If you had the choice to stay in yellowstone between the snow lodge, frontier lake lodge, and old faithful cabins where would you stay??? Also, would you recommend staying in one area, or moving around. We plan to spend part of our trip in yellowstone and the other in Grand Tetons. Some people say to move around, but I'm not sure if that's the best thing to do? Thanks for your help!!

Personally, I prefer the snow lodge.

Whether to move around or not depends on how long you are going to be in yellowstone.
2-3 days - i'd stay in one place
4-7 days: i would pick two places on different sides of the park to stay to reduce driving time (and get flavor of different areas of the park).
but IMHO, it is not worth it to change locations every night.

Because of its size, I think two places in Yellowstone is a good choice.

I have two choices: The Old Faithful Snow Lodge,either lodge rooms, or Western cabins. The other, Canyon in one of the Western Cabins.

The Frontier class of cabin is at least tolerable.

I dislike Grant Village and Mammoth.
Mammoth is often hot in the summer because it is the low point in the park.

I would be very careful accepting a room in the Old Faithful Inn. Some of the rooms in Old Faithful Inn are wretched. Small, tight, and uncomfortable.

That complaint may be academic this season because the Inn opens late and closes early because of a big rennovation project that is underway.

I think the Old Faithful cabins are at the low end of the scale. If they were next door to you, you would call them slums.

Thank you for your comments. I am more confused than ever on what to do. We were planning on going to Yellowstone for our 1 year anniversary in early june but I want it to be romantic and enjoyable. I want the hotels to be nice and good dining. I want it to be a great experience. I hear it is very georgeous there, but I have heard many negative comments on how the rooms are not very nice and not worth the money. Do you all agree?? I called earlier today and got an itinary, something to think about. Let me know what you all think. We will be driving from North Dakota and coming in on the northeaster part.
On the 10th, we will stay at Mammoth Hot Springs in a mid range room.
On the 11th we will stay at lake yellowstone hotel in an annex room
On the 12th we will stay at the old faithful frontier cabins. And then the next two night we will drive to the tetons and stay at colter bay or the jackson lodge ( i believe that is what it's called). How does this sound to you?? I see that staying in one place is out voting the move around. Maybe we should just stay in yellowstone at the snow lodge and then 2 nights at grand tetons. Is 5 days enough to experience the 2 parks???

We stayed 2 nights at the Snow Lodge and 2 nights at the Canyon Lodge last summer. This worked out perfectly for seeing many of the Yellowstone sights without spending too much time driving. We did not have time to see the Western section of the park...but plan to next time.

The lodging is certainly overpriced for what you get. However, our rooms were much better than we expected based upon many reviews posted on this board. The lodges we chose were some of the more modern properties, and I would certainly recommend them over the cabins. The rooms were spacious, clean, and comfortable.

Another member of our group stayed at the Old Faithful Inn (newer section), and her room was fine, just a little more "rustic".

You might want to consider only one night at the Grand Tetons because I think you will need at least 4 days to spend at Yellowstone. The Tetons are beautiful; however, in my opinion I would spend only a day there and add more time to the Yellowstone portion if time is limited.

As far as dining is concerned, we had a nice breakfast buffet at the Old Faithful Lodge in the main dining room. We did not have dinner there, but I know people have recommended it for a nice dinner. There are really not many choice for "fine dining" in Yellowstone.

Both Yellowstone and the Tetons are gorgeous, and you will enjoy the scenery and unique features. The lodging and dining will not be as important once you get there and experience the natural wonders.

Agree about Zion Lodge. Did not stay at Bryce. Also agree that you should stay inside Yellowstone, but not sure Snow Lodge at Old Faithful is the best. We stayed there. It is a new, spiffy clean facility, but there was just something about it that screamed 'cheaply put together.' For one thing, the walls were paper thin. It is in close proximity to Old Faithful, the Inn and the Glacier. Maybe someone can suggest other places in YNP to stay. Or am I the only one with this opinion about Snow Lodge?

