Lake McDonald Lodge is one of five hotels/lodges run by Xanterra in Glacier National Park. The others are the Village Inn at Apgar, Rising Sun Motor Inn, Swiftcurrent Motor Inn, and the 100 year old Many Glacier Hotel. St Mary's Lodge just outside the eastern entrance to the park is not run by Xanterra. ||||2. Lake McDonald Lodge and the Village Inn at Apgar are located on Lake McDonald a the extreme western end of the 53 mile long Going To The Sun road.||||3. Rising Sun is located on the eastern end of GTTS road, on St. Mary's Lake and was closed due to fire during our stay. Swiftcurrent Motor Inn and the Many Glacier Hotel are located on or near Swiftcurrent Lake in the Many Glacier area of northeast Glacier Park, 20 miles from the eastern entrance to the GTTS. ||||4. The Many Glacier Hotel is the largest and most historical hotel in the park, and is the most in demand, being close to the Grinnell Glacier hike and the Iceberg Lake hike, the most popular hikes in the park. ||||5. We drove from Many Glacier passed St Mary's Lake, through Logan Pass, and to Lake McDonald Lodge, covering 63 miles including 43 miles of tne GTTS road in 2 hours.||||6. We were given room 7-4, one of 13 cabins, each with 2 to 6 units. There are 37 rooms in the cabins, and about the same number of rooms in the 3 story main building. ||||7. We parked right next to our cabin, which had only one window with a view of the wall of cabin 8, and a screen door with a view of our parked vehicle. There was a vent window in the bathroom.||||8. The cabin had one full size bed -tough to get used to if you sleep in a queen size bed at home. Comfortable bed, but had to watch for my wife's elbow flying, when turning at night!||||9. Our room was very small -about 10'x16', or 160 square feet. This was the second smallest hotel room I've ever stayed in -the smallest was at Wawona in southern Yosemite.||||10. It was so small that the bed was against one wall, so as to leave room for the door to open. So the inside person had to climb over the bed to get out. Naturally I slept on the outside, with the wife on the inside, even though she was the one going to the bathroom in the middle of the night!||||11. No TV, no AC, no microwave, no cooking, no smoking, no internet access, except in the lobby. No sound insulation. You are out of luck if your neighbor has a crying baby or snores louder than my wife!. ||||12. Small desk, box fan, land line phone -cell phone coverage is very limited. Iron and ironing board -they expect you to have freshly pressed clothes without wrinkles in the restaurant! ||||13. Sink outside the bathroom, with the shower the size of a phone booth -about 30" square. No room to turn around, unless you are toothpick thin! ||||14. Cabins 8 and 9 have porches facing the lake, with chairs and tables. Numerous picnic tables between the cabins and the lake. Paved and dim lighted pathway between the cabins and the main building, so bring a flashlight at night!.||||15. The main building had a lobby, a lounge with internet access where one could read e-mail, and watch the mounted animal trophy heads hanging from the rafters of the second and 3rd floors. Springs on the sofas were shot, so hard to get up!||||16. Also in the main building were rest rooms for visitors, a gift shop, a sports bar, and Russell's Fireside dining room with a view of the lake. No ice machine -get ice from the sports bar.||||17. Main building had a public veranda with sitting chairs with lake view. Numerous benches behind the hotel with lake view. , ||||18. The most desirable rooms are the 2nd and 3rd floor rooms on the corners of the main building facing the lake. The third floor rooms facing the lake have a shared patio facing the lake. Some of the other rooms in the lodge have balconies. Rooms with balconies with a lake view reserved 13 months in advance on the Xanterra web site. ||||19. There is a beach right on Lake McDonald right in front of the cabins. There is a boat dock with a wheel chair accessible pathway for boat tours.||||20. We made reservations through the glacierparkboat web site for the Lake Josephine boat crossing on the way to Grinnell Glacier.||||21. Beyond the main building is an auditorium for naturalist lectures, and a reading room.||||22. Lake McDonald Hotel complex has a camp store, a post office, public rest rooms, and a pizza joint called Jammer Joes. Several hundred parking spots, with lots of parking, whereas most hiking spots full by 10am. ||||23. Red Bus tours stop in front of the Lodge main building. ||||24. Free shuttle bus stop at complex entrance going to Avalanche Creek, with hikes to Avalanche Lake via Cedar Natures Trail on boardwalk -the only wheelchair accessible hike in the park.||||25. Transfer to shuttle van at Avalanche Creek for traveling to Logan Pass, where there are the Highlite hike and the Hidden Lake hike. , ||||26. In 2015 the hotel was open from late May through late September, but the GTTS at Logan Pass was not open until early July, so no direct access to the eastern section...
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