Lake Yellowstone Hotel: Should You Stay Here? An Honest Review

Yellowstone National Park is the world’s first (and best!) national park. There are 9 lodges/hotels within the park, but the Lake Yellowstone Hotel was the first. It’s gorgeous and classy with its colonial, yellow exterior and perched right on the shore of Lake Yellowstone, but is it worth the hype?

The Lake Yellowstone Hotel is the most upscale lodging option within Yellowstone National Park. With fine dining on-site, a sophisticated lobby with comfortable furnishings and views of Lake Yellowstone. The rooms are clean and comfortable and it’s one of the most expensive places to stay within the park, with cabins starting at ~$340 and rooms in the hotel that cost between $420 and $1200. Although we enjoyed our stay and believe it has the best view of any place to stay in Yellowtone, we did not feel it was worth the cost.

I’m Cheryl, and I have been in all 9 of Yellowstone National Park’s lodges/hotels and have personally stayed in 3 of them (plus several others in other national parks). I always pay for my own stay so I can give my honest opinion.

My husband, Matt, and I write travel itinerary guides and audio guides to help people plan their trip to the West, including Yellowstone. We live 4 hours away and visit this park every year. Getting to stay at the Lake Hotel was something I’ve always wanted to do.

If a trip to Yellowstone National Park is in your future (and I sure hope it is), read on to see if the Lake Hotel is right for you.

At a Glance

Pros	Cons
Clean, comfortable rooms	Expensive
Fine dining on-site	Poor food service
Beautiful views of Lake Yellowstone	No TV, AC, microwave, or fridge
Walking distance to Lake Yellowstone	Far away from favorite sites in Yellowstone
Huge hotel with a lot of room options	No WiFi
Wildlife viewing	Noise from other rooms
Nightly music	Dirty lobby

Location

Yellowstone National Park is really big. In fact, it takes between 4 and 7 hours to drive around the Grand Loop Road without stopping. The Lake Hotel is located at the bottom of the lower loop and sits on the bank of Lake Yellowstone.

Staying anywhere within Yellowstone National Park has some huge advantages. First, you avoid the long entrance lines to get into the park. If you enter the park anywhere between 9 am and 12 pm, it’s possible to have to wait 30 minutes or more. When we’ve done this, the problem doesn’t end at the entrance. We stay in traffic all day on the roads, and sometimes we can’t get a parking spot at places we want to go. When you stay in the park, it’s easier to get an early start and stay ahead of the crowds.

Second, you see more of the park’s scenery. It’s a wonderful experience to sit in the lobby, on the front porch, or from your room (if you are lucky enough to have a view) and just look out the window and enjoy the lake.

We also enjoyed walking down to the beach in the morning. Lake Yellowstone is too cold to swim in, but hanging out on the shore for a few minutes is really nice.

We also saw a bison and a huge elk right by the hotel.

Third, you get more rest! We rarely stay in the park when we visit, which means we have extra driving time each day to get in and out of the park. This can be over an hour each way, depending on where you stay. We often trade our driving time for sleeping time. We enjoyed the extra hour of rest we got when we stayed at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel.

That being said, the Lake Hotel is NOT centrally located. Even though you do avoid entrance lines, there are several places in the park, particularly places on the Upper Loop like Mammoth, Tower, and Lamar Valley, that are over 2 hours away.

DON’T MISS: Driving in Yellowstone: 10 Things You Need to Know

Rooms

Built in 1891, the Lake Hotel was actually quite simple. 12 years later, Robert Reamer, who also designed the Old Faithful Inn, added more rooms and gave the Lake Hotel its classic colonial look. There have been several renovations over the years, and today, there are over 300 rooms, including 159 in the main hotel, 39 in the Sand Piper Lodge (an adjacent building), and 110 cabins. All have private bathrooms.

Our room was considered a “Deluxe room.” It had a queen bed (very comfy), dining table, two nightstands with lamps, a bench, coffee maker, iron, wardrobe closet, and a private bathroom with a tub/shower combination. Also included were an ice bucket and glasses. The room was also very clean.

We were on the third floor and had a lake view. It was spectacular! We enjoyed eating our picnic dinner (cold cereal!) and just taking it all in. I really did love our lakeside views.

HOT TIP: If you don’t get a room with a lake view, there are a couple of sitting areas on each floor with lake views that are very nice.

Some nice touches made our room feel especially upscale. The included shampoos and soaps smelled great and the towels were soft. I loved the cute bear on my counter made of soap! Our shower had good water pressure. However, the toilet didn’t work properly until my husband fixed it.

One other thing about the room that we did not enjoy was the noise. It was creaky when other guests were walking around and we could hear doors closing and people in the common area talking.

Our room cost a little over $500 a night and that was the special internet price. It was the most expensive room I’ve ever booked. There are other options on-site that are cheaper, including cabins and the Sandpiper Lodge, as well as nicer rooms, like suites, that can cost up to $1200 a night.

Our room did not have a fridge, microwave, TV, or WiFi, but we were told that the Lake Lodge nearby had WiFi if we wanted to use it. This is actually super common for lodging within any national park. I don’t mind it for the most part. Our room stayed nice and cool just by cracking the window (we visited in June), and I appreciate the NPS’s effort to help people unplug and connect with each other and nature.

I don’t like not having the option to store and prepare my own food. There is a dining room and a simple coffee/sandwich shop called the Lake Hotel Deli, but it’s always expensive and often inconvenient to eat at these restaurants. The good news is that there are lots of restaurants and general stores all over Yellowstone National Park, so you’ll never go hungry.

READ: Where are the Best Places to Eat in Yellowstone? We’ve Got You Covered and Where to Get Groceries and Eat Picnics in and Around Yellowstone & Grand Teton for more information on food in the park.

Amenities

There are several services available, including tours like photography or wildlife viewing that leave right from the hotel.

There is also a lounge, formal dining, deli, and a gift shop on site.

GOOD TO KNOW: Bellhops are available to help with luggage, which is a big help. An elevator is also available.

Food

The Lake Yellowstone Hotel Dining Room is the on-site fine dining restaurant. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served, but it’s closed between meals. Reservations for dinner are recommended and preference is given to hotel guests, though there is a standby line. Breakfast and lunch are first-come, first-served and are more budget-friendly.

We chose to have breakfast here because it was half the cost of dinner and still offered the same great views. Guests can choose between à la carte items and the buffet, which is what most people order. There was no wait to get in and we lucked out and got seated next to a window. The views were great.

The buffet included eggs du jour, scrambled eggs, sugared waffles, sausage, bacon, potatoes, charcuterie, fruit, yogurt, granola, and a variety of sweet breads. A choice of coffee, hot chocolate, or juice was also included.

Overall, we thought our food was very good. The eggs du jour were a little spicy, which I liked, and the bacon was cooked perfectly. My hot chocolate was rich, and the fruit was fresh.

But there were a few problems. Even though the dining room was less than half full, no one brought us our drinks until we were practically done with our meal. I also had to walk around the restaurant to find my server so I could get the check when I wanted to leave. Lastly, they ran out of yogurt by 8 am, which seemed odd for a formal dining room. I guess I expected better for the high price tag, $25 for breakfast and ~$50 for dinner.

GOOD TO KNOW: The Lake Hotel Deli is another option, but it closes quite early. It wasn’t open the night we arrived, so we couldn’t get dinner there.

Drinks and small plates are served in the lobby. The night we arrived, we ordered a charcuterie board, but we had a similar problem getting staff to take our order. More on our experience in the lobby later.

There are other places to eat in the area, including the General Store at the Lake Lodge and restaurants at the nearby Grant Village.

Other Amenities

The gift shop on-site has very nice and expensive souvenirs, unlike those you will find in other gift shops in the park.

Tours are also available, including a scenic cruise on Yellowstone Lake and wildlife and photography tours. These are for an extra cost, and booking in advance is recommended

Ambiance

The lobby of the Lake Hotel is the fanciest of the lodges in Yellowstone. Fancy crown molding, comfortable couches and chairs with coffee tables, and dozens of large windows so guests can enjoy the views of the lake. There is also a fireplace and a grand piano.

