Mammoth Cave Hotel

We stayed in the pet-​friendly cabins. Cabins are typical for a National Park cabin, which is to say they are basic accommodations, but also a good value for the price you are paying. The location is amazing, and you don’t need to drive anywhere in the park if you are staying here. You can walk to any of the tours and many hiking trails.
Be aware when you make your reservation, that there is no notice on the website or phone reservation system that there is a $ 15 PER NIGHT pet fee. This is also not revealed to you upon check in. They just ask if you have a pet, and then when you check out you will see it on your bill. We asked about it and they said the pet fee was a new policy, and the reservation was subject to change after we made it. I would say that the policy in effect when you make the reservation should stay that way. I emailed the hotel after our stay to ask about it again, and received no response.

I was extremely dissatisfied with the mammoth cave hotel pet kennels. I left my kitty (Winchester) here while visiting the caves. The cat kennel looks more like a bird cage. It is a tiny, flimsy built box with chicken wire under a tree. The sun will definitely be on your pet, with them having no where to escape to if not timed properly. The dogs are caged side by side and provided no shade at all. This kennel needs to be updated with a roof of some sort. Shame on the designer who built this, and shame on the hotel for approving it!

We booked a room to stay in after an evening cave tour, thinking it would be convenient to stay right there. While the staff was extremely friendly, the room smelled musty and moldy. The carpet going up the main hallway leading up to our room was discolored and curling up along the baseboards, like maybe there had been water. The cave tour ended earlier than we thought, and we decided to pass up on staying the night.

Tried to eat lunch here but since there were only two waitresses working the line was very long. Half of the dining room was closed. Who would expect hundreds of people to want to eat lunch at the only resturant inside the national park that thousands of people visit daily. It was only July the height of tourist season. If you go to the cave don’t plan on eating here within any reasonable amount of time.

Clean but old. We stayed in the Sunset Terrace area, and our room smelled like mildew. Fine for a night or two, but I don’t think I’d stay there any longer. Breakfast was fine, good coffee and bacon.

Stayed here with my daughter prior to doing the wild cave tour. 5 stars for location. 5 stars for friendly staff. That’s it. Very tired and dated hotel. When I made my reservation, the clerk was super informative and friendly. It was a special trip, so I paid a little extra for the «larger» room.
The larger rooms are across the parking lot. These should be called the «bates motel» rooms. Old, dated, old, tired, old, and worn. The room was clean. The sheets were clean. The location was perfect. The price was right. No cell service. Wifi ONLY in the hotel lobby.
The restaurant was very serviceable. The cave is spectacular. The hotel facilities are from 1975.

As other reviews have noted this hotel is dated. I love staying here though. The location is perfect for a day or two exploring Mammoth Cave and the surroundings. I have stayed here several times. The staff have always been friendly and helpful. I also enjoy the restaurant although the options re limited so would not recommend eating there more than once or twice in a trip.
Pros: Close hiking both above and below ground, friendly staff
Con: No frills, no WiFi in rooms

Can’t beat the location!
Literally on top of the attraction you came to visit.
I didn’t actually stay here; we stayed at the campground next door. But we did have breakfast here and it was delicious.
There are free ranger lead activities in the evening for little ones.
And when you’re not underground, there’s loads to do aboveground in the nearby beautiful forests as well.

We stayed in the historic cottages across the parking lot from the main hotel. I’ve stayed in a lot of national park cottages, and these were by far the filthiest and most «rustic.» There were cobwebs, dust on every surface other than the main tabletops, eggshells (?!) in the carpet, and, of course, dead bugs everywhere. Also a nice wasp’s nest directly above our door. Our blanket had a quarter-​sized hole in it. All of the bathroom fixtures were metal and rusty. There was a shampoo and shower gel dispenser in the shower with a nice green patina on certain parts of it— not exactly something I wanted to touch while trying to get clean.
I certainly understand sparse accommodations, but filth is not acceptable in any hotel, «historic» or not.
I did enjoy the restaurant, though. I could tell there were a few glitches on account of it being the end of the season, but nothing that was a dealbreaker. We ate there three times, after all!
I hope that in the future, they gut these cottages, replace every metal fixture with easier-​to-​maintain ceramic or even plastic, sand or powerwash the wood instead of just painting over it, and get a couple of new blankets. Hire new or re-​train the cleaning staff, and then you’ll be in business!

If you are going to spend a few days at Mammoth Cave NP this is the place to stay. You could not ask for a more conveniently located hotel.
I stayed in one of the cabins; they are quaint and adorable but not very modern. I loved mine. I had a small front porch for enjoying the sunset. The bed was very comfortable. It was very quiet at night. It was clean, had a fridge, and a full bath. The only downside was that the windows didn’t open, which pretty much required me to run the AC even though it was spring and definitely the sort of weather to sleep with the windows open.
The hotel restaurant benefits from its convenience. The menu is quite limited but everything on it is good and it is reasonably priced. We were there for three nights so I think we tried just about everything on the menu. My sister gave high marks to the fried chicken. I loved the spaghetti dinner. They had some fabulous locally made jam (black cherry?) that was good enough to put on EVERYTHING. It is not fancy food but after spending a day in the cave and hiking about the hilly countryside it definitely hit the spot. Service was generally good. The staff were very friendly. The ambience is kind of late 70s cafeteria. The whole hotel is like that; it could definitely use a bit of updating. They sell bourbon-​soaked cherries in the gift store so that was good.

What a treasure this place is. The hotel is located in the center of Mammoth Cave National Park, and is the perfect location if you’re planning on visiting the local caves or wandering the miles of scenic forrest trails. Yes, you’ll be somewhat isolated, so cell phone reception isn’t great (I got a good laugh watching silly people climb trees trying to get a signal), but it’s kind of neat not having the distraction of a phone and social media when you’re out in the beautiful wilderness. Yes, the décor looks like something out of the 1950s or maybe the TV show Twin Peaks, but the bathrooms are updated (and very clean), and who doesn’t like a little nostalgia or kitsch. Breakfast at the in-​hotel restaurant was a treat, and the staff are charming and helpful. I loved hiking the woodland trails behind the hotel, and the convenience of being a minute walk away from the caves. I plan on visiting at least every 5 years.

I suppose I should review both the hotel and the restaurant separately, but they’re linked together here. First, the hotel. We stayed in one of the Sunset Terrace Rooms, which had lovely views but were pretty old fashioned and musty inside. I know that the National Park Service doesn’t have a terrific reputation for lodging, but this place was generally clean and functional. The repair guy (who had to fix our toilet twice because it wouldn’t stop running) was prompt and sweet, and the cleaning ladies were super-​nice about having to clean up an entire pot of cold coffee my two-​year-​old spilled on the carpeting. (We left them a nice tip, of course.)
There were very few outlets for charging phones, ipads, computers, etc. There was not a hairdryer, which was mildly devastating for my mother-​in-​law. The beds were acceptably comfortable and reasonably clean. The three stars I am giving are for the location, which was perfect for all of our cave tours and hikes.
Now, on to the meals. We only ate at the Travertine Restaurant, located in the hotel right across from the Visitor’s Center. Generally we had good luck with the food there. The black cherry preserves and biscuits were fluffy and the best part of every breakfast and dinner. The food was acceptable and fairly reasonable for a sit-​down place. The one steak I had there was pretty tough and not well cooked. I think the breakfasts were far better than the lunches or dinners, though those were decent.
There are really neat photographs of the cave and its history inside the restaurant, and due to the horrible (may I repeat: HORRIBLE) food available in Cave City, we ended up eating every meal but one at the Travertine. The servers were kind, considering we brought our two very active boys (2 and 4) into their restaurant FIVE times in three days.
I don’t recommend any other option if you want to see the cave. Location is everything, and this hotel and restaurant are worth it just because of the location.

I decided that we ought to stay as close to the caves as possible, after I realized how slowly our group got moving in the morning. We stayed in the little motel/​condo type building across the big parking lot from the main hotel.
We were able to get three rooms for a weekday with less than 24 hours’ notice.
Our room was very clean. The bathroom was small, but everything worked just fine. We were supplied with fluffy towels, shampoo and soap. This place has all the usual amenities, just not as fancy as you’ve come to expect. We had a TV that we never turned on. The air conditioning worked very well to get the humidity out of the room.
There were room-​darkening drapes but I had to use my sleep mask, because the front porch light stayed on all night. I slept hard after traveling so far, and was ready to wake up and go on a cave tour the next morning.
If you need a wireless connection, get the password from the hotel desk. You can get a signal in the hotel lobby and the restaurant. We couldn’t get our cell phones to work inside the restaurant or in the visitor center. Step outside to get a cell tower.
The hotel restaurant was comfy. We had dinner and breakfast there. Hubby and I split ribs for dinner. The sauce had darkened from being in the smoker for a long time, but did not taste burnt.
At breakfast, we had the eggs & sausage. My sausage was still a little pink in the middle, but our waiter assured us that they were pre-​cooked. So that was just fine with me. The restaurant wait staff is very, very friendly and pleasant. Made us feel right at home.
The black cherry jelly on fresh biscuits *rocks!* Had that for both dinner and breakfast.
We were able to attend a lecture about bats. There is an amphitheater behind a third part of the hotel — the cottages. The park ranger showed us a slide show and answered our questions. She had a little device that could make the high-​frequency sounds of the bats detectable by humans. We even saw a few bats — a species that emerges earlier than the bats near our house. We really enjoyed that, and some of the kids asked very intelligent questions.
To read about the cave tours, go to