Swiftcurrent Motor Inn — Hotel in West Glacier

I was excited to stay at Swiftcurrent. I am fine with very basic accommodations. However, I couldn't wait to leave because:|1) Lack of privacy. Our single queen motor lodge room had a communicating door that adjoined to the room behind it. It was a wooden pocket door that was only secured with a metal hook-and-eye type latch. Worse, this door would not close properly. When we first entered our room, I fiddled with the door but didn't particularly take note of it. However, I was really unnerved when the other guest entered the room and I realized you could see light in the cracks between the door and the jamb. I could hear the other person unzipping their suitcase, so it was really like being in the same room, just without actually seeing each other. We were traveling as a couple, and that person was obviously solo, so I was nervous and on edge the entire time that we were being overheard and/or disturbing the other person every time we spoke or moved. Our "roommate" was quiet and I truly hope we didn't disturb them. | However, under different circumstances I would have felt not just uneasy but unsafe with this setup, as there was really nothing to stop occupants of adjoining rooms from excessively bothering each other or even breaking in if they put their minds to it. This would be a great setup if you could have members of the same family or traveling party in adjoining rooms, but it was extremely uncomfortable to share a room with a stranger that we could hear but not see.||Unfortunately, I am sure our "roommate" was awakened when:||2) We were awakened in the night by a mouse, which created a bit of a stir. I get that there are mice all over the place, although I have never shared a hotel room with one before. After we saw it and it ran away, the mouse kept rustling every time we turned off the light, so we ended up sleeping with a lamp on, which did not make for a restful night. My advice is to put all your food in your cooler, don't leave any food out in the room. The hotel had posted warnings not to put trash outside your room; I would have appreciated the transparency of being told to keep food put away inside the room as well and not have food waste in the trash basket. It might not have made a difference, but maybe it would have. (We found a mousetrap that had been sprung under the dresser, so they were aware that it was an issue)||3) There was a winter storm in Glacier on August 28. The wind rattled the door to the room loudly, all night long. It's fine when you're awake, but when you're asleep, a rattling door sound just like someone trying to get in to your room. The door also rattled loudly anytime our "roommate" exited their room, it seemed like the air flow caused that. Also not conducive to rest. ||4) The justification for choosing lodging inside the parks is "you're not there to stay in your hotel room," but just remember that in Glacier you might be forced to stay in your room most of the day if you get hit with a storm (GTTSR ended up being closed on Aug 28, it was that bad). So come prepared with something to read if that happens, since there is zero internet in the rooms and no television. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Just keep it in mind as a possibility.||On the plus side (apart from the location), the room was clean and the bedding was fine.||Would I stay again? No. Maybe, if I could be guarantee a room with no communicating door.|But others might feel differently. I would bring ear plugs and keep all your food and food waste...

We took the cheapest room available which turned out to be a cabin (they’re all cabins, which isn’t clear when booking) with a painted wood floor that didn’t look like it had been washed at all this year (wiping a small spill with a tissue when we first arrived resulted in a black tissue) and considering I found a plastic disposable cup on the floor, I doubt it had been swept in a while either. The door was so horribly creaky that it probably wakes up everyone in the surrounding cabins if you need to go use the public bathroom at night, since there isn’t one in the cabin. I don’t doubt people just rather pee in the sink (which only has cold water available) instead, and considering how dirty the floor was, you should bear that in mind if you need to use their sink! We got 2 free shower coins for the one night stay and were told they buy 8.5 min because they want to conserve water, which was fine with us, but then I walked into the bathroom and one of the sinks was left running. It took some fiddling but it did shut off. Every time I used that bathroom I walked in to a running sink, and even after coming out of the stall I would often find someone had used it again after I came in and shut it off and it was left running again. I did inform the girl behind the desk about it, though she sounded like she didn’t want to believe there was actually an issue until I told her it was running every time I went in there, and said she would get maintenance to look at it. We were also told no WiFi at the cabin, only in the main building, but we did have some access since our cabin was one of the closest to the building. Just lost connection a few times and had to reconnect, but the WiFi sure wasn’t very good. Not the worst thing though if you’re there to be in nature! The store and restaurant are quite pricey and the restaurant only has very basic things that they were able to teach the inexperienced teenagers working there to cook. Don’t expect to order eggs over easy for example, you will only get scrambled because “it’s hard to screw up scrambled eggs” (literally what we were told). The coffee said medium roast which I would be good with but it was 2-3x stronger than I would expect medium roast to be. Husband likes dark roast so thought he would like the coffee then but it just tasted terrible anyway. But if you add enough stuff to it and maybe water it down, it’s drinkable. The store is expensive but there’s a microwave you’re allowed to use, which for the price you would think they would have enough income to offer in the room too. They can offer an iron and ironing board even, but no fridge or microwave. I did find it odd also that they have a shelf in the store that they have the audacity to label “breakfast” when all they offer on it is pastries, but the staff was all very friendly. Considering the price and you don’t get much more than you do if you’re tenting, I didn’t think it was worth it. You stay a bit warmer at night, that’s the main perk...

Date: 8/26 - 8/29/23 Room Booked: Motor Inn 2 Doubles

Pros: Location: Right at the trailhead for Iceberg/Ptarmigan and Swiftcurrent, and only 1 mile away from the Many Glacier Hotel Restaurant: Neil's is a counter-service restaurant as opposed to a full service restaurant, which makes getting in-and-out much easier. Plus, the food here is not only less expensive compared to Many Glacier, but IMO is just better and the portion sizes are bigger. The Cobb Salad was a sleeper hit (and can easily be split into 2 to act as a massive side salad!), and the 12" pizza came out right out of the oven and tasted fresh. Motor inn room was decent size, with a dresser, closet, and table and chairs. There's some minor complaints (see below) but overall very decent for a lodge within the park.

Cons: Bathroom has no shelf space/hooks and the sink is very small, with no counter to place items on. Shower is also small (but not as small as the Rising Sun cabins). Also walls are very thin (but you should just assume this is the case for all park lodging). General comment for all park restaurants: it would be nice if the restaurants opened earlier (ex 6am) - 6:30am seems early enough but when you're trying to beat the crowds this is essentially always too late. Walkways between main lodge and motor inn rooms could use some signage

Overall conclusion: If you're looking to get a room inside the Many Glacier valley, IMO the best room to get is a lakefront room at Many Glacier Hotel. However, if you're unable to get those rooms, the 2nd best option is the Motor Inn rooms at Swiftcurrent. While I have not personally spent a night at Many Glacier, we spent a decent amount of time in the lobby and restaurant, and from what I read the rooms themselves at Many Glacier are not great, so if you're not getting the lakefront view, you might as well save a bit of cash and get a nicer room at Swiftcurrent. We were honestly impressed by the Motor Inn rooms and how well appointed they are - I wish I had some good photos of the room before we made a mess of it to share, but it was very roomy for a park lodge! The fact that the rooms are in the middle of the woods also makes...