Built in 1914, Lake McDonald Lodge is nestled on the shores of the largest lake inside Glacier National Park. Lake McDonald offers a unique gift shop, campstore, lounge, restaurant, and pizzeria. Red Bus tours, boat cruises, and numerous other activities are available. This picturesque location on the northern shore of beautiful Lake McDonald has 82 guest rooms split between a main lodge and a row of duplex-style cabins. All guestrooms at Lake McDonald are rustic, yet comfortable. In keeping in the era in which all the rooms were built, they offer guests modest amenities and old-world style accommodations resulting in a one-of-a kind, National Park lodging experience. A limited number of ADA- accessible rooms are available and are booked based on a space available basis.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Charming
Mid-range
Languages Spoken
English
Location
288 Lake McDonald Lodge Loop Road Lake McDonald, Glacier National Park, MT 59921
The lodge is a classic, historic hotel in a pristine mountain lake setting. It was a little creepy as the lobby had no other humans roaming around and the fine dining restaurant was closed and dark. The carry-out food was of good quality but the selection was limited and not the dining experience that we were so looking forward to when we reserved our room last fall. The staff was friendly and efficient and the room was clean but spartan. The lodge is booked solid through the end of the season and if this Covid deal passes on by next year this would be a great place once again. If you're booked here this year, I would recommend canceling and finding a room in one of the nearby towns with more suitable dining nearby. I rated the hotel "very good" because of the ambience and location of the lodge and the effort of the staff to insure you enjoy your stay.
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Date of stay: August 2020
Value
Rooms
Service
Room Tip:All rooms are either second or third floor with no elevator, except for two handicap rooms on the...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I was able to snag a cabin last minute for 2 nights here and was pleased with the accommodations. We stayed in cabin 9-1, a 2 double bed cabin. I liked that there was newer carpet and fresh white duvets, and FIVE pillows on each bed!! It was very clean, quiet and just a quick walk to the lodge. Each cabin has a box fan and we used it as white noise just in case. The most surprising feature here was the food. We ordered food at Russell’s on the Run here at the lodge and it was great every time!!! My favorite was the grilled chicken club sandwich. I also appreciated the homemade huckleberry bbq sauce I had with my chicken strips and the creamy delicious cheesecake with huckleberry sauce. This restaurant does a fabulous job. There is also a feature for lodging customers only who can call in their order ahead of time from their room and get in front of the line outside which usually forms from day park customers. Service was fast too.
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Date of stay: July 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed in Cobb House, room 702. There were 2 rooms plus a bathroom, and the furniture in the rooms was a pretty tight fit. Our big problem was a mouse in our rooms—both nights (not just suspected—we saw and heard it). I know it’s rustic, but for almost $600 a night, I expected to be rodent-free. The western style was fun, and the front porch with rockers at Cobb House was delightful. And the location inside the park is terrific—we could easily park, and we could hike early and late and avoid crowds. After repeated visits to the front desk and calls after we got home, the lodge made a small adjustment to our bill because of the mouse.
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Date of stay: July 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We were so looking forward to our stay at this iconic hotel. However the ways in which we were disappointed were many. The midnight wake up call by the mouse scratching in the walls and then coming out and eating some of our huckleberry bear claw was really terrific. Not having the restaurants open for sit down dinner took away from the experience of being able to enjoy the main lodge. Other nice restaurants in the area we’re open for sit down dinner so not sure why that couldn’t occur at the lodge? The overall grounds are tired and in need of refresh. We specifically stayed at the lodge so that we might be able to get on the hiking trails a bit earlier. However the restaurant didn’t open for take out breakfast until 7:00. By the time we could wait in line for the food and then jump in the car and race up to the top of Logan pass, all the parking spaces were filled.
Even the morning coffee in the lobby had these tiny cups and no creamers or sugar other than those cheap plastic packets you might see at a motel 6. Latte, or other espresso drinks, are you kidding, not at this place.
I love historic hotels and I’m willing to accept some level of funkiness that comes along with them. However this place was disappointing. When you pay $500 a night you have a certain expectation level for service, quality and overall experience. This was not up to par on many fronts.
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Date of stay: August 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We have stayed in multiple national park hotels and expect poor service ,wretched food but generally a great location .This one is the worst .First the positives ,our room had been renovated ,the bed and pillows were decent ,the bathroom while small was modern .As noted by another reviewer there is no usable wifi ,the lobby is quite small ,dusty with a few long dead animals .There is a piano but no one to play it .The take out food is truly wretched and only one picnic table outside to eat it ,there is no gift shop ,one can only get drinks until 8pm .The lodge is inside the park but only by 8-10 miles so one could easily stay in Apgar village or just outside the park and loose not more than 10 minutes to get to busy areas in the park . I don’t understand why these potentially excellent national park properties often in gorgeous locations are so poorly run ,they are very expensive and this one is NOT worth it .
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Date of stay: August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We have stayed in a few National Parks and frankly none of the rooms are ever really that great. You are paying for the location and view. That being said about the view, my husband thought we would have a better view from the front porch of the Cobb building but it is through trees. Our room #702 was on the main floor and had 3 rooms connected, (bedroom, bathroom and small living room). There was a tv in each the bedroom and living room but we didn't watch much tv. The wifi was non-existent here so don't count on it. The bathroom had a tub and a shower attachment but to use the shower head device you had to use your one hand to hold it. There was no wall mount for the shower device.
The one nice thing about the Cobb building is that it did have a communal living room on the main floor. We ate our meals here a couple of nights and no one else staying in the Cobb rooms used it. There is a sweet porch in front and some comfy chairs that we could sit outside. It was very private and away from the lodge. It was only a 2 minute walk to the main lodge. We didn't have a ton of tourists coming through the main lodge taking tours in the morning.
The restaurant was not open so it was only take out. The one thing that was better than at Many Glacier Hotel was that you could call in your order so the wait wasn't as long. There are no refrigerators in the rooms but you can get ice from the front desk.
I was so tired of take out meals at the end of our visit. We did find a good restaurant called Glacier Highland that is right outside the west entrance. We ate there 3 times and they had great pizzas, sandwiches, home made pies and local IPA's.
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Date of stay: June 2021
Rooms
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed in the historic Snyder Hall "dorm". The building is a constructed of rough cut timber and cedar beams - very beautiful. There is a nice common room with a couple solid oak tables, a coffee machine and microwave. Our room had a sink in it, shared bathroom and showers down the hall (very modern and high quality). I would suggest requesting an upstairs room as the ceiling planks creaked with every movement and clattered with every footstep from the room above us. The resort is on the breathtaking glacial lake with mountains in the background. The main lodge is a fabulous building of exposed timbers, high ceilings, trophy mounts and comfy furniture. We loved the old time camp/resort feel of the entire property - it's a great vacation vibe.
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Date of stay: June 2021
Location
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed in a Large Cabin Suite 1 Queen and Sofa Sleeper for three nights in July. There are three of us, and the room was a little tight when the sleeper sofa was expanded but we managed. The sleeper sofa and the standard bed were comfy. The cabin was in a threeplex, but it was quiet and we rarely heard anything from our neighbors. I liked that the sink was outside the shower room so people had different stations to get dressed. We were there when the highs were in the 90s, so the cabin got a bit toasty during the day, but it was generally pretty comfortable at night. I feel like a few things could be done to make the room a little more functional, like having more towel racks/hooks/shelves in the bathroom or explaining how/where to stash the cushions to the couch, which took up valuable space. We were in Cabin 13-2, and we could lie in bed and see the paddlers go by. Close to the camp store, has a picnic table out front, just a short jaunt down to the beach, and far from the ruckus of the bar, it was a perfect location
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Date of stay: July 2022
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We snagged a cabin with two double beds by stalking the Xanterra website in the months leading up to the trip. If you’re persistent, you can get a room!
Our cabin was lakeside but no lake view. Two double beds. Very clean and functional.
We arrived late after a long day of hiking. We were told the only dining options at the Lodge was a buffet and “you should go now as it gets picked over.” We weren’t interested in that and found sandwiches, chips, etc in the General Store and were able to have a lakeside picnic.
The lodge is right past the road construction occurring nightly. The good news is you can stay here and beat the crowd to Logan Pass before the day trippers are allowed in. (There was a 1+ miles of cars when we left the next day at 6:00am). The bad news is that you can’t get out before 6. We needed to meet a fishing guide in Columbia Falls and couldn’t arrive at our appointed time.
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Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed one night in the main lodge, one night in Cobb house. Staff checking us in wore their masks with their noses exposed, yet told us they could not offer luggage or cold food storage due to pandemic precautions. Rather than set up tables for outdoor dining, the only food available is to-go, served in wasteful one-use containers. The rooms are long overdue for a makeover and none of the wall sockets in our room at Cobb house worked, which was an issue since we needed to charge our phones. Overall, a great location and beautiful property, but not a very comfortable stay and overpriced for what it is. We would have been much better staying at an Airbnb.
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Date of stay: July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Yes, fine dining is open and very crowded-we tried to have lunch at 11:30 am and there was a long line from a tour bus. Perhaps after 12:30 p.m.? No casual dining options open we had cardboard sandwiches from the Camp store but you can't beat the view!
Snyder Hall was not at all hot when we stayed there on June 19th. The building is well-shaded, the resort is right on a cold and deep glacial lake and a mountain stream runs right outside the door. There was a fan in the room, but we did not use it. Of course, it could be much different with the current weather pattern.
There are more places to choose from in the Glacier National Park area.
ALSO KNOWN AS
lake mcdonald hotel west glacier, lake mcdonald lodge
LOCATION
United StatesMontanaGlacier National Park
NUMBER OF ROOMS
82
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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