurants in Gardiner seemed better to us than in West Yellowstone. The best place we ate was the Park Street Grill and Cafe, which is also probably the closest thing Gardiner has to fine dining, although the atmosphere is quite casual. The service wasn't great, but we thought the food was very good. If you decide to go, be sure to make reservations.
Hope this is helpful. Have a great trip!
Aug 19th, 2005, 06:35 PM
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Julie, thanks for the current info. We would prefer to see more wildlife than tourists. I think the other posters confirmed what you were saying. The cabins were a little far out of town...we found a place called the Absaroka (sp.) lodge. Did you by chance see that one?
Aug 20th, 2005, 11:23 AM
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We passed Absaroka every day coming in and out of the park and it looked like a nice place--also on the river. It's right in town, which could be a pro or a con. If you were to look in the opposite direction from the picture on their website, you'd see the highway where it crosses the river, so I'm not sure if they get lots of highway noise or not--it may depend on the location of the room. You probably could walk to most restaurants from the hotel.
Cabin by the River is about 10 minutes out of town--also just off the highway, but set back enough that any traffic noise wasn't noticable. We liked the fact that we had a kitchen/living area, etc. and preferred the location because it was more removed from the lights and the crowds, but if we'd wanted to be closer in we probably would have stayed at the Absaroka. It was our 2nd choice when we made our reservations.
Good luck!
Cabin by the River is about 10 minutes out of town--also just off the highway, but set back enough that any traffic noise wasn't noticable. We liked the fact that we had a kitchen/living area, etc. and preferred the location because it was more removed from the lights and the crowds, but if we'd wanted to be closer in we probably would have stayed at the Absaroka. It was our 2nd choice when we made our reservations.
Good luck!
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