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stlouielady

Lead Service Attendant
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Jan 3, 2006
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Ames, IA
I may have converted two people (my parents) over to Amtrak travel! They are taking their first ever Amtrak trip from Minneapolis to East Glacier, going to stay there a few days and visit the park, and then go back to Minneapolis. They called lAmtrak ast night, are traveling on the 16th of September, and got a very good fare, especially for a short notice trip. They got some very good advice from the Customer Service people at Amtrak, and are pretty excited to be going.

I'm trying to help them finalize it, but, I'm in St Louis and they're up in Iowa, so it's been a bit challenging. So far I've passed along quite a bit of information that I've learned from my own travels as well as what I've learned on here, so, they're well on their way. However, even after browsing on here, I haven't been able to find information about any additional lodging, other than at the Glacier Park Lodge and other facilities within the Park itself. Those are a little pricey (in their opinion), so, I'm trying to find other hotels/motels, etc. Has anyone stayed in the area, not necessarily at the Park itself, or is familiar enough with the area to know whether or not there is other lodging alternatives? They're not really ones to make reservations, and prefer to just pop into a place and book a room for the night. This time of year I don't think it would be a problem, but, I would like to be able to provide them a list to help them out. They're planning on renting a car at the station, so, getting around shouldn't be much of an issue (thank goodness for GPS!).

If anyone has any lodging ideas, I'd appreciate it! Thanks in advance, and I'll let everyone know how the trip goes for them. They are both retired, and decided it's time to "go see the country".
 
Oh geez, didn't even think of Google. After all, Google IS your friend (as someone else recently told me). Well, now I'm feeling a little dumb.

Thanks for the link!
 
Besides Glacier Park Lodge, which is definitely overpriced, there are three or four other places to stay in East Glacier -- all of them are older, Mom-and-Pop places, a tad primitive but definitely acceptable. Some friends of mine stayed at a place there called the Sears Motel a year or two ago, and lived to tell the tale. :)

On the east side of the park, there's also the Red Eagle Motel in St. Mary, next to the justifiably-famous Johnson's Cafe. It's also a pretty basic place.

If they're more the Super 8 type, they could drive east on US 2 to either Cut Bank or Shelby. Staying in Browning, however, is not recommended.

There are several independent places in and around West Glacier ... again, these are basic, older properties. Try the Glacier Highland Motel, the West Glacier Motel, and the Vista Motel. While the east side of the park is nearer more of the better-known attractions, a night or two around West Glacier is certainly worthwhile.

Though one could almost certainly show up there in mid-September without reservations, I'd still recommend reserving a room at least for the first night ... just because there's always a chance the train will be late. The last way you'd want to start a vacation is by arriving at East Glacier at 2 AM without a place to stay, and all the motel offices closed for the night.
 
And a quick P.S. I should point out that if you're willing to spend a little more there are some really unique and wonderful places to stay near Glacier Park. The places below are all in the $100-150 range:

The three historic park hotels (Glacier Park Lodge, Lake McDonald Lodge, and Many Glacier Hotel) are all gorgeous old buildings. On the east side, try the Lodge at St. Mary, particularly the new three-story lodge building. In West Glacier, the Belton Chalet is an old railroad hotel, beautifully restored and with a great restaurant. And of course there's also the Isaak Walton Inn at Essex, another old railroad hotel that I imagine a number of the folks here are familiar with.

These are the places I generally stay at when I go to Glacier. They're more than I usually like to spend on lodging, but heck -- I'm on vacation. :)
 
JohnF said:
I thought the Isaak Walton Inn was the place to stay and it's an Amtrak stop in the park. You can arrange bus tours from most any hotel that take you through the whole park.
http://www.izaakwaltoninn.com/index2.htm
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The Izaak Walton is as close to a railfan Mecca as you're going to find, and it's a fun place to stay at by any standard. It's definitely worth a night on a multi-day Glacier visit. I probably wouldn't recommend it as the single home base for a Glacier visit, though, just because of its location ... while it's near the park boundary, it's roughly 30 miles from the closest roadway entrance into the park's interior. But it can't be beat as a place to watch trains, and as a place to relax.
 
They probably will stay a night there, but, they wanted to rent a car to allow themselves the opportunity to tour on their own. If I understand what they were told, the only place to rent a car would be at the East Glacier stop, where there is Avis and Dollar available.

And, thanks to everyone for the help so far! I'm getting quite a little list of hotel possibilities for them. I'm definitely going to suggest that they book the first night (at least) before they get there, and then they can play the rest by ear.
 
