Wyoming National Parks – Yellowstone and Grand Teton Itinerary – Points Hotels

The Wyoming National Parks – Yellowstone and Grand Teton Itinerary guides you through a couple of the most famous national parks in the western United States. The trip begins in Yellowstone and moves south to Grand Teton over the course of a week. Yellowstone is a large park and is fairly remote. For this reason, accommodation options are more limited. Grand Teton is close to Jackson, Wyoming which will have more opportunities to stay on points. The following post identifies the best areas for accommodations in each stop of the Wyoming National Parks – Yellowstone and Grand Teton Itinerary. This post also outlines where there are opportunities to stay in points hotels along the journey.

Why a Chain Hotel?

In addition to outlining the optimal areas to stay, this guide includes the best hotels that are bookable with the most popular points programs (Hyatt, Hilton, Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), Choice, Wyndham, and Marriott). Staying on points is a great way to reduce the total cost of your trip. Points can allow anyone to afford good and convenient 3 and 4-star accommodations for free.

I will be the first to admit that many of the major hotel chains don’t provide the same experience as if you were staying in a local Airbnb or guest house. However, with the proliferation of boutique hotels in these chains and cross-brand partnerships (like Hyatt’s partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World), you can get much closer to the boutique feel while staying on points than you could in years past.

One goal of this website is to show methods of aspirational travel that may not otherwise be possible to you. I encourage the use of points if it allows you to take some of these once-in-a-lifetime vacations. Shown below are some of the best hotels for staying on points located along the itinerary route.

West Yellowstone Hotels

West Yellowstone is the best location to stay outside the park. If you are looking to save money on accommodations or looking for space for large groups, this will be the way to go. However, the trade for the lower price and large accommodations is longer drive times. Expect to add between 30 minutes and an hour to the drive time to the park each day depending on where in the park you are exploring.

West Yellowstone is a fairly small town so staying anywhere in the town won’t make much of a difference. The only caveat is the airport right outside West Yellowstone on the north side of the town. While it mainly services general aviation traffic, the airport noise may be something that you want to avoid during the busy season. There are only a couple of options for points hotels in West Yellowstone. These options are shown below. In addition to these, I recommend looking at VRBO, Airbnb, and other vacation rental sites (especially if you are traveling with a group).

Grand Teton Hotels

Grand Teton National Park is located a little closer to larger towns than Yellowstone. Therefore, there are a few more of your traditional points hotels options in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Unlike Yellowstone, there isn’t the option to stay in park lodges here. There are four points hotels in and around Jackson Hole. These options are shown below. In addition to these, I again recommend looking at VRBO, Airbnb, and other vacation rental sites. These rental homes will be better if you are traveling with a group or want a western feel.