Stay Report: Hampton Inn Bozeman (Bozeman, MT - September 2020)

Stay Report: Hampton Inn Bozeman, MT 
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Due to the COVID-19 a lot of travel plans had been uprooted, including my own.  Since international travel was currently out of the picture, I decided to travel domestically within the U.S. and went to visit Yellowstone National Park.  I flew in and out of Bozeman and since my flight had an early departure time, I booked a hotel in between the city and the airport.  I wanted a hotel near the airport but unfortunately there are not that many hotels in that area so I decided to book the Hampton Inn Bozeman as it was about 10 minutes away from the airport, there were some services and stores around the hotel, and I have previously stayed at Hampton Inn and enjoyed the experience.  It was easy to book the hotel through the Hampton Inn website or through the HHonors app.

With the pandemic, there were a lot of safety measures that the hotel had put in and that was evident from the lobby.  As you enter the hotel, on the right is the check-in desk while on the left is the entrance to hotel rooms and the elevator.  Straight ahead is the dining room/lounge area where complimentary breakfast is served.  The first safety measure was that there were shields around the check-in desk and you were supposed to keep social distance while checking-in.  The entire process did not involve a lot of contact and the front-desk attendant was very friendly and service-oriented the entire time.  After I received my key I went back to my car because the back entrance was closer to the elevator so I went and moved my car to that spot. 

Our room was on the 2nd floor and so after taking the elevator, we went down a couple of hallways to

get to our room.  The room had a safety seal on it indicating it had been washed and sanitized with Hilton's Safe Guarantee.  We had requested a room with two double beds and our room was a standard Hampton room.  As you opened the door, on your right was the bathroom which contained a tub, a sink, a toilet, as well as toiletries - the size was also standard, not too big but not too small.  On the left-hand side was the closet which contain a rack to hang clothes, an iron and ironing board, as well as a luggage rack.  Further into the room on the right were the two double beds – both of which were comfortable but a bit on the small side.  In between the beds was a nightstand and across from the beds were a chest with drawers on the bottom and a TV on top, and next to that was a fridge with an ice bucket on top.  Overall, the room was decent, spacious enough and comfortable but not overly spacious.

We were only there for one night so did not experience other amenities of the hotel.  Also, given the pandemic I am not sure which amenities were open and which were not.  The hotel did provide complimentary wifi, complimentary parking, and complimentary breakfast.  The wifi was decent and you could connect as many devices as you wanted (the hotel also had plenty of outlets available to charge your device).  The complimentary breakfast starts at 6am and we had to leave at 5am to catch our plane, but the breakfast mostly had to-go items included cereal, fruit, and yogurt to go. 

Overall, it was a decent stay at the Hampton Inn.  The hotel generally provides a decent room at a good price and nice quality of rooms.  This room was not as updated as the others but it still provided a decent and comfortable night's sleep.

Stay Report: Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel (Yellowstone - September 2020)

Stay Report: Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel

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I was traveling around Yellowstone National Park and all the research and reviews said to stay in the Mammoth Area as a good base to explore the north side of the park.  Due to the COVID pandemic, there is only one hotel available in this area and the hotel fills up really quickly.  The Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel is apparently one of the oldest hotels in the park, and is currently managed by Xanterra.  Xanterra manages most or all of the hotels within National Parks (I stayed at Xanterra managed properties in Grand Canyon) and they offer a range of accommodations.  Even though they offer a range from basic to more upscale, not of them go beyond a 3.5-4 star rating.  The Mammoth Hot Springs is considered on the higher end in terms of star rating, price, and accommodation value.  I was checking in June for travel in September but the booking only opened up in July, and once it did I booked my stay.  Due to the pandemic, the fare was refundable even though the full payment was due at booking.

Check-in is technically at 4pm but we pulled up to the lobby around 2:30pm and we were able to be

checked-in and receive the key to our cabin.  The lobby did have COVID procedures in place with limited number of guests inside, social distancing stickers on the floor, contactless payment, screens between the hotel attendant and yourself, and limited interaction between staff and guests.  The lobby itself looked grand and had a huge entryway with a gift shop on left, the check-in desks on the front and entrances to the dining room and upper floors behind the check-in desk.  Due to COVID restrictions, you could not congregate in the lobby but there were seating outside and there were lots of people sitting outside - either eating or taking access of the wifi, which was only available in and around the lobby area.  