The last time I was there (2 yrs ago) the car rental picked me up at the amtrak station, very nice. And they'll deliver you back to station also. They keep track of train status, or you can call them by cell when getting close.
 
Montanan said:
yarrow said:
Montanan said:
Staying in Browning, however, is not recommended.
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hey, i used to live in browning. :)
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Glad you made it out alive! :D
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browning,mt. 13 miles from the park, expansive views of the rockies from the bob marshall up into canada, great views of the eb twice a day, home of the museum of the plains indian and north american indian days in july. oh, and not getting yuppified like some montana cities i could name. :lol: maybe, just maybe, first timers should stay out of johnny's supper club but that's about it
 
yarrow said:
browning,mt. 13 miles from the park, expansive views of the rockies from the bob marshall up into canada, great views of the eb twice a day, home of the museum of the plains indian and north american indian days in july. oh, and not getting yuppified like some montana cities i could name. :lol: maybe, just maybe, first timers should stay out of johnny's supper club but that's about it
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*grins*

Definitely no offense intended, and in all my years working in Glacier I can say I never personally had any problems in Browning ... which is more than I can say for Babb, for example. :) But there really aren't any great lodging options there these days, and I think that even most of the locals would freely admit that the place can make some first-time visitors a little uncomfortable.

I was quite sad when the Scriver sculpture studio there closed down ... that alone was well worth the trip. And it'll be interesting to see if Browning's ambition to yuppify itself finally begins to work, now that the tribe has sold its soul to the casino developers. The whole western half of the state is going to be yuppie-filled before long, I'm afraid, and there's not much we can do about it ...
 
You could also stay in Whitefish. I don't know if it's much cheaper than staying in the lodges, but it might be, & it's not too long a drive from the parks.

However, I'd have to agree with Montanan - a stay in Glacier Park Lodge, Many Glacier, or the Lake McDonald Lodge would be spectacular. In two of those, you're literally right on the edge of a lake, with beautiful mountains all around you. I don't think there's a prettier setting anywhere in America.
 
D.P. Roberts said:
You could also stay in Whitefish. I don't know if it's much cheaper than staying in the lodges, but it might be, & it's not too long a drive from the parks.
However, I'd have to agree with Montanan - a stay in Glacier Park Lodge, Many Glacier, or the Lake McDonald Lodge would be spectacular. In two of those, you're literally right on the edge of a lake, with beautiful mountains all around you. I don't think there's a prettier setting anywhere in America.
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I'm glad to read this, as we're leaving tomorrow on the Empire Builder for two weeks traveling St. Paul-Portland-Seattle-West Glacier-Minot-St. Paul (thereby missing the Republican National Convention a few hundred yards from my office). We are spending 3 nights at the Lake McDonald Lodge (well, actually in one of the cabins behind it). We'll see if I'd rather stayed the last night at the Belton Chalet for a change of scenery and and an easy transfer back onto the EB. Given our limited time in the park, we're planning not to rent a car, and just hike and paddle from places we can get to on the shuttle buses. I'll certainly report back on my impressions of Lake McDonald Lodge. From the pictures the lobby looks like nothing I've seen since the "See 'em Dead Zoo" at the New Atlas Bar in Columbus, Mont.
 
stlouielady said:
They probably will stay a night there, but, they wanted to rent a car to allow themselves the opportunity to tour on their own. If I understand what they were told, the only place to rent a car would be at the East Glacier stop, where there is Avis and Dollar available.
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There are vehicles available to rent at the Izaak Walton Inn in Essex. I rented one there in July 2008.
 
Ispolkom said:
I'm glad to read this, as we're leaving tomorrow on the Empire Builder for two weeks traveling St. Paul-Portland-Seattle-West Glacier-Minot-St. Paul (thereby missing the Republican National Convention a few hundred yards from my office). We are spending 3 nights at the Lake McDonald Lodge (well, actually in one of the cabins behind it). We'll see if I'd rather stayed the last night at the Belton Chalet for a change of scenery and and an easy transfer back onto the EB. Given our limited time in the park, we're planning not to rent a car, and just hike and paddle from places we can get to on the shuttle buses. I'll certainly report back on my impressions of Lake McDonald Lodge. From the pictures the lobby looks like nothing I've seen since the "See 'em Dead Zoo" at the New Atlas Bar in Columbus, Mont.
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Well, the room is likely to be a disappointment, but the lobby and the setting are truly wonderful ... and if you're doing it right you won't be spending much time in the room, anyway! :)

The park shuttle-bus system has made it much easier for those visiting Glacier in July and August to do without a car, but for most people I guess I'd still recommend a car anyway. Relying on the shuttle pretty much limits you to the Going-to-the-Sun Road area, and nearly excludes you from some really lovely parts of the park. It also makes it harder to get away from your hotel for dinner. The lodge dining room is beautiful (I was the dining room manager there many years ago), and the food is OK, but I think after three days I'd be ready for some variety.

