Xanterra Yellowstone lodges closed through May 21

Concessionaire Xanterra is suspending down all public national parks operations, including Yellowstone lodges and dining, through May 21 in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The closing was made today in a letter to customers. The move covers all Xanterra travel operations, including lodging, campgrounds, dining, and tours, per the note from Andrew Todd, Xanterra President and CEO:

We want to assure you that your health and safety are a top priority, which is why we have made the difficult decision to close our national park lodges, hotels, and the Grand Canyon Railway until May 22. Additionally, we have halted cruises and tours to destinations that have been flagged as “do not travel” by the US Department of State through April at this time, and have been working with top medical experts to stay as knowledgeable as possible. We are working with guests impacted by cancelled trips to provide alternative travel dates through 2021 and/or refunds. We have relaxed our cancellation policies in our tour and cruise businesses to give you confidence in booking future trips with us through 2021.

If you have a reservation, here are the official Xanterra policies on refunds, cancelations and rebookings:

In an effort to make up for this disruption to your travel plans, we will be sending you a special offer on all re-bookings of impacted stays, which will be available to you through 2021. Look for this offer within the next seven days. We ask for your patience as we work through the details. Rest assured that all monies collected on your reservation will be held on account until you choose to rebook or cancel. You do not need to take any immediate action on your reservation.

If you feel the need to act now, we encourage you to make a new reservation online with an arrival on or after May 22, 2020, or to cancel your existing reservation. You can also call our Central Reservations at 307-344-7311, but be prepared for longer hold times than usual as our agents are managing the significant call volume caused by these events.

As of now there are no Xanterra operations open to the public. The first Park opening is set for April 17 with West Entrance to Madison Junction, Mammoth Hot Springs to Old Faithful, Norris to Canyon Village roads slated for spring access. This move affects Mammoth Hotel/Old Faithful Snow Lodge (May 1), Old Faithful Inn (May 8), and Old Faithful Lodge/Lake Hotel (May 15), Xanterra’s Canyon Village operations were not set to open until May 22, Grant Village the following week on May 29, Roosevelt Lodge on June 5, and Lake Cabins on June 10. You can look at the updated openings schedule here. We also expect to see some opening hours from the Park’s other main concessionaire, Delaware North, in coming days.

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