It's no secret, it's constantly getting a bit more expensive to stay in a lodge inside a national park. But is the experience also rising, or is it not keeping track with the cost?
Of course, when rating your 2021 lodging experience, you need to keep in mind the curveball the coronavirus pandemic threw concessionaires. There were staffing issues and requirements that affected dining room service.
Keeping those mitigating factors in mind, where did you have your best lodging and dining experience, and where was your worst?
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Comments
Great experience this year at Skyland in Shenandoah NP at the lodge and restaurant.
The best experience we had hands down was the Laconte lodge in Great Smoky Mountains np. Great deal, service wonderful and unique in that you had to hike there.
There wasn't food at the Great Sand Dunes Oasis but the cost and proximity made for a great deal.
Worst during the pandemic would probably have to be the Aramark locations in Olympic NP.
You mean LeConte Lodge? I wonder if there's any controversy there over the name. The LeConte brothers were slave owners and even after slavery had ended they made some controversial statements about slavery. It's gotten to the point where an elementary school was renamed and the physics building at UC Berkeley has also been renamed. The Sierra Club has renamed the former LeConte Memorial Lodge at Yosemite. There's still a Le Conte Street in Berkeley but that's likely to be changed too. The Le Conte brothers were professors in the geology and physics departments at UC Berkeley and among the founders of the Sierra Club. As far as I know they didn't have any relation to the Smokies but they still named the lodge after them.
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2021/06/op-ed-it-time-reconsider-s...
https://www.sierraclub.org/yosemite-heritage-center/history
https://usac.ucla.edu/docs/resolution.2021.A%20Resolution%20Acknowledgin...
https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/11/18/uc-berkeleys-leconte-and-barrows-ha...
I had the pleasure of spending a night in one of the Rock Harbor Cottages in Isle Royale NP. It was gorgeous (as is the whole island), and included a early morning visit by two browsing moose right in front of our window. Magical.
Worst 2021 reservation experience by far was Grand Canyon North Rim Lodge (Forever Resorts) on-line reservation system- a total mess. Best lodging experience was western cabin at Bryce (also Forever Resorts.) Cabins were beautifully situated, roomy and comfortable.
Stayed there when Xanterra was still operating Bryce Canyon Lodge. The cabin was fine, but we had this really weird experience in the dining room, where a server went ballistic in the kitchen (we could easily hear it) and stormed out. We asked a busboy what the deal was, and were told that the server was the only one there with an unexpected late lunch rush and a lot of customers were complaining about delays.
We enjoyed a wonderful 3-night stay at The Ranch at Death Valley. The accommodations were clean, comfortable, and convenient. Some might consider them a bit dated, but we considered them to be charming and reflective of the era during which they were built. Our room had a small patio and sitting area which looked out over the palm-shaded lawns. The choice of on-site dining was pretty limited due to the season and we weren't impressed by the meal we had at the buffet...they tried, but it was a buffet after all. Our remaining dinners we chose to go to the dining room at the Oasis (hotel) which was a bit expensive, but the food made it well worth it. We try to stay in the National Parks when we travel becauseofthe convenience, proximity, and ambience. We have found them all to be a bit rustic, but we love that part.
That place is a little bit odd because all the Xanterra properties at Death Valley are inholdings that aren't legally part of the park and aren't subject to National Park Service regulation. It's also been odd when there were federal shutdowns. Those properties remained open because they were completely private, and since it's a numbered state highway there was no means to keep anyone out. I also understand that as long as someone just drives through on CA-180 and doesn't stop at an NPS area, there's no requirement to pay an entrance fee or present a pass. They don't even have any entrance stations; the fee is paid for at kiosks or in visitor centers.
Changing the LeConte lodge name does not change history or erase it.
I have hiked 60 of the National Parks! Best experience was Jenny Lake Lodge cabins in Grand Teton National Park! Gorgeous cabins! Tied for best are the Roosevelt cabins at Crescent Lake in Olympic National Park. Worst was the lodge at Mesa Verde National Park. The walls are paper thin and you can hear everything all over the building.
We stayed at the North Rim Grand Canyon Lodge in July in a Frontier Cabin. Definitely rustic but super clean and beautifully situated among the pines with even a tiny view of the canyon! Trails were close by. Sunset and mornings overlooking the canyon from the Lodge veranda were awesome. Find your sunset spot early! Take out food from the deli/snack shop was nothing special and pricey.
We also had a stay at the Big Meadows Lodge at Shenandoah in September. Our one bedroom suite was a bedroom plus another cabin-sized sitting area with a fireplace, and had a small porch. Really spacious and nice view. There is a trail right behind the lodge. We would stay in either of these park lodgings again!
There's certainly nothing wrong with rustic. To me that's really what the national park experience is about, espexially since they're priced such that most people can affford them. The development of higher end lodging in our national parks started out as an incentive for wealthy and connected (i.e. politicians) visitors to support our national parks, but often it seems that they leave out the people who can't afford over $700/night at Jenny Lake Lodge or $400/night at the Ahwahnee Hotel. I like egalitarian.
My memories were of staying at a basic cabins or even camping. The (now dismantled) Giant Forest Village had extremely inexpensive cabins, yet were within walking distance of the General Sherman Tree. I stayed at one of the Roughrider Cabins at Roosevelt in Yellowstone. Just a cast iron stove for heat and a basic bed, but I got up in the morning and saw one of the most amazing sunrises I've ever seen.
Lake Crecent Lodge in ONP, National Park Lodge in MRNP, Mossy Mountain BnB outside Glacier, have been our best. Luckily we've been able to avoid the worst, which are best not mentioned. As a retired NPS ranger who used to inspect them, married to a retired hotel pro from Switzerland, I know running lodging in and around parks ain't easy.