Many of the guests spend much of their time in the lobby socializing, drinking, and enjoying the views. Unlike many hotels in national parks, where the lobby is filled with travelers who aren’t guests but are just passing through the lobby to get something to eat or shop, I believe that pretty much everyone you see at the Lake Hotel is staying there. This is because the Lake Hotel is off the beaten path, and not as many tourists make it to this area of the park. This could be a real plus for some people who like to be away from the crowds.

Most summer evenings from the hours of 6-10 pm, a musician performs. There’s often a pianist or string quartet. Sometimes you luck out, and they perform together. We really enjoyed our night listening to the pianist. She played a variety of songs and the volume was just perfect. You could still talk to the people you were with AND hear the music.

The lobby was busy until around 10 pm, and it felt messy. Something I didn’t like was that although there were plenty of places to sit, dishes from past guests were all over the tables. It felt like a messy living room when you added in the disheveled throw pillows on the couches.

The next morning, it was all picked up and looked nice, but I was quite shocked that it looked so messy the entire evening the night before. Again, I expected more from this hotel.

INTERESTING: The first view most guests get of this hotel is from the back. This is because that is where the parking lot is located. The really cool and beautiful front of the hotel faces the lake. That is because that was where the original road was when the hotel first opened.

Know Before You Go

The Lake Yellowstone Hotel is usually open from early May to mid-October. Only the Old Faithful Snow Lodge and the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel are open year-round.

Because of the short travel season and the growing number of tourists (almost 5 million in 2025!), accommodations can be hard to come by. Guests are able to book lodging 13 months in advance and it’s highly recommended that you book as soon as you know your travel dates.

The good news about the Lake Hotel is that it has rooms available almost the whole summer, even just days and weeks in advance. I believe this is because there are over 300 rooms and cabins, the price point is more than most are willing to pay, and it’s far away from many of the popular sites in the park.

Should You Stay Here?

Honestly, I wouldn’t stay here again. Here’s why.

Overpriced. This is the most expensive hotel I’ve ever stayed at, but it’s not the nicest place I’ve ever stayed. The Old Faithful Inn (also at Yellowstone) and the Many Glacier Hotel (Glacier National Park) were both less expensive and a much better experience.

Bad service. I really am a regular girl, not an upper-class critic. I taught special education for 28 years and like hamburgers. I’m happy with my lodging as long as my room is clean and my bed is comfortable. But the Lake Hotel’s messy lobby and terrible service at the lounge and dining room really disappointed me.

Location. Many travelers visiting Yellowstone never make it down to this area of the park because it’s out of the way and there isn’t much you can do at Lake Yellowstone besides look at it. The other lodges within the park are closer to the action. I really loved my stay at the Old Faithful Inn, where I could walk out the door and watch geysers erupt.

Grand Prismatic Spring	1 hour
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone	40 min
Mammoth	1 hour and 30-minute drive
Grand Teton National Park	1-hour and 10-minute drive

I don’t enjoy pointing these things out, but I always pay for my own experiences so that I can be candid with my fellow travelers. There are 9 lodges in Yellowstone, and the Old Faithful Inn is the best one and my top pick if you are going to stay within the park.

One last point to consider is that I only stayed there one night, one time. They may have had an off day. I may have different priorities than you, so read other reviews before making your final choice.

Alternative Lodging In and Around Yellowstone

Yellowstone has so many places to stay! In addition to the 9 in-the-park lodges, there are also 12 campgrounds plus tons of options outside the park.

• Most central place to stay: Canyon Village
• Budget options: Roosevelt Cabins, Mammoth Cabins
• Historic: Mammoth, Lake Hotel, Old Faithful Inn

If you are staying outside the park, the most convenient gateway towns are West Yellowstone and Gardiner.

To learn more, check out our article, Should I Stay Inside or Outside Yellowstone National Park? or Your Yellowstone Camping Guide: What You Need to Know.

The 9 Best Areas & Places to Stay in Yellowstone

Is There Anything Else I Should Know?

Yes! Planning a trip to Yellowstone should be exciting, joyful, and easy!

Our itinerary guide provides you with a daily (yet flexible) plan to help you efficiently see the park. It will get you to the top sites at the right time to avoid the crowds, save you hours of time planning, and help you have incredible experiences most people don’t even know about.