Review: Holiday Inn West Yellowstone, Montana

We arrived at West Yellowstone, Montana after traveling through hundreds of miles of beautiful plains, mountains, and high desert. The last part of the journey took us higher and higher into the Targhee National Forest on highway 20, passing an expansive view of the Grand Tetons in the distance. Along the highway we crossed the Continental Divide, entering into the state of Montana.

The day was cloudy with strong winds. Storms had passed through Montana the day before, along with a tornado ripping through Montana City and Billings (just north of Yellowstone). It was late in the afternoon when we arrived and we were tired from hours of travel in our car. We checked into the Holiday Inn, West Yellowstone with a reservation through Travelocity.com, made just the day before.

It's risky going into Yellowstone without making reservations. Most places are booked far in advance especially during the summer. Our preference was one of the lodges in Yellowstone Park, however, they were full. The Holiday Inn West Yellowstone was the last available choice at Yellowstone Park west entrance in West Yellowstone village.

West Yellowstone village is a charming place to visit and caters strongly to tourists. It has a small, well stocked market for groceries, a post office, and several gas stations. There are many restaurants, gift shops, a museum, along with a delightful local playhouse called The Playmill Theater where we caught the opening night of the musical, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

West Yellowstone village is right at the entrance to Yellowstone National Park and the Holiday Inn hotel is only a few blocks away, making it a convenient choice. When I made reservations, I selected a King bed for one night on Travelocity (thinking I had selected two nights). The manager who checked us in was very accommodating making great efforts to add another night. In order to do this, she switched us to a room with a jacuzzi tub and king bed.

The king size bed unfortunately was very uncomfortable both in size and quality of mattress. The pillows supplied were, however, adequate with two soft ones, and two hard. The room was clean and the decor pleasant with modern colors of beige and white. The bathroom was rather small and the shower curtain was missing buttons, making it sag. The WiFi internet service was fragile and intermittent and I was unable to check my email.

The in-room jacuzzi tub was enjoyable and the size of the room was larger than a standard room as it included a small sofa that made into a queen bed. The view out the window was a disappointment given the beauty of the surrounding area. Our view was of the back parking lot and the back side of buildings across the way where trash, industrial metal rail boxes, and junk were piled against buildings.

The view wasn't the only disappointment. We decided to order dessert from room service, however, the menu was missing from the in-room service binder. After calling the front desk to get a room service menu, someone from the restaurant arrived with a restaurant menu, but not a room service menu or a dessert listing. The hostess from the restaurant, however, told us what desserts were available for room service...twenty five dollars later (tip included), we had one small slice of bad apple pie and a small child-size dish of vanilla ice cream delivered by a very disgruntled female dressed like she may have been from housekeeping.

The hotel was under renovation during our stay. The first morning, after a bad nights sleep, we awoke at 7am to the sound of truck engines and a painting crew hollering to each other across the parking lot as they fired up their equipment. They were also doing repairs on the interior of the hotel. Everywhere we went there were men working with loud power tools...drills and screwdrivers...piles of paint buckets, tools, tarps, doors, boards, and such along the corridor and back exit.

We ordered our breakfast by placing a hang tag on the door for an "express breakfast" delivered to our room before we headed out for a day of exploring Yellowstone. The breakfast was scheduled for 8:30am. The form stated that there was a 15 minute window for potential time delays. We waited and waited...by 9:30am or so, we called the front desk. They never put the order in. Mike from the hotel restaurant called and said they could make it and send it up...by this time we were getting a late start to the day so we declined.

Our overall experience with the Holiday Inn West Yellowstone was unfortunately disappointing. I would have to give it 2 1/2 stars. If the renovation wasn't going on, I would change it to 3. The cost of the room at $229 per night (not including a high room tax- 10%) is overpriced in my opinion. For the money, I would not be able to recommend this hotel. Instead, I would consider other choices in West Yellowstone village or explore what lodging Yellowstone Park offers.