Yellowstone / Grand Teton Trip Report -- sort of!
Sep 19th, 2005, 06:09 AM
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Yellowstone / Grand Teton Trip Report -- sort of!
Hi,
I will post this in several parts since it is long.
Part I
My husband and I spent 6 nights in Yellowstone and 3 nights in Grand Teton NPs in late August/early September. We had a wonderful trip filled with great hiking, beautiful scenery and lots of interesting wildlife.
I think everything that can be said about natural beauty of the parks has been said, and I agree with all of it! They are simply gorgeous. However, I would like to report on what we thought about the accommodations in our national parks. (I am writing this fully aware of how trivial our complaints are compared to what those affected by Katrina are suffering. But, this is a board for Travel Talk, and I do think it needs to be said.)
Old Faithful Inn - Yellowstone. This is a beautiful old building that is undergoing major outside maintenance to keep it that way. I wish they would take such good care of the inside. The lobby is very interesting and comfortable. We had a “mid-range” room that was very small, extremely dark and had a tub, but no shower. This could all be thought of as “rustic” and was pretty much what I expected. The thick film of soap scum in both the bathtub and the sink, the dirty bathroom floor, the thick layer of built-up dirt on the wooden floor and the unvacuumed “stuff” on the carpet was not rustic. It was just plain old DIRTY.
The “front desk manager” at Old Faithful Inn came up to our room to see the bathroom, at my insistence. I asked her directly if SHE would get into the FILTHY tub we were looking at, keeping in mind that there was no shower. I pointed out the white stripes on the thick grey film in both the tub and sink and told her these were made when I scraped off the dirt/scum with a plastic spoon (yuck)! Finally, she did admit it was “gross.”
Dunraven Lodge – Canyon Junction - Yellowstone. This is a beautiful lodge – well built and beautifully designed, located and furnished. I just wish they would clean it! There was a large chunk of some kind of food (caramel popcorn?) just under the bed in our room that was visible as soon as the spread was pulled down. This stayed there for the 2 nights we were there, and I wonder how long it was there before we arrived and is it still there now? I moved the bench in the room to use for our suitcases and found quite a bit of old food was then visible there too. In spite of the fact that the bench remained moved and the food remained very visible, it was there also for our entire stay, and I am sure still is. Some crumbs we left on the “dresser” stayed just where they were also. I don’t think they run the vacuum sweeper in the rooms – honestly, I don’t think they vacuum at all. I know they didn’t in ours, and I don’t recall ever hearing one in the building.
I will post this in several parts since it is long.
Part I
My husband and I spent 6 nights in Yellowstone and 3 nights in Grand Teton NPs in late August/early September. We had a wonderful trip filled with great hiking, beautiful scenery and lots of interesting wildlife.
I think everything that can be said about natural beauty of the parks has been said, and I agree with all of it! They are simply gorgeous. However, I would like to report on what we thought about the accommodations in our national parks. (I am writing this fully aware of how trivial our complaints are compared to what those affected by Katrina are suffering. But, this is a board for Travel Talk, and I do think it needs to be said.)
Old Faithful Inn - Yellowstone. This is a beautiful old building that is undergoing major outside maintenance to keep it that way. I wish they would take such good care of the inside. The lobby is very interesting and comfortable. We had a “mid-range” room that was very small, extremely dark and had a tub, but no shower. This could all be thought of as “rustic” and was pretty much what I expected. The thick film of soap scum in both the bathtub and the sink, the dirty bathroom floor, the thick layer of built-up dirt on the wooden floor and the unvacuumed “stuff” on the carpet was not rustic. It was just plain old DIRTY.
The “front desk manager” at Old Faithful Inn came up to our room to see the bathroom, at my insistence. I asked her directly if SHE would get into the FILTHY tub we were looking at, keeping in mind that there was no shower. I pointed out the white stripes on the thick grey film in both the tub and sink and told her these were made when I scraped off the dirt/scum with a plastic spoon (yuck)! Finally, she did admit it was “gross.”
Dunraven Lodge – Canyon Junction - Yellowstone. This is a beautiful lodge – well built and beautifully designed, located and furnished. I just wish they would clean it! There was a large chunk of some kind of food (caramel popcorn?) just under the bed in our room that was visible as soon as the spread was pulled down. This stayed there for the 2 nights we were there, and I wonder how long it was there before we arrived and is it still there now? I moved the bench in the room to use for our suitcases and found quite a bit of old food was then visible there too. In spite of the fact that the bench remained moved and the food remained very visible, it was there also for our entire stay, and I am sure still is. Some crumbs we left on the “dresser” stayed just where they were also. I don’t think they run the vacuum sweeper in the rooms – honestly, I don’t think they vacuum at all. I know they didn’t in ours, and I don’t recall ever hearing one in the building.
Sep 19th, 2005, 06:43 AM
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Wow. What a shame.
I stayed at the Old Faithful Inn in October a few years ago and had a completely different experience. My room overlooked Old Faithful so perhaps I was in one of the better rooms? In any case, cleanliness was not a problem at all. I talked to folks staying in the most rustic of rooms - the original ones with just a bed and a bath down the hall. No complaints from anyone regarding housekeeping issues. Well, no complaints from anyone at all.
Sorry you felt your room was dirty. I would not be comfortable either - but that was not my experience at Old Faithful.
I stayed at the Old Faithful Inn in October a few years ago and had a completely different experience. My room overlooked Old Faithful so perhaps I was in one of the better rooms? In any case, cleanliness was not a problem at all. I talked to folks staying in the most rustic of rooms - the original ones with just a bed and a bath down the hall. No complaints from anyone regarding housekeeping issues. Well, no complaints from anyone at all.
Sorry you felt your room was dirty. I would not be comfortable either - but that was not my experience at Old Faithful.
Sep 19th, 2005, 07:06 AM
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As I posted on your other thread, (good advice from Starrsville by the way), this was also not my experience. Our rooms were clean and for the most part, dining was very good. So sorry you did not share the same.
Sep 19th, 2005, 07:20 AM
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I'll go a bit further and say we were absolutely delighted. I expected more rustic and felt like everything had been newly ordered and decorated from a LLBean catalog or lodge furniture stores from Colorado or similar.
LOVED the little bear soaps.
We were delighted with room decor, cleanliness and amentities. We ate all over the park and enjoyed our meals.
LOVED the little bear soaps.
We were delighted with room decor, cleanliness and amentities. We ate all over the park and enjoyed our meals.
Sep 19th, 2005, 07:40 AM
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I'm surprised and so sorry to hear about your experience. We found both Old Faithful rooms (in the Old House) and Dunraven Lodge to be spotless! But i do know what you mean about icky rooms, i'm a clean freak on vacation! Glad to hear that it sounds like you enjoyed your vacation anyway.
Hi Starrsville! We too, were very impressed with the Dunraven furnishings, our lodgepool style furniture looked brand new, the room was sparkling. Loved the little teddy soaps, too! They used to be green years ago but the ivory color looks cuter in our 1/2 bath
Did you notice they were also being sold in the gift shop downstairs? That surprised me!
Hi Starrsville! We too, were very impressed with the Dunraven furnishings, our lodgepool style furniture looked brand new, the room was sparkling. Loved the little teddy soaps, too! They used to be green years ago but the ivory color looks cuter in our 1/2 bath
Did you notice they were also being sold in the gift shop downstairs? That surprised me!