Don't ask if you have given yourself enough time; you can always spend more time there.
We moved around, similiarly to the schedule you have posted, and felt we had more time to actually spend at each site, because we weren't driving back and forth to our room each day.
B/c of traffic (both people and animal) trying to get from Old Faithful to the Lake or the Canyon could take several hours; then you would have to retrace your steps to get back!
Keep in mind that if you wanted an up-scale resort type trip, you wouldn't have picked Yellowstone to begin with! The lobbies in the lodges are wonderful - we would sit there and enjoy a glass of wine - often live music in the form of a pianist or string quartet were provided in the evenings - and just soak in the atmosphere.
Relax about the details and enjoy your celebration!

>I want it to be romantic and enjoyable. I want the hotels to be nice and good dining.<

cdo_24, If this is your criteria for a successful trip, you're likely to be disappointed with Yellowstone's food and lodging. I agree with ausc59. The beauty of YS is the park.

If nicer hotels and fine dining is the priority, consider staying in Jackson (where you'll find both) and focusing more on the Grand Tetons.

pollyvw, I don't think the OF Snow Lodge screams "cheaply put together." It's certainly not the Ritz but accommodations are relative in YS and the Snow Lodge is absolutely one of the nicer places.

Obxgirl is right. Maybe you should define what you mean by nice. I wouldn't consider any of the Yellowstone hotels resort quality. Clean and comfortable, yes, but not luxurious. Remember, the rooms do not have televisions or phones.

I enjoy what ausc59 mentioned - just soaking in the atmosphere. Some of the best meals I've had in the park have been in the picnic areas, cooked on my camp stove, a glass of wine and just enjoying the fresh air and nature.

Well, unless you already have confirmed reservations, this discussion about where to stay in Yellowstone is meaningless. And even if you do have confirmed reservations, altering what you have may prove difficult to accomplish.

I say this because on June 11, Mammoth has available only a budget cabin without a bath. Not my idea of a fun place to stay for a special occasion.

On June 12, Lake Hotel has only a front side room at $192 plus 7% tax.

On June 13, there is nothing currently open at either the Snow Lodge or Old Faithful Cabins. Sometimes the Xanterra telephone operators know of availability that the web site does not show.

Jackson Lake Lodge prices run from $173 to $236 per night. Most of the rooms are not listed on-line. A few of them are, but there was limited availability.

Colter Bay Cabins are heavily sold. I could not find any type of cabin available for 2 consecutive nights via the web.

In years past, I called. The telephone reservationists sometimes can help when the web site cannot.

Signal Mountain Lodge in the Tetons is a nice enough place, though hardly a highly luxurious place like the Ritz Carlton.

Basically, what it comes down to is that if you don't already have your rooms in Yellowstone and the Tetons booked, you may want to try a commercial motel in West Yellowstone and/or in Jackson.

bob_brown, I assumed from cdo_24's last post that she had reservations in the park. You're certainly right that switching rooms at this point would be a hit and miss proposition.

cdo_24, If you're still out there and somehow haven't encounted the Yellowstone concessioner's website, I strongly suggest you look go here to see photos of the rooms you're considering:

http://travelyellowstone.com/static/140.htm

Thank you for your replies. I think we will just stick to the ajenda that we already have. Like you said soak up the atmospher with picnics, etc. It's all about what you make of it and I believe this could be a very romantic trip without all the glamour of rooms and food. Bob Brown yes I do have reservations already, that's why I was asking if this sounds logical. Again thank you for your comments.

Good for you cdo! Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons are gorgeous.

Happy anniversary!

I should have read the second post.
I think you are stuck with what you have at this date.

I just hope you don't have the same cabin at Mammoth that I had. If so, I hope the maintenance crew has repaired the hole in the floor. The hole was large enough that we stuffed in it a whole newspaper wrapped around beverage cans.