We received our key and went to our cabin.  The hotel had standard hotel rooms connected to the lobby or had individual cabins behind the hotel; I believe the hotel rooms were not being used and mostly the cabins were in use during the pandemic.  Each building contained 2 cabins and they were basically somewhat-upscale versions of camping cabins.  Each cabin had a separate entrance and its own porch with two chairs and a table outside.  Once inside, everything was in one room.  As you entered, there was a little coat hook on the left-hand side and a trash can/recycle/compost bin on the right side with a tray and ice bucket on top.  The left-hand side also contained the small sink, towels, as well as hand-soap and lotion bottles (which were refillable to reduce waste).  The bathroom was also on the left-side, was extremely compact width-wise, and contained a toilet, towels, and a small shower which had shampoo, conditioner, and bodywash in refillable bottles.  Along the right-side were the two beds with a night-stand in the middle.  The two beds were decent enough and comfortable enough for a good nights sleep, but there needed to be more blankets and other covers for those who felt cold.  The room lacked amenities such as AC, and while it did get really cold at night so there was no need for AC it was hot during the day so AC during the day was definitely needed (there was a small fan but it did not look clean so were hesitant to use it).  

There was one restaurant on the hotel property and this was the only restaurant that was open in the area.  This restaurant served the same menu for lunch and dinner so my suggestion would be to come

prepared with either your own food, or prepared to pay a lot of money for the same food at the restaurant or to buy some basic supplies from the general store on the hotel grounds and make your own food there (we did a combination of the two since the food at Mammoth was exactly the same as what we had at Old Faithful). 

This was my third experience staying at a Xanterra property.  When I first stayed at their property in Grand Canyon, I did not know what to expect so I kept my expectations low and was pleasantly surprised at the good quality of the hotel.  I was expecting a similar quality at both Old Faithful and Mammoth and they were not of the same quality; both of these looked older and more utilized (ie not as updated) as the other hotels.  Despite the lack of luxuries and the lack of updating, the price paid for the hotel is extremely high and I understand we are paying for the convenience of staying the park but given the price I would expect the level of amenities similar to Grand Canyon.  I would rate the hotel in Grand Canyon as 3.5 stars and would give Mammoth 2.

Stay Report: Seattle Airport Marriott (Seattle, WA - September 2020)

 Stay Report: Seattle Airport Marriott
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I was flying from New Orleans to Bozeman via Seattle (see report here) and was only supposed to be transiting in Seattle, but unfortunately my flight from Seattle to Bozeman was cancelled.  I was flying with Alaska Air and I went their customer service desk where I got rebooked on the next flight, given meal vouchers, and given a hotel voucher for Seattle Airport Marriott.  The hotel provides a free shuttle from the airport to the hotel so we made our way to the shuttle area to catch the shuttle.  According to the hotel, the shuttle departs every 20 minutes from the hotel to the airport and makes rounds, so your wait depends on the number of passengers getting off and various stopping points in the airport.  While the free shuttle is nice, given the hotel's size and the number of passengers, the shuttle filled up really quickly with the passengers + luggage so the hotel should think about utilizing a bigger shuttle during certain times of the day.

The shuttle took about 10 minutes to get from the airport to the hotel.  We entered the hotel lobby which had three c

heck-in desks on the right-hand side, a sitting area in the middle, and the restaurant and bathrooms off to the middle and left hand side.  As there were a lot of guests checking in, and only two check-in desks open, there were lines at each of the stations and guests were supposed to socially distance while standing in line (although this was not monitored nor enforced by staff).  Once I got to the front, my check-in process was very quick as I was only going to be there for less than 12hrs.  Once I received my key, I was given instructions on how to get to the room and they seemed more complicated than necessary; apparently the hotel has two distinct and separate towers that are only connected through a second floor entryway.  The directions were somewhat clear from check-in to the room, but from the room back down to the lobby the directions were NOT clear and there were many guests roaming around trying to locate the lobby.  There were two elevators, and no other guests next to us, so it was easy to socially distance in the elevators.

It was a long walk down a hallway to get to our room and once we got there, space was a premium because it was a very tiny room.  You entered into a hallway which led into the bedroom area, and in the hallway on the left-side was a sliding door to the bathroom.  The sliding door was a nice touch but it did not slide all the way, nor stay in that position so the bathroom was never completely shut.  Inside the bathroom consisted of a sink, a toilet, and a shower as well as bathroom toiletries such as lotion, shampoo, conditioner, and towels.  The bathroom was width wise narrow but had more space lengthwise.  The hallway also contained a large entryway which could be used for those with disability assistance; we used it as storage for our luggage since the main room was compact.  Further down the hallway, on right-hand side, was an open closet with a rack and hangers, an iron and ironing board, and a luggage rack.  Continuing along with right-side of the wall, into the bedroom area, was a desk that was both a working space, a storage space, and also contained a coffee-maker on top.  That was connected to the entertainment section which contained a TV on top and a chest below with drawers and a fridge; the TV was a smart TV and there was a port panel on the side to connect various items to the TV.  

