Lodging questions before I book for 2010

I%26#39;m trying to plan a trip for July 2010. We are going to fly into Jackson. I%26#39;m still undecided on which places to book. I know for sure I%26#39;m going to get a western cabin at Canyon. I would also like to stay at the Lake Hotel or cabins. Then I didn%26#39;t know if I needed 1 night in the Old Faithfull area at the Snow Lodge. Is 3 places too many? We will probably be in the Yellowstone area for 5 days and then 2 in the Tetons. I%26#39;m still undecided about the Tetons. Either Jackson Lake Lodge or stay in Jackson Hole so the kids and my husband can have some T.V.. Any thoughts or opinions would be much appreciated. I want to book on May 1st. Thanks

Lodging questions before I book for 2010

I like the Old Faithful and Lake Yellowstone areas but for your plans probably Old Faithful and Canyon areas would be best. My kids and husband don%26#39;t like to move around any more than they have to during a trip. I like Jackson Hole because it is close enough to go back into the GT to tour and you%26#39;ve got shopping and great restaurants. When in the GT do a raft trip on the Snake River- your family will love it. We did a float trip with Barker-Ewing in June 2007 and all had a great time.

Lodging questions before I book for 2010

I don%26#39;t pretend to have advice for you since we won%26#39;t be going to YNP for our first time until Aug of this year but i can share with you our experiance in booking our stay which may be of interest.

i called Xantera plenty early so all the options were open to us. since you are already planning your 2010 trip, you should be in similar circumstances. When i called, i had not done all of the research i have now undertaken so i asked the Xantera agent for his best advice in choosing our lodging. He recommended two nights at the cabins in Canyon and two nights at the OFI. he said he liked the facilities plus the two locations provided great bases to explore some of both the west and east sides of the Park.

since booking, the guide book research i have done and a lot of posting on this forum lead me to believe he was right, thankfully for us.

We%26#39;ve stayed at Mammoth, Lake, and Canyon and have really enjoyed them all. Our first visit we stayed 4 nights at Lake and one at Canyon (because Lake wasn%26#39;t available). Last trip, we stayed 5 nights at Mammoth. This trip we%26#39;re going to move around more and are staying 2 nights at Mammoth, 1 at Canyon, and 2 at Lake. The night at Canyon was an add-on in the middle and chosen because it was the cheapest. All the cabins we%26#39;ve stayed at have been pretty equal-nothing fancy but adequate for a place to sleep. I actually like the cabins at Mammoth the best because they have porches. Have never stayed at Old Faithful because it%26#39;s always full, but seems like a good choice and covers the other side of the park.

So, to summarize my long reply, anyplace is good! Just figure out how much you want to drive each day (we don%26#39;t mind driving alot) or if you%26#39;d rather break down the park into different sections to explore based on where you are staying. I figure by moving around more this trip we%26#39;ll save on some driving time, but we%26#39;ll also have the added time spent of re-packing suitcases and the car, and checking in 3 times during our 5 days.

I am in the early stages of planning for July 2010 also. Rough plan right now is fly into Billings on Sat. am. Head over to Little Bighorn and then loop down through Cody and into the park from the east getting into the Canyon area late in the day. Stay at Canyon 3 nights seeing mainly that side of the park. Go down to GT and stay in Jackson one night. Then head back to YNP and spend 2 nights at Old Faithful Inn and on Friday head back to Billings to fly out Sat. am.

I am mainly just trying to sketch out the path right now so I can be ready to book the rooms I want come May 1. I%26#39;ll fill in the daily activities between now and then.