Background:

My wife and I had taken a few days off to relax and while on our way back to Salt Lake City decided to spend the night in Evanston, Wyoming before driving back into Salt Lake City the next day.

We drove all the way through town in order to get an idea of what our choices were and to check our restaurants that we might eat at. Just as we where about to turn around at the west end of town, I saw down a motel down the old highway so turned and pulled into their parking lot. The hotel turned out to be a Howard Johnson so I was hesitant to find out what the price would be.

My wife went in and after a few minutes came out and said their rates where only $42.00 for a queen bed for the night so we decided to stay here.

Hotel Information:

Howard Johnson
339 Wasatch Road
Interstate 80 exit #3
Evanston, Wyoming 82930
Phone: 307-789-2220
Fax: 307-789-4122

Services:

§ Free High Speed Internet
§ Fitness Center
§ Meeting/Banquet Facilities
§ Pets Allowed
§ Restaurant
§ Outside Electrical Outlets
§ Free Local Calls
§ Free Daily Newspaper
§ Free Long Distance Access
§ Interior Corridors
§ Hot Tub

The hotel is square shaped with parking on the outer perimeter of the square and a nice courtyard in the middle with a gazebo and a hot tub. It has an interior hallway that goes completely around the square. The exterior design of the building is very plain and average.

The backside of the hotel faces Interstate 80 but from our room, which was on the east side of the hotel about half way back, we heard very little noise from the Interstate.

Check In:

Check in was fast and easy. Howard Johnson is part of the Trip Rewards program and they asked if we wanted to join in order to get credit for this stay and they offered to do all the paperwork for it.

The rate started out at $48.00 a night but the front desk person said that she had a coupon and it would reduce it to $42.00 a night.

The Lobby:

Howard Johnson had recently taken over this hotel and there have not been a lot of changes to it yet. The lobby had a very western feeling to it with a fireplace to the left and western style seating in front of it. The small front counter was just beyond the sitting area on the right. The lobby had a lodge feeling with wood paneling and rocks adorning it. Just beyond the front counter was entrance to the restaurant.

The Room:

As you walk into the room there is the vanity with the bathroom sink on the right and to the left is the door and into the toilet and tub.

You then enter the main part of the room. The queen-sized bed was to the left separated by two nightstands with lamps with the one on the far side having the telephone on it. Beyond the bed and under the window was a table and two chairs.

To the right was the area for luggage with short rod to hang clothes and the standard metal rack to put a suitcase. Next came a dresser with a 27 television on top of it and sitting on the floor next to the dresser was a 4 cubic foot bar refrigerator with a microwave on top of it. The channel lineup included the local (Salt Lake) channels but few others.

The room was on the small side and had a very dated look. The bathroom also had some stains on the ceiling.

The room also had an ironing board, iron, and coffeemaker.

Rest of the Hotel:

Like our room, the rest of the hotel had a very dated look. While I understand that Howard Johnson had only recently taking over the hotel, I would expect them to do more cleaning and painting of the hotel before putting their name on it.

As you entered the hallways from the side entrances there was concrete stairways down a half flight of stairs to the first floor and up a half flight to the second floor. The stairs looked as though they where on the exterior at one time but where enclosed to protect against the Wyoming winters.

Once at the top of the stairs you had another door to enter the main hallway. The hallways where painted white but where dirty looking in need of a good paint job and the carpets looked as though they had seen better days.

During our stay I did try out the fitness center, which is on the backside of the motel and has windows facing the central courtyard and the hot tub. The room is was wood paneling throughout and has a low ceiling giving making the small room seem even smaller than it is.

The fitness center has a treadmill, which is my favorite one to use, a weight machine, and an exercise bike. I got on the treadmill, tried to start it up and it wouldn’t work. I tried putting the key in and it still wouldn’t work. Over to the exercise bike I go and it is falling apart and will barely work. So I go off to the front desk to see if they know anything about the treadmill. Their answer is to try to put the key into it, which I explained was done so they send someone to fix it.

The person sent to fix the treadmill couldn’t get anything to work but after getting a shock confirmed that the thing was getting power so my exercise was done for the day.

Restaurants:

The Howard Johnson does have a restaurant called the Rendezvous but we did not have the opportunity to try it.

Other nearby restaurants:
-Arby’s
-Bon Rico’s
-Domino’s
-Don Pedro’s Family Restaurant
-El Rancho Grande
-High Stakers Grill
-JB’s

Nearby Attractions:

Evanston Historic District 1 Mile
Fort Bridger 40 Miles
Park City 40 Miles
Bear Lake 52 Miles
Kemmerer (JC Penny Store 1) 55 Miles
Fossil Butte National Monument 65 Miles
Salt Lake City 78 Miles
Flaming Gorge About 100 Miles

Check Out:

Check out took a little longer than normal but the front desk staff was extremely friendly and tried to insure that I got trip rewards points for our stay.

Overall:

You start with the plain exterior but walk into a lobby with great character and charm. However, once beyond the lobby you find a hotel that is in desperate need of remodeling including painting, carpet, new fixtures, a new weight room and much more.

While for $42.00 the place was passable, however current on-line rates range from $75.00 to $95.00 and for those there are plenty of other choices in Evanston.

Thank you once again to SurgeRN911 who once again added another spot to the website for me.







Recommended: No