Across from all of this, along the left-side wall were the beds.  We had requested a room with two beds so there were two Queen beds with a nightstand in the middle.  The beds were comfortable enough to sleep and were large enough to comfortably sleep two people.  In between the two beds was a nightstand and in between the beds and the window was a long chaise which was nice in providing extra space, but was a bit cramped in terms of space for the room.  Space was generally at a premium and on top of that there was a lot of furniture, too much in my opinion, given the size of the room.  A plus point of the room was that there were plenty of outlets and USB ports throughout the room - next to the bed, on the desk, on the nightstand, and next to the TV so you could charge as many devices as needed.

As I said, we were only there for less than 12hours so I was not able to enjoy all the facilities of the hotel.  The hotel does have complimentary wifi, there was a restaurant/bar, ice machine, a fitness center, and a business center.  The airline had provided meal vouchers so I had picked up food from the airport, but the hotel's restaurant did have late hours to accommodate late arriving passengers.  

Overall, it was an interesting stay at the Seattle Airport Marriott.  The positives were the nice clean room, the many outlets throughout the room, the comfortable beds, and the spacious grounds.  The negatives were the tiny room, too much furniture so the room felt cramped, and the lack of signage around the spacious hotel.  While it would not be my first choice, it was a nice and decent layover hotel.

Stay Report: The Adventure Inn Yellowstone (West Yellowstone, MT - September 2020)

 Stay Report: The Adventure Inn Yellowstone
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I was traveling to Yellowstone National Park and had flown into Bozeman on Alaskan Airlines (flight review here).  Since I got in late, I drove the next day to West Yellowstone which is the town right outside the Western entrance to the Park.  My plan was to spend the night in this city and then go the park in the morning as, according to my research, it was easier to get through the park's entrance in the morning.  When looking for a place to stay in West Yellowstone, the only chain hotel was a Holiday Inn and through the reviews and pictures, it did not look that good.  While searching through reviews and pictures, The Adventure Inn Yellowstone kept coming up as highly rated and reviewed so I decided to book it.  I booked the hotel through a travel website (Expedia) as I earn points with Expedia and through the app it was quite easy to book.  

The morning of my arrival date, I received a text message from the hotel which detailed all the 

information including how to access the building, the wifi details, check-in/check-out time, and other needed details.  It was the type of information that you would normally get from the check-in desk so I was a bit confused as to why I was getting this information now, but I kept it handy and proceeded to the hotel.  In the text message, it had said that the hotel is 'connected to the Westgate Auto Body at the back end of the building'; I had assumed it was a separate building so when I went to the address that is what I was looking for but instead the Westgate Auto Body and The Adventure Inn are all in the same building - the front part of the building is the Auto Body while the back of the same building is the Adventure Inn.  Its a little jarring at first impressions if you are expecting one thing and receive another, but I proceeded on.  It was then that the directions in the text message made sense as there was no check-in desk - the hotel operates more like an Airbnb in which you have your own access code to the front door and to your specific room; but there is no check-in desk and no attendant on site.

As you enter into the building, there are stairs immediately in front of you which lead upstairs to the rooms.  The ground floor contains a garage which has ice, the trash, as well as a sanitizer station by the door; note that there is no elevator to get up to the second floor and no rooms on the first floor so it may not be suitable for those with mobility issues.  We proceeded up the stairs and the doors to each room were either in front or on the left and right of us.  Our room was on the left so we turned left, enter the code, and proceeded into the room.  First impressions of the room were that it was nicely decorates, spacious, and was pleasant in terms of amenities.  You entered into the a hallway which lead into the bedroom area.  In the hallway, on the right-side, was the bathroom which contained a sink on top a long vanity table and in the adjoining room was a toilet and shower/tub.  It was spacious and was comfortable enough for the space and there were many toiletries available in the bathroom including towels, toilet paper, packs of tissue, sunscreen, lotion, shampoo, body wash, and conditioner; the additional toiletries were a nice touch.

Further down the hallway was the main bedroom.  The two double beds with a nightstand in the middle

were against one wall.  Along the other wall was a chest with drawers on the bottom and a TV on top, a fridge and a microwave, a safe, a coffee maker, an ice bucket, and a luggage rack.  The bedroom area was spacious and provided tons of space for each of the items and space to move around.  The beds were comfortable, big enough for two people, and provided a good nights sleep.  The chest had good storage space the the addition of the fridge and the microwave were a nice and welcome addition.  Because the room was so spacious, there was plenty of room for the luggage storage space as well. 

Hotel amenities included complimentary parking, complimentary wifi, complimentary ice, abundant toiletries in the room, a booklet of information in the room, and convenient location that was walking-distance to many attractions and sights.  Overall, it was a really pleasant stay at The Adventure Inn.  The spacious rooms, the nice amenities, the convenient location all made it a great stay.