Glenwood Canyon Resort — Hotel in Glenwood Springs

Made a reservation to stay for 3 nights but only ended up staying for 2. I will completely own up to the fact that my boyfriend and I didn't plan as well as we could have for camping here.

Temperatures:

It turned out to be absolutely freezing at night and boiling in the day and we didn't know the weather would be that extreme (this was in October).

Bathrooms & Showers:

But the reason for a 2 star rating is because of a few things. We were on the lower level camping area in a river tent spot. It turned out the closest bathrooms/showers were on the upper level which required going up and down a flight of stairs. This felt very inconvenient as I have mobility difficulties but regardless it was a tiring climb to do repeatedly throughout the day. It felt like there really should be an additional bathroom at the very least on the lower level.

Laundry & wifi & bike rentals:

I am grouping these 3 categories because the answer for all is that they didn't exist. Yes there's a physical room quite farther away from the lower level campgrounds that is a laundry room but it was completely out of service. Not just one or two machines. The entire laundry room was closed. And yes there is a wifi signal you can connect to but you won't get any service and it will often say there's no internet. So I would consider the promise of wifi to just be untrue if you are in the lower level campgrounds. Now before any of you come attacking me to say that camping should be tech free, I actually would mostly agree with you but this was more of an annoyance because we were lied to. In particular for my partner and I, we were on a long road trip and had relied on being able to wash our clothes in the laundry before continuing on our trip. So to find it was unavailable was extremely frustrating and we ended up having to go to a store and buy more clothes as we had no more clean clothes. The bike rentals was an outright lie! That was annoying as we made this stop specifically for that reason!!

Location:

Something I didn't quite expect is that this campground is around a 10ish minute drive from civilization. So if you need to go to get groceries or anything, you will definitely want to drive. I don't find this to be too problematic but figured I would mention it. Camping next to the river is incredible. The moment you arrive you'll likely be in awe about how close to the river you are and how accessible it is (literally footsteps). What you won't learn until a while later is how loud it is to be so close to the train tracks that pass through that canyon. It might seem fun in the daytime but when the train passes by at least 3 or more times in the middle of the night it isn't so fun anymore. It's so loud there's no way you can sleep through it. I had on ear plugs and still could hear it (33 decibel plugs). It may even feel like a small earthquake if you're also a Californian and know what those feel like. So as lovely as it is in the daytime to be near the river, I absolutely do not recommend tent camping there. I feel like that shouldn't even be an option considering the extreme range of temperatures and loud pollution from the train.

The office:

There's an office that has some supplies you may have forgotten or just need like firewood and sunscreen. The huge annoyance I had was not knowing when it would be open. For some reason it didn't have hours posted. It would simply be open or closed at seemingly random hours. There was no knowing if you would make the climb from the lower level campground and make the trek to the office only to find it closed in the middle of the day. Considering the size of the campground, it feels inconvenient that you would have to travel all the way to the office and have it possibly be closed at regular business hours. It should really have a consistent opening/closing time and those should be posted on the door.

Overall:

I would only recommend using this "resort" to daycamp. It's just not worth the horrible train noise and the lying about...

Recently we booked our family event for 120+ people at the Glenwood Canyon Resort. Due to unforeseen circumstances (an accident closing I 70), we were unable to hold our event at Glenwood Canyon Resort, so I have split the review into two parts; 1 for the resort and the second part for our event coordinator.

Resort: 3 stars

When we checked in with the resort in March they were in the process of remodeling. We were the first event that the Glenwood Canyon Resort had booked but were assured that the space we were interested in would be fully prepared and ready by mid-June. On the date of our event, some requested items were still not available. The liquor license had not been obtained, and the television sets that were promised were not yet installed. When some guests, planning to stay at the resort, tried to contact the registration desk by phone before arrival there was no one answering the phones.

Having said that, we were not able to get to our event space due to an accident that occurred in the Glenwood Canyon which shut the interstate for many hours. As we did not end up being able to access the space, I cannot comment much about the space itself or how it would have been for our event. I visited the event center prior to our chosen date and the event coordinator had done a good job with the outside decorating, including adding deck shades since the deck gets afternoon sun. The deck overlooks the river and is a short but steep walk to the river. The resort offers cabins and camp spots, which makes it easier for out-of-town guests to attend.

Resort Summary: The Glenwood Canyon Resort has recently undergone reconstruction. They were not completely ready for our event in early/mid July: They did not have a liquor license yet, and they did not have the TVS set up to display pictures. The interior portion of the center was still being finished at the date of our event. Be aware that there is only one way to access the resort (I-70), which frequently shuts down due to weather or accidents.

Event Coordinator- Katie Scribner 5-stars

Katie was fantastic to work with. She was endlessly enthusiastic even when our number of guests grew, and when unexpected roadblocks arose (such as the TVs not being installed, no liquor license, and I-70 closing 2 hours before our event). As mentioned above, we had to change the event location at the last minute and she was extremely flexible and brought the chairs, tables, sound system, and beverages we had ordered. Katie and her crew set everything up in record time at our new venue. She was very caring and wanted to ensure our event went smoothly. She scheduled check-ins prior to and throughout the event.

The one area for growth would be to reach out more consistently (outside of our two scheduled check-ins) prior to the event and acknowledge receipt of texts/emails. She always responded; however, at some points, it would be after a couple of attempts to contact her. I later learned she was working to find the answers to my questions, but I was unsure if she had gotten my emails/texts.

Katie Summary: Overall, she was professional, enthusiastic, flexible, and a pleasure...

$100 to camp! I expect it to be well cared for.

I really wanted to love this spot, but my experience left me disappointed—especially for the $100/night price tag.

When I arrived, there were bits of trash scattered around my site and more next to it. I had specifically requested (and paid extra for) an end site so no one would be to my right—but I didn’t get it.

Throughout my stay, no one from the staff came by to tend to the grounds, check on campers, or enforce basic safety protocols. There was an active fire ban in place, yet the group next to me had fires going nightly, without anyone checking in. This isn’t about tattling—it’s about basic safety. The land here is clearly vulnerable to wildfire, and it felt like no one was watching out for that.

There was also a young bear (maybe a teenager) that came through camp multiple times. There were no signs, no posted warnings, and no education shared about storing food safely or being bear-aware. On my final night, a new group camped next to me. They heard about the bear from someone else—not the staff—and I overheard one of them say he had two guns. That, along with hours of music blasting at full volume, made me feel unsafe. I like hip-hop, but this wasn’t about music taste—it was about volume, respect, and the absence of boundaries.

That same group left food out while they were gone and left a fire still burning in their pit.

When I brought all of this to the staff, I was told, “There’s nothing we can really do about it.” But that’s simply not true.

Even more frustrating, some of what I was told contradicted the information on the website. I made decisions based on the site’s promises—only to find that those details weren’t honored or enforced once I arrived. That lack of consistency felt dismissive and disorienting.

There is something that can be done: • Pick up trash between campers • Rake and tend to the campsites • Add gravel to reduce dust clouds • Enforce quiet hours and fire bans • Post bear safety guidelines and educate guests • Ask drivers to slow down through the camp

The river was the highlight—being next to water is always medicine—but even that area wasn’t well tended. There were no places to sit, no stonework or care given to the banks. It could be beautiful, but it isn’t being honored.

And then there’s the train. It comes through twice each night—loud, grinding, and disruptive. Not a peaceful background hum, but iron scraping iron that jolts you awake.

Not everyone comes to camp to party. Some of us come to rest, to reconnect with the land, and to find peace. For the price, I expected that to be respected—and it simply wasn’t.

Please care for the land. Please care for your...