Grand Tetons/ Yellowstone - Lodging?

Headed to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone next spring. Any recommendations on places to stay (or not stay)?

Would be nice to have one lodging location for trip (7-8 days) but will consider more than one if it works better for each park.

I'm going for photography but will have teenagers along. They will need things to do during the stay too.

Thanks for any advice!
James

How are you splitting your time between the parks? Even though it's not as convenient for packing/unpacking, I think it's best to have multiple lodgings to minimize your time driving (and even in Yellowstone people typically recommend staying in several different locations). Also, if you are interested in taking pictures at sunrise or wildlife (better in early morning), you will want to be closer to your destinations.

I also prefer to stay in the parks for the convenience. Amenities are typically basic (which we don't mind - we often camp anyway), but you probably won't be in your room that much. If you want more amenities you will want to look outside the parks - West Yellowstone for Yellowstone. The lodges are pricey inside the Tetons. We stayed once in the Colter Bay tent cabins and never again. We don't mind roughing it, but I was not a fan of the mice. So I would definitely not recommend those! We've never stayed outside the park, so not much help there. I would probably look at Teton Village - it's close to the Moose-Wilson Road which can be good for wildlife spotting. There will be a lot of options in Jackson.

I would highly recommend staying at least one night around Old Faithful (there is both a lodge and an inn). There are a number of geysers here and being able to watch eruptions at sunset, sunrise, and nighttime is really special and easy to do if you are staying just minutes away.

Lodging inside the parks goes quickly so I would book as soon as you can if you think you want to stay inside the park. They have generous cancellation policies, so you can always book now and change as needed.

I stayed at the 3 different lodges cabins there.

We stayed in Jackson Lake Lodge in the Tetons. Look it up, it's well worth it. We then stayed 1-2 nights at each of the entrance towns to Yellowstone, depending on what we wanted to do. The two areas are spread out enough that I don't think it's feasible to stay in a single location the whole time.

We stayed in the Lake Lodge cabins in Yellowstone twice now. They've recently been remodeled and are really nice. They are also centrally located, which is nice.

http://www.yellowstone​nationalparklodges.com …lodges/lake-lodge-cabins/

Great advice everyone! I am thinking I need at least 3 sunrises in GTNP, maybe 4. The rest would be in Yellowstone. I doubt I'll be able to convince everyone to have 3 or more separate hotels, but 2 is no problem.

I don't want to stay too far south in GTNP in order to keep my morning drive times down and to be more centrally located in the park. I figure the same for Yellowstone - someplace central.

Anyone recommend any books on shooting locations/times?

Also look into staying in Canyon Village in Yellowstone. The grand canyon of the yellowstone is right there, only a few minutes from Hayden Valley (great wildlife spot), and a bit closer to the north end of the park if you want to check that out.

We stayed at Spring Creek Ranch just outside Jackson. You can't beat the views. It has a rustic cabin feel to it.

tomholman wrote in post #16471784
We stayed at Spring Creek Ranch just outside Jackson. You can't beat the views. It has a rustic cabin feel to it.

Those look nice but a bit far south. I'm leaning towards Dornan's (http://dornans.com/hom​e/) as it seems to have received good reviews on Trip Advisor and is further north and inside the park. Anyone have any knowledge of it?

Hampton Inn in Jackson is new and very nice. There is a bistro in front of the hotel.