Touring the Inn

To round out my posts about Old Faithful Inn (can you tell that I really enjoyed visiting the building?) I thought that I would feature several videos I recorded during our tour of the building.

I saw that there were tours of the building and decided that we had time to take one of them on the morning that we checked out (this limited time is one reason I'd like to spend more than one night there in the future).  We found out during the tour that it always included one of the rooms in the old part of the house (one that happened to be empty at that time).  For guests who hadn't stayed in one of the rooms it must have been quite special to see.

While in one of the newer wings the guide told us some of the winterizing preparations that need to be made for the Inn each year.  The Inn closes during the harsh and long winter--but the nearby Old Faithful Snow Lodge is open during the snowy months.


The guide explained quite a bit about the dining room.  It was interesting to look down on the space where we'd eaten dinner the night before.  Interestingly enough people are allowed into the dining room if they're not eating, just so that they can look around and enjoy the space.

We also learned more about architect Robert Reamer from signage near the balcony above the dining room. He lived long enough to oversee all of the additions onto the Inn, though each was decorated inside in a slightly different style from the main portion.

You can see these panels along the side of the dining room.

When you look up in the lobby you can see some of the hundreds of trees used in construction of the building and the balconies.  I'm sure that even if I had laid down on my back I couldn't have captured a picture that would have done the space justice.  In the middle of the above picture you can see a tree house that Reamer deliberately put into the design.

Another interesting thing to note is that the lights have always been electric.  The Inn was wired right from the start and nothing had to be converted from a pre-electric style.

 Whenever you look up you can see the gnarled lodgepole pine picked specifically as accent pieces.

As I've said several times the little touches really made things nice.  I think this rug was patterned after an original design based on an old diary description or old postcard.  And I really liked finding this lantern outside.


The guide wrapped up the tour talking about the furniture and the connections that people make to the Inn.

Make sure that you look at the massive wooden, iron-banded door whenever you visit the Inn.  It reminded me of a door you'd find on a building out in the wilderness that had been designed to keep things out.

~Matt

PS All of the pictures from the last three day's worth of posts are in this album: