The AMAZING Old Faithful Inn, Yellowstone National Park Review

Discover the charm of Old Faithful Inn. Make sure to book a year in advance for a truly memorable Yellowstone experience. I took this advice from all the bloggers I read who talked about Yellowstone:

1. Make your reservation a year in advance
2. This is a must in Yellowstone

I like to stay in the National Park if at all possible. When we went to Mammoth Cave, we stayed in a rustic cabin. When we went to Acadia National Park we stayed south of the park in an airbnb. That airbnb was 500 steps to a trail.

The convenience of being in the park is more important to me than the quality of my accommodations.

Old Faithful Inn Complex

The Old Faithful Inn is encompassed in a complex. Besides the Old Faithful Inn there are the

1. Old Faithful Visitor Education Center
2. Backcountry permits, Ranger Stations and Clinic
3. Old Faithful Snow Lodge which as the Geyser Grill, Obsidian Dining Room and a Gift Shop
4. Old Faithful Geyser
5. Old Faithful Lodge and Cabins with has a Cafeteria and Bakery
6. Art and Photography Center

The Old Faithful Inn is made up of the original part as well as the add ons. You can tell by the different siding on the outside of the hotel. With that said, parts of the original floor plan have been change.

Old Faithful Inn Tour

The Old Faithful Inn has a free Historic Tour several times throughout the day. We showed up for the tour on the morning we were heading out.

Our tour started right outside the dining room next to the stone fireplace.

Standing there you can look straight up to the ceiling high above the main floor. Architect, Robert C. Reamer, and hotelier, Harry W. Child, were instrumental in creating the Old Faithful Inn in June 1903. The building uses raw materials from the local area.

Next to the dining hall is a large chimney that reaches up to the ceiling. On the chimney is a rather large metal clock. Not wide but very long.

the crow’s nest

Following the stairs up with your eyes you can see a landing, or little house. It is called the ‘Crow’s Nest.” It shows the playful characteristic of the architect. The only people who get to go up there are those who get tickets to take down the flag on the roof at 5:30 PM. People sign up WAY in advance to do this. “The phone begins to ring off the hook,” I was told.

From the dining hall you can see the reception desk on the right, the gift shop to the left and the main doors straight ahead. Our tour guide took us outside to talk about how the building looked before the changes.

We stood out on the covered porch and were told this use to be where the building started. Robert Reamer wanted all of the guest to see the Old Faithful Geyser as they drove up to the hotel. What a great idea!

The dining hall used to be smaller. You can clearly see the addition to the hall in the picture below. I am taking this picture on the second floor’s opening that looks down into the restaurant. This is where the orchestra used to sit and play for the guest. Before the addition, all of the guest ate at the same time.

Now you need to make reservations when you book your room, a year in advance. The orchestra does not play and people go in every 15 minutes.

Our Stay

We stayed in the old part of the Old Faithful Inn. Our room was one of the “Old Faithful Room Without Bath.” The room had two beds, a fridge and a sink. The walls and ceiling were cedar planks. The bathroom was a communal bathroom down the hall.

In reserving this room, it was cheaper than getting a room with a bathroom. We stayed here two nights. It was our splurge on the trip. Two nights in a famous hotel was worth it to me.

You can walk to the Upper Basin from the Old Faithful Inn. It was really nice on our “Geyser Day” to be able to come and go as we wanted.

the front porch

The front porch is large. This porch was added. It used to be where travelers would drive up. The driveway was moved over for the porch. The old and new driveway allow the visitors to enter the hotel looking at Old Faithful Geyser.

the lobby

Upon entering the lobby, is the guest services to the left and the gift shop to the right. In the left back corner is the chimney and pendulum clock. The pendulum clock actually works. In the right back corner is the restaurant.

Much has changed since the 1904 completion of the building. The newer part was completed in 1926. The lobby used to be the porch. Where the columns are is where the main door was. The guest services and the gift center on the left were all hotel rooms. The old guest service desk is where the current restaurant desk is. The original building had 130 rooms. Now there are 91.

Prior to checking in we watched the Old Faithful Geyser erupt. I thought it was cool to see water being pushed out of the earth with such force. For most of the day, there is a musician performing. You can sit and listen if you want. They perform on the second floor in the corner near the restaurant.

our room

Our room was 205 on the second floor. We were able to use the elevator in the newer section of the building to bring up our bags.

Our room was an original room with two beds and a sink. The entire room was covered with unfinished wood paneling. Our two sets of windows, which were by the sink, looked out onto the Upper Basin.

second floor balcony

In the evening, we decided to sit outside on the second floor balcony. The second floor balcony is another place to sit and watch Old Faithful Geyser erupt.

We enjoyed some snacks, bourbon and a card game and headed outside. As the bugs began to bite, we moved into the sitting space just inside the balcony area. There are many places to sit and relax in this hotel.

The Old Faithful Inn dining Hall

I did not make a diner reservation when the email arrived soon after making my Old Faithful Inn reservation. After arriving, I thought it might be good to see if I could get a reservation. That’s when I realized, I should have reserved a long time ago.

When I was asking the hostess about getting reservations, a gentleman was canceling his. This is how we got to eat in the Old Faithful Inn dining hall. Our dinner time was at 5:15 pm.

I had the Red Trout dinner, which was very good. My son liked his Pasta with Marinara. Dennis enjoyed his Potato Gnocchi. My daughter had grilled chicken. We liked our diner so much, we had dessert.

My take aways

We loved our stay at the Old Faithful Inn. We had no problem with the communal bathrooms or our simple room. Being able to see and walk to the Upper Basin was fantastic!

Have you stayed at the Old Faithful Inn? What was your experience? Share your experience below!