Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone National Park

We did not stay in the Old House..but in the West Wing. Rooms were small, cramped, dark, and dingy. Bathroom small. No A/C or wireless. I don't think they've been updated for decades. The "lovely" lobby is being renovated so it is a construction zone. The restaurant reservation system is a mess and when you finally get one, you find out that the food is badly prepared. I had polenta that was grossly undercooked so it tasted like it was full of sand. Inedible and expensive. On our first night, no hot water in the entire hotel. Day two, our room wasn't made up until after 5:30 PM when we finally complained. Lots of people work there...but service is bad. Cost of room with taxes and the "utility fee" is more than $300 per day

I have stayed in the Old Faitful Inn twice in the "old house" and absolutely loved it and would it over and over again. We love the rustic and old time atmosphere of the rooms. The heavy wooden doors with their iron bar locks make it almost like being in the TV show Gunsmoke ...only Miss Kitty wasn't around. :) We were facing the geyers and we had two great windows that opened over the Balcony. It was wonderful to wake up at daylight and see the geysers and smoke swirling around. The common bathrooms down the hall were not a problem at all for us and were very clean. We had reservations a year in advance to stay in the "old house." Food is ok in the Inn. Our favorite thing to do is to go to the Yellowstone Store nearby and get deli sandwiches, chips, and drinks for our cooler and have a picnic on the balcony of the Inn and watch Old Faithful show off from that point. Be creative with your meals and make it work without going home bankrupt. Best food in the park is served at Roosevelt Lodge - need reservations though to be guaranteed a seat. It's not a large place but it's great.

Ok, this is quite long, but for anyone that wants to take the time to read it, you will be the beneficiary of some good information. I have stayed at the Old Faithful Inn on three separate visits: once on the ground floor, and twice on the upper floors in 1989, 1998 and in Aug. 2009. The lower floor rooms are literally log walls, while the upper floors are unpainted wood siding. Most rooms are small. On my 1998 visit my wife and I got lucky and got a corner room on the 2nd floor of the "Old House" with great views, but trees blocked Old Faithful, which we heard every 60-90 minutes. It was still great. I have stayed in the center "Old House" section and in the west wing. The building is a national treasure and is considered by many to be one of the origins of "rustic" architecture on a grand scale seen in many later national park buildings and in private lodges or estate houses. The architect Robert Reamer was only 29 years old when he designed it, and it opened in 1904. That is a key piece of information. It was state of the art ca. 1904 when electric lights in such a remote location were a big deal. Much of it has been modernized, especially following an "in place rebuild" in the early 2000's, but it is still old, and a decision has been made to keep it that way to keep it historic. The sound proofing in rooms is much better following the rebuild, but floors creak, door hinges squeak, and during the day the fabulous building is overrun by visitors. The wings are from 1913 and 1927 and have private bathrooms, but most of the "Old House" rooms use common bathrooms. Robes are provided, but if you want foot protection, bring flip flops or Tevas. Some "Old House" rooms have clawfoot tubs, but not many, and I don't think any have showers.. All rooms have sinks. If you cannot take a common bathroom (which I have always found to be well maintained and clearn), seek a wing room or stay someplace else. The rooms vary in size, and number of beds. Why? Who knows, but they do. Most are 1 double or 2 doubles, but there are odd rooms with 3 doubles. Some overlook Old Faithful or other geyses, and others do not. Some that are well situated have their views of geysers blocked by trees. If you really want "the perfect room" search out internet sites that actually describe the best rooms to ask for. Yes, all of the rooms are expensive, and considering what you get for the price, many think they are overpriced. Perhaps they are, but remember where you are, and how close to the geysers you are. Its not a Holiday Inn in Sacramento or Cincinnati. The food here isn't so great on a regular basis, but can be ok if you order carefully. This is one area where the age of the hotel should not be a factor, so Xanterra should do some work to improve it. In general, those who are willing to modify their expectations a bit and get into the mindset of the experience are the ones who will enjoy this landmark. Imagine being able to stay in a hotel, possibly in the same room where your parents stayed, your grandparents stayed, and now possibly your great grandparents stayed - and having almost the same experience, because it hasn't been modified by adding TV, removing old fixtures, putting in air conditioning, and so on. I can't vouch for that (I am the first in my family to stay in the Inn), but I have heard of stories of other families that have had this experience. The common areas in the great lobby, the dining room, the observation deck, the Bear Pit Lounge, and sitting by the giant fireplace are the highlights of the this wonderful old building. It almost burned in the great fires of 1988, but somehow survived. Visit it and stay in it with an open mind that is ready to take it all in, and you will be rewarded with an excellent experience that you will never forget.

We had such a great time at Old Faithful Inn! Definately and experience to remember... The only heads up I would give is that we got a room with a private bathroom... thinking that it would be better than having a community bathroom. They fale to mention that there is only a tub. The community bathrooms have showers. We had a laugh about it, but it was amazing reqardless!

The Old Faithful Inn is the Pits. The Premium rooms are 4 walls and a Hard mattress. No A/C, Tv, WIFI, Radio. The bathroom is nice. The bottom window will only open 6 inches, but won't stay open unless you jam the ice bucket in it. I paid $250.00 a night for this room and I have never hated a room as much as I hated going back to this room. Hopefully I don't live long enough to run into another room as bad as this room was. This room was overlooking the geyser but it was partially blocked by trees. They give you a 12" fan for your comfort but it doesn't do much after a day of touring.

Two years ago, we discovered what a great place Yellowstone is and managed to score a room at the Old Faithful Inn on a cancellation. It was a fantastic room overlooking OF geyser. For a significant birthday, I chose, out of the entire world, to return to Yellowstone and the Inn. I made reservations on-line a year in advance and because the online room description was unclear, called throughout the year to make sure I was getting a room in the same part of the hotel. I was assured that I was, even two weeks prior to our arrival. When we checked in (on my B-day) the young man at the desk named Zach from N. Carolina, said there were no rooms available in that wing, but that the other wing looked over an unnamed geyser field. I was extremely disappointed, but agreed to the change providing it wasn't overlooking garbage bins, delivery docks or parking lots. Zach assured us it was not. Then instead of telling us himself where the room was he handed us over to a bellman who "told" us where it was and expected a tip for the service. It was such an obvious set up to get the tip out of us that I laughed and played dumb to the ploy. When we got to the room it was tiny, overlooking garbage bins and parking lots. If there was a geyser field it was hidden by a large building housing park employee's. We returned to the front desk and complained about the room and Zach's lies....to no avail. I was upset at Zach’s lies and told him he should call his unnamed geysers, dumpster and parking-lot in a non joking manner. He responded with a smart mouthed reply which that had the bell staff laughing at me. That night we were kept awake by employees yelling and yowling till at least 2:30 AM, then at 7 AM woke up to garbage trucks...beeping as they backed up and the deafening noise of large dumpsters being emptied. My husband went back to the manager and had a private conversation with him in his office to complain about the room and Zach’s behavior, on which Zach attempted to intrude We never asked for a discount, just a better room for which we would pay. We were offered a suite for 600.00 a night which we deemed excessive and unneeded for one night. Finally on our fourth attempt to get any satisfaction for a poorly handled situation we were told to leave our bags, go enjoy the park and when we came back to "re-check- in" to a better room for which they would give us a discount. We did this and the bellman actually left a note informing us of his identity, I assume in case we wanted to tip him for a move that shouldn't have been necessary in the first place. We barely had time to enjoy our new and improved room as we were late to bed and up by 5 AM thanks to "someone" who set the alarm (unasked) for us. I was never so glad to shake the dust off my feet from a place, as I was that day. The park is wonderful, but if I had been boss over Zach, I would have had him cleaning toilets in a skirt for the rest of the summer. We stayed at two other park facilities during our visit to Yellowstone-Grand Teton and noticed the same lack of "willingness" to be nice...even in a 4 diamond lodge. My advice, forego the government housing and stay outside the parks where people actually care that you come back.

for a good time beautiful country & excitement of a life time its the place to be. Don't let what the city style pilgrims in prior posts have written , the rooms are to sleep in & the country side is to exsplore, the beds are comfortable & the people are nice. Do not forget your fishing pole!!! If you would like to remember the visit bring at least a camera with a zoom lens. Remember the wildlife knows its their park & your just a temporary visitor so give them alot of space ( zoom lens it) . Millions of tourist pass thru the park each year so respect it & leave it the way you got to see & exsperience it so when you bring your grandchildren on the next visit it will be the same as you described it to them. Wildlife is abundant all you have to do is slow way down & look around the tree lines & on the edges of open spaces. Wear your self out exsperiencing nature than go back & sleep & do it again & again.

Our family LOVES the Old Faithful Inn. It's rustic, nostalgic and wonderful! We always get a room that faces the geyser basin and absolutely love it! The ONLY complaint we have had is that the walls are super thin and you can hear everyone. However, since the remodel, this problem is supposed to have been corrected.

We stayed at the lodge on a bus trip for 2 nights. This was my husband and myself. Our room was the "pitts!" It was so small we couldn't pass by each other without turning sideways. Of course - no tv and no air conditioning. There was a fan in the closet and the windows had screens which were in terrible shape and since we were on the lower level we were afraid to leave the windows open since people were walking around constantly. We had problems getting clean wash cloths and towels - ended up going and getting them ourselves. The place was extremely noisy all the time - especially noticed it at night. Don't kids ever sleep!!! The "shower" had no water pressure and the term hot water didn't mean much! The food at the lodge was expensive, but we ended up eating at the cafeteria at the other building - much cheaper and much tastier. Of course the surroundings are beautiful - loved Old Faithful and the other geysers and scenery. If we would ever go again we would insist on a room on a top floor and would want to see the room before checking in.

The Inn is beautiful--as represented. However, the service in the Inn and in the Dining Room was not. We stayed in the Old House & was told that there was no TV or radio or telephone. However, there was also no hotwater (we had a room with a bath) and the curtains on the windows are very sheer (the sun comes up around 6). As there also is no airconditioning, we had to leave our windows open--which might not have been a problem, but our room was on the front of the hotel, and was very noisy with people and buses coming and going as early as 6 am. It was also too noisy to sleep at night as you can hear people in the halls as if there were no walls at all. Also, our door did not lock properly and was left unlocked by housekeeping the first morning. The manager provided a discount for the lack of hotwater (as we had to use the community showers), but the experience was very disappointing. So, yes it was clean & the location was great because it is in the middle of the geyser basin & it was a good value--but we won't stay there again and we won't recommend it to others. The dining experience was worse. We had reservations, but there was still a very long wait because there wasn't enough wait staff to use all of the tables. The service was very slow--many people complained--and the food was overcooked (especially the fish). The total time for a disappointing dining experience was almost 2 hours & not because we chose to linger. After that first night we cancelled our dining reservations, thinking that the food and the service would be better elsewhere. However, all food service in the park is provided by the same company, so the food and the service was mostly the same--with one exception. The dining room at Canyon Lodge had a great salad bar for lunch, the bison burger was not overcooked, and the service was excellent. Fortunately, the grills at the Yellowstone General Stores are not part of the same company, so the food and the service is better--not great, but better. If we had it to do over, we would probably stay in one of the newer lodges & either bring more snack-type foods with us or always eat at the Yellowstone General Stores. Even given this dreadful experience, the trip to Yellowstone was awesome--they geysers, the lakes, the Yellowstone River, the Canyon & especially the wildlife. So we recommend the trip,but ask many questions before you decide where to stay. We met many people who stayed in one of the towns outside of the park and made day trips into the park. And now we know why!!