National Parks - Survey
I just completed Tauck's survey of accommodations on their tours of U. S. National Parks. I haven't visited most of them since in college. They are seeking input on the following hotel choices:
Rustic within the Park(s) - limited amenities and dining choices.
"Glamping" - located outside of Park(s) and similar to upscale tents found on some African safari tours with 'finer" (my word choice) dining.
Luxury hotels - located outside of Park(s) offering the typical high-end Tauck experience and gourmet dining.
This was, in my opinion, one of Tauck's most comprehensive surveys. They even wanted to know your preference of having a tour combining all three accommodation types. That would be my preference. Since I have not taken (yet) an African safari, I was delighted to see the "glamping" choice.
Comments
I also took the survey. For us, the hotels owned by the National Park service are perfectly adequate—the location being the most important thing. We’ve stayed outside the parks independently and it can take ages to get into the parks when it is busy. I imagine staying outside the parks means very early starts to get in them.
We’ve taken a number of Tauck National Park tours and they are expensive enough without staying in fancy hotels. If I have to spend that amount of money, I’d rather go abroad. Tauck is going way too high end for my tastes. Also, the park tour directors can be tired and past it. We had a terrible TD for one tour, he was lazy and rude. We met a couple who had had him five years before and they were surprised he was still working for Tauck as many had complained about him on their tour and we did too, our only experience with a poor TD. Tauck lost several new customers on our tour because of him.
@British. I also took the survey and I agree with you. We have taken several of the National Park tours. We like the convenience of staying inside the park. The national park lodges are fine and I like the historical buildings.
This was like the 3rd survey Tauck has sent me in the last year. Guess I'm down as a willing sucker. As I recall it specifically talked about Yellowstone NP. We spent a week camping there a few years ago exploring most of the park. It involved a large amount of driving each day. No matter where you stay you're going to be doing a lot of driving so the 45 minutes Tauck mentioned didn't really bother me. While I did think the Glamping experience sounded unique I too am fine with the park hotels even if they aren't fancy.
Location is the key for me. In the case of the parks, the NP hotels have the best location.
If there is no clear winner from a location perspective then I’d opt for the best quality hotel possible. Sometimes they are one and the same.