City Center Motel — Hotel in West Yellowstone

I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels. From overpriced luxury resorts to shady motels where I triple-barricaded the door with a chair and whispered prayers to survive the night. But this place? This place redefined reality.

Location – Transcendent: It’s 2 minutes from the West Yellowstone gate. TWO. I swear if I tripped on my way out, I’d face plant into the park, land on a bison’s back and ride into the park like an old western hero.... No traffic, depending on time. No waiting. Just instant “I'm already here?” vibes. Every morning felt like teleporting directly into an adventure.

Parking – Divine Intervention: They said parking was first come, first serve, but I’m convinced I was blessed by the gods because my parking spot was three feet from my door. After hiking Fairy Falls and feeling my soul leave my body from dehydration, being able to roll out of my car and faceplant directly into bed was the greatest luxury I’ve ever experienced.

Room – A Personal Arctic Sanctuary: The AC was so cold I’m pretty sure polar bears would’ve refused to come in. After baking under the sun all day, walking into that room felt like stepping into the icy embrace of Valhalla. It was also silent. Truly silent. Not “hotel quiet with mystery thuds and pipe gurgles,” but dead quiet, like the universe paused just to let me sleep.

And the sheets? Softer than angel wings dipped in marshmallow fluff. I sank into that bed so deep I’m surprised I didn’t wake up in Narnia.

Tap Water – Literal Elven Spring Water: Listen. I’ve drank tap water that tasted like regret. This hotel’s tap water? Crisp, clean, cold. I drank it and immediately felt my cells dancing in joy. Pretty sure it cured my undiagnosed scurvy and gave me +10 vitality. I don’t know what secret aquifer they’re tapped into, but this water tasted better than any bottled spring water I’ve ever bought at 3am in a gas station while questioning my life choices. It was crisp, clean, perfectly chilled, as if it ran directly off a glacier into their pipes. Every sip was a moment of spiritual awakening. I took a drink and suddenly understood the meaning of life. I’m pretty sure my ancestors felt it and applauded from beyond the veil.

Shower – Cathedral of Cleansing: The shower was massive. Big enough to host a dance party or perform martial arts katas. The water pressure was so strong it blasted away every ache and every bad life choice clinging to my soul. I emerged reborn, cleaner than a newborn baby angel.

Kitchen – Gordon Ramsay Approved (Probably): They don’t just have a microwave and coffee pot like sad little hotels. No. They have a full, actual kitchen. Stove, oven, dishes, everything. I half expected Gordon Ramsay to come out and critique my breakfast scramble. Cooking in a hotel felt so unreal I almost wept into my eggs. This kitchen isn't in your room, but it isn't far.

Price – Straight Up Robbery (In My Favor): Here’s the kicker. I’ve paid double the price for rooms half as good. This hotel delivered an experience better than 5-star resorts I’ve stayed at, for a price that made me feel like I was robbing them blind. Other hotels should honestly close down out of shame.

Final Verdict: This hotel didn’t just raise the bar. It built a platinum bar, launched it into space, caught it again, forged it into a sword, and knighted itself as King of All Hotels. This hotel was so perfect I want to fight every other hotel owner for wasting my money all these years.

Would I stay here again? Absolutely. Every. Single. Time.

Would I move in permanently if they let me? Yes. I would become their resident tap water sommelier and AC worshipper.

If you’re even thinking about booking here, stop thinking and just do it. You will thank yourself every second you breathe that crisp AC, sip that divine water, and melt into those angel-soft sheets.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Five stars isn’t enough. This place deserves its own constellation and a monument out front of me holding a cup of their tap water with tears streaming...

Stop searching, book here! We live in Denver, CO and stayed at the City Center Motel for three nights during our recent October '24 vacation to Yellowstone NP. This is a wonderful, family-run lodging and their pride of ownership shows!||Room #4 was very clean, well appointed, spacious, quiet and had a wonderful vintage-national-park vibe! Yes, this is an older property but is well kept with all the modern conveniences: Flat Screen TV, mini-fridge, coffee-maker, hair dryer, tub/shower, bath toiletries, etc. Happily, one thing they don't provide is a micro-wave. This is actually a good thing because our room smelled clean and fresh, not like stale cooking odors! Conversely, they offer a free community room with a nice kitchen that does have a microwave, a full stove/oven, with pots and pans, a toaster, hot water pot, and even paper plates and cutlery! It is a great place for a family to relax and enjoy the flat screen TV while making dinner. There is even a foos-ball table! West Yellowstone restaurants can get pricey so this is a wonderful amenity for budget travelers! We met fellow tourists from both Venice and Tokyo! ||City Center Motel has a perfect, central location, very near downtown but still quiet. It is a very short walk to both fine/casual dining and souvenir shopping. We enjoyed breakfast twice at the Running Bear Pancake House. It is a mere 8-minute walk west, but a great way to wake up the appetite for some really good breakfast! The pancakes were great and the Cordon Bleu Skillet was delicious!||When we travel, I look for four main qualities in lodging: Cleanliness, Convenience, Location and Cost. City Center Motel meets all four criteria easily and in some cases was less than one-half the cost of other nearby properties. We are not budget-travelers but appreciate good value when we ind it! ||This property also has perfect access to Yellowstone National Park (YNP), the entrance of which is just a few miles east. The city of West Yellowstone sits near the intersection of the upper and lower loops of YNP so it was super easy to access both. We did the lower loop one day and the upper the next. YNP is a very, very big park and can take 5-6 hours to drive just one loop so having a central location is crucial to optimizing your vacation time. We had a great stay at this hotel, the owners were super hospitable and this will definitely be our go-to spot for rest and relaxation when we next visit Yellowstone...

The 3Q and 4Q rooms at the City Center Motel were very clean and spacious. However, the air conditioner could not keep up. It was in the main room with 2Q beds, but the other 2 bedrooms were hot. Fortunately, there were high windows we could open. ||||There was only one bathroom, with a tub/shower, toilet and sink with a small vanity. The water pressure for the shower was great.||||We didn't have an opportunity to use the "community kitchen" but it would be very handy for an extended stay. There was a couch or 2 in the "kitchen room" and a big screen tv as well as tables, chairs and games/puzzles. There was a hot tub in the room off the community kitchen, but we didn't have a chance to use it or see it before it was locked for the night. ||||There were packets of samples in the rooms which was a nice touch -- energy bars, instant coffee, emergenC, flavored water packets, shampoo, etc. ||||No complaints about the beds, and everything was clean. It was a fair rate for our family of 7. ||||Friends of our couldn't get a room at the City Center and stayed at the Pony Express. It wasn't as nice and didn't have air conditioning. It had cedar walls, 3 rooms, and bathroom. It was a little less, but rustic and not as nice as the City Center. ||||West Yellowstone is an expensive tourist town -- the Mcdonald's didn't have a "dollar menu" -- a regular "happy meal" was $5.00, double cheeseburger $2.79. The adults in our group ate at a local diner -- burgers/fries for...