And you score major points for knowing about the New Atlas Bar! That place is a landmark. :)
 
wisEBfan said:
There are vehicles available to rent at the Izaak Walton Inn in Essex. I rented one there in July 2008.
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What agency did you rent from? Or, was it a local place? I've looked at the national chains, and am having no luck finding any right at Essex.
 
Montanan said:
The park shuttle-bus system has made it much easier for those visiting Glacier in July and August to do without a car, but for most people I guess I'd still recommend a car anyway. Relying on the shuttle pretty much limits you to the Going-to-the-Sun Road area, and nearly excludes you from some really lovely parts of the park. It also makes it harder to get away from your hotel for dinner. The lodge dining room is beautiful (I was the dining room manager there many years ago), and the food is OK, but I think after three days I'd be ready for some variety.
And you score major points for knowing about the New Atlas Bar! That place is a landmark. :)
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I just returned from Glacier National Park and the Empire Builder and have to agree with your assessment. We were very happy using the shuttle buses along the Going to the Sun Road for our three days in the park, but I did realize that this meant we couldn't see a lot of the park. But in three days you can't see everything, and we were very happy with the hikes we made (to Avalanche Lake, along St. Mary's Lake, along McDonald Creek: by the time I convinced my wife she wouldn't plunge to her death on the Highline Trail the pass was socked in with fog, rain, sleet, and snow). We did get tired of the food at Lake McDonald Lodge, and the maid never seemed to make it to our cabin at the end of the line. But the room was large and comfortable. Also, with all of the foreign staff in the park, I haven't had so much opportunity to use Russian in years. Next time we'll get a car and see more of the Many Glaciers area, but I'd recommend staying at the Lake McDonald Lodge in a heartbeat to anyone who wants a taste of the park and doesn't want to rent a car.

Obligatory Amtrak Content: The Lake McDonald Lodge did pick us up and drop us off at the West Glacier train station, no problem. There's a very nice book store in the train station, and it's also the location of 2 Nat'l Parks passport stamps (Lake McDonald and West Glacier). On the train we spoke to travelers who had stayed at the Izaak Walton Inn, they insisted that they never heard the trains at night (they had a back room), and were very happy with their stay. They seemed quite bemused by the railfans. Other travelers who stayed at the West Glacier Motel did complain about the train noise, and I'd imagine the same complaint might be made of the Belton Chalet, which is *very* close to the tracks.

Glacier Nat'l Park and the Empire Builder are still connected. I was astounded to learn that Whitefish, Mont. is the 5th biggest stop of the Empire Builder, after the termini, Milwaukee, and St. Paul.

Oh, with regard to the New Atlas Bar, my great grandfather homesteaded near Columbus a century ago, and so my father's family have always been good patrons. They all call it "T.P.'s" apparently in reference to a former owner. On my last visit I think I counted three endangered species amongst the taxidermied denizens of the establishment. Not counting the 2-headed calf.
 
Yep, the rooms at the Belton can get a lot of train noise ... I know they get complaints, but the noise is something I happen to like. :) The rooms in the rear are much quieter than those facing the tracks, but of course they don't have a view.

One of the most pleasant experiences there is, though, is to sit on the balcony of the Belton with your morning coffee, and wave at the Empire Builder as it drifts into town.

The eastern European staff at the park hotels is a relatively new phenomenon. The hotels were operated by the Great Northern through the 1960 season, and since the company headquarters was in Minnesota, the hotels tended to be staffed with Minnesota kids. The railroad ran special trains full of future hotel employees from St. Paul to Glacier every summer. Even when I worked there in the 1970s and 80s, there were a fair number of Minnesotans. Working there was a great experience for me, but apparently the jobs there aren't lucrative or exciting enough for the current generation of Americans.

When I was in my 20s I had a book that was subtitled "a user's guide to Montana bars," and my goal was to visit every listing in the book. Almost made it, too. :) The effort led to many great roadtrips and small-town memories.

And though I love riding trains and am something of a student of railroad history, I'm bemused by a lot of railfans, myself. :)
 
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