Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Motels in Lone Pine

Any suggestions on a good (and cheap) motel near Mt. Whitney? Were going to want a shower and a nice bed to sleep in after our hike.

Thanks!

Dow Villa

You will get many opinions on this matter and I suggest you search the archives for Lone Pine Motels to get more information. I had a very bad night at the Dow Villa and would not wish it on anyone.

SpankyBob- (your name cracks me up by the way)

What was wrong with Dow Villa? You don't have to explain...I just thought I'd as.?

Spanky, what was wrong with the Dow Villa, if I can pry? Add me to the list of those who would never stay at this place again. Yeah-- many hikers like it because of the hot tub. Well, the Dow Villa messed up my reservations, charged my credit card for a day I had cancelled (with 45 hrs. notice, mind you)and just generally was a bum experience. It's noisy, too. The desk staff are nice, but I have never understood why so many hikers flock there. Horses for course, I guess.

I've been satisfied with the Outdoorsman Motel in Bishop. Reasonable price, quiet rooms. It wasn't out of the way on my two trips, since I flew in & out of Reno, and had to go through Bishop anyway.

We had a nice couple of nights at the Dow last month. One highlight was standing in the door of our room and looking right up at the reason for the trip. It has a nice view of the peak. (For my son, there was also the secondary view of the Pizza Factory across the street.)

Even though the Dow staff are friendly I quit staying there after they began portraying themselves as a 24 hour spa. Try to get some sleep when the pool is open for business 24/7. This used to be my favorite place in town when they shut down the pool at 10 PM. The desk clerk gave me the brush off when I suggested that MOST people came there to get a good nights sleep. As for being a "spa" - it isn't.

Hey Spanky Bob, what's your problem with the Dow Villa? My aunt works there, do you have a problem with the staff?

I've always had good luck at the Best Western in Lone Pine. It's not fancy, but it's clean and comfortable.
Peace,
...tg...

The Dow Villa is an old hotel steeped in history and memorabilia. For some that may be an attraction, but for me it meant the hotel was antiquated to the point that it lost any charm it may have once had. My room was in the old part of the hotel, located beside the air conditioning compressor for the entire building. The windows opened on to the parking lot and there was a lot of noise and headlights from people coming and going all night long. The room was very spartan and the bed sloped at an odd angle so that my feet were higher than my head. The bed also creaked loud enough to wake the dead everytime I moved. I almost got my sleeping bag and pad out of my car to sleep on the floor. Rooms in this part of the building used to share bathrooms so the sink was in the middle of the bedroom. That was not toom much of an issue, but that the mirror was so small and the fixtures barely working was an issue. The hot and cold water fixtures in the shower could not maintain a tempature within 20 degrees of warm, alternating between scalding and freezing. Also, the reservations of two in our group of eight were lost. On the positive side, the staff was friendly and it was nice sitting in a spa looking back up at Whitney. Also, the Badwater Ultra Marathon had just completed and there were quite a few people staying at the Dow. My opinion is influenced in part by how croded the place was. The Dow is centrally located and parts of the hotel may be nicer than what I described, but overall I was disappointed and will try another place in the future.

Tyler Durden-
I apologize and certainly did not mean to offend you or your aunt. I'm not sure that I met her, was she the one making soap?

I stayed at Mount Whitney Motel for the night before and after our day hike last year. It was very clean and quiet. There is no hot tub, but a small pool. The price was very reasonable.

I also stayed in Alabama Hill Inn a few years ago. It was also very nice, but pricey and a little far from the town center.

We stayed in The Trails National 9, right across from the USFS office where we picked up our permits. The front desk people were very friendly. Its not fancy, but we got two queen size beds and a twin bed for a reasonable price, it had a fridge and a microwave, and the beds were comfortable. (I think we also had cable, but we didn't turn on the tv)If we had wanted, we could have walked down the street for pizza and pasta, close to everything. And a tub with the shower to soak in the evening we got back--not a jacuzzi, but hey, beats just a shower.

We have reservations for the Dow on Sept. 2-3-4. From the sounds of things I think I'll dump them. My AAA tour book only lists a few. Like the sound of The National 9. Sounds like it's close to everything? Got a Phone # ?

i think th ebest western just outside of town has the best rates and they are clean rooms too

I gotta go with Spanky-Bob on his verdict on the Dow Villa. My room had a bed too short ~ I am 6'0 and my feet hung over ~ and the pool/spa was noisy all night. The staff was nice, though. The Best Western is fine + clean, also the Alabama Hills. The Alabama Hills is about a mile further outside Portal Road, but they have microwaves + fridges in the room.

I mentioned in another thread about Lone Pine motels that I spent the night after my trip to the summit at the Mount Whitney motel. They also have microwaves and fridges in the rooms (and coffee makers, hair dryers, etc.). The bed was nice and comfortable, too. I'd recommend them.

strange, i've stayed at the Dow 3 times now and have thoroughly enjoyed it each time. i admit that i do enjoy the old-fashioned ambiance, but the rooms are also a bargain and i've never had any trouble with noise from the hot tub or headlights in the parking lot. and yes, 2 of the 3 nights were spent in a room with a window facing out toward the lot & the pool. i like the Dow and will continue staying there unless something really awful happens.

Here's a partial list of motels in Lone Pine:

Best Western motel/ 1008 S. Main St 760-876-5571
Dow Villa Motel 310 S. Main st. 760 876-5521
Frontier Motel 1008 S. Main St. 760-876-5571
Mt Whitney Motel 305 N Main St. 760-876-4207
Portal Motel 425 S Main St. 760-876-5517
Timberline Motel 633 S Main 760-876-5555
Trails 9 Motel 633 S. Main 760-876-5555 (make sure you tell them WHICH motel you want on these two.)

If you stay at the Dow, get an upstairs room because some folks seem to need to pace their rooms all night. Also I had seen other posts on this site a few years ago of thefts occurring in the Dow rooms. Someone going thru backpacks. Don't know if that's a problem any more.

Please let me know of the facilities at Diaz Lake.

Thanks