Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel & Cabins — Hotel in West Yellowstone

Convenient location, hotel and Map Room are gorgeous. Peak Yellowstone awesomeness. Cabins are charming but we stayed in a two-queen cabin with a bathroom and it was TIGHT for four adults.

The location is great - very close to the North Entrance of Yellowstone and Roosevelt Arch. For scale, you are at the north of the park so it will take you 90 minutes to drive down to Grand Prismatic Spring/Old Faithful area from here.

The cottages are adorable with little porches to sit outside and it was fun watching the ground squirrels play on the lawn in front of the cabin. Elk hang out here and just chill on the grounds like we are neighbors - we heard some elk calling in the night too and THAT is a unique and freaky sound!

You check in at the big Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel desk which was quick and easy - we appreciate that all the park locations we stayed at made it fast to check in and out so we didn't waste time on this step. They give you a map to your cabin and you park right outside it. There are two electric vehicle charging stations behind the hotel. They stayed busy most of the time we were there.

No air conditioning was a concern but the temperature in our cabin was fine on June 20/21 even though it was in the mid 70's during the day. It cooled off nicely at night so the lack of A/C didn't bother us (and we get hot at night.) Then, it got so cold it snowed the last night/morning we were there and the room stayed warm enough we didn't even have to turn the radiator on.

We stayed in several park cabins and lodges and this was by far the smallest room. The cabin had enough room for the two beds, a night stand, trash can, corner chair and that's IT. No place to sit except the beds and not even enough room to squeeze past each other in most places in the room. Makes for a challenge as people are getting ready in the morning or getting ready for bed at night. For four adults, there simply wasn't enough space for us, our luggage and our little plug-in cooler.

The bathroom was fine but also small with a separate door to the space, a walk in shower and toilet. The sink was outside the bathroom.

In the evenings we went back over to the hotel where you can hang out in the big lobby with a lovely fireplace or go to the Map Room - which I adored! It's a gorgeous game room with a bar that is something magical. Very early 1900' National Park coded. I felt like one of the upper crust who first traveled to Yellowstone over 100 years ago who expected a luxurious experience. With huge windows and leather chairs, gaming tables and charming little lamps, some puzzles and games and this incredible, massive wood-inlaid map of the United States on the wall, it is incomparable! The five largest cities in every state are included on the map and it has been there so long that Orlando, Florida isn't even on it!

We spent our last two nights in the park here. We explored the park all day, ate dinner at Mammoth Terrace Grill (get the bison brats and huckleberry ice cream- they are delicious!) and at night, we relaxed in the Map Room with card games and a beer.

EXCEPTIONAL Yellowstone experience, even if the cabins are a...

We had 5-star service from 4 staff, and 1-star service from 6 staff.

Check-in: The person who checked us in was curt. When we asked about ADA accessibility to the room and the restaurant, they said the room was accessible, but wasn't sure if it was close to the parking, and he (and another staff) said there was no ADA entrance to the only restaurant that was open... Another woman tried to help, saying that you could enter the dinner restaurant through the grill, but everyone was quick to tell her she was wrong. When we went to enter the restaurant (which we had to assist our companion 50" to the stairs, then up three flights of stairs). We were hoping for a booth, per the needs of our companion, which was going to be a long wait, so we asked if we could eat in the bar. She said that we could eat in the bar... after our name was off the list for the main room, we learned that the bar only has appetizers.... so we went back, put our name back on the end of the list and waited (less than half the time they told us, which was good). The woman who walked us to our table was very kind and helpful. The food was delicious! We weren't entirely sure what to expect, but were all impressed with the flavor of the food. Our server was nice and knowledgable, though it seems that the menu is not up-to-date.

The rooms were clean, but cold when we arrived after dinner.

Coffee in the morning was SLOW and barista was unfriendly.

Breakfast: We learned that there is a bell at the door of the Grill that informs the restaurant staff to come let you in. (something the front desk should know...) We had the buffet breakfast, which was AWESOME! the best bacon any of us have ever had. the french toast was delish and the biscuits were incredible. The server was sufficient. We saw our server from the previous night who was very nice and quite personable!

Dinner the next night we had dinner again, and the dinner was delicious, the waiter was super friendly and had great recommendations.

We were glad to leave...

I accidentally eft my headphones in the room, not realizing until later that night (6 hour drive away). I called the front desk, as young woman answered, found them right away and had them sent to my home. I have never had anything returned by hotel staff, and she was so quick and friendly about it. I even had them show up in the mail sooner than she anticipated.

Good: lost and found, food quality, four staff. Bad: Front desk, restaurant greeters, coffee stand

I realize there is no where else to stay, and it's the end of the high season... they still should know about ADA entrances, and be friendly... I don't need a best friend, but...

(See below for an update)

Man, I really hate to be critical of a facility in our National Parks, but I think people need to know about the Mammoth HS Hotel. The hotel is old, but the lobby area has been nicely renovated. It is very warm and inviting. The staff was wonderful - professional, helpful, polite. My complaint is about the rooms themselves. Specifically, the heat. Each room has a radiator in the room and bathroom. We had two rooms next to each other - one for my wife and I, one for our daughter and her friend. Both rooms were boiling hot. We tried turning the radiators down, but they were already set to "0". They were so hot I couldn't touch them! I noticed a note from the management (see image) essentially saying that the heating system doesn't work so well, but hey, it's a charming turn of the century hotel, isn't that wonderful?! And good news, they're planning to renovate all the rooms next year! I contacted the desk, they politely apologized and said, "Sorry, we recommend opening a window". Here's how hot our two rooms were: it was 1 degree outside and we left windows in both the room and the bathroom open 6-10" all night long. If you were next to the window you froze, away from the window you burned up. No one got much sleep due to the miserable temperature and it didn't help that they started plowing snow at 6 am outside our open windows. There are craftsmen that can fix broken radiators, so I don't know why they can't get this fixed. I guess it's easier to leave a note in each room saying how charming the old heating system is. We paid $400 for those charming rooms. I recommend you wait until the rooms are renovated before staying.

Update: I sent an email to Xanterra management and the next day I received a very nice email apologizing for the problem with the heat in the rooms and they offered to refund our cost. I responded saying I didn't feel right getting a full rebate, but would be happy to be refunded for one of the two rooms. It's amazing what a simple apology will do for how you feel. I upgraded the review to 2 stars based on management's willingness to respond to my concerns. Still, they need to fix...