Delaware North Acquires Two Hotels Near Yellowstone

Yellowstone Park Hotel and Gray Wolf Inn & Suites expand company's presence in West Yellowstone

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. May 28, 2010

May 27, 2010 - Delaware North Companies has purchased Yellowstone Park Hotel and Gray Wolf Inn & Suites, two hotels located in West Yellowstone, Mont. They join Delaware North sister property Holiday Inn West Yellowstone, a 123-room hotel the company purchased in May 2009.

"The new properties fit our profile to a tee," said Kevin Kelly, president of Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, the operating division that handles Delaware North's lodging interests, and parks and cultural attractions business in the United States and Canada.

"We provide Stewardship and Hospitality in Special Places(SM). West Yellowstone is clearly a Special Place," he added.

Yellowstone Park Hotel has 66 rooms and Gray Wolf has 103, bringing Delaware North's total room count in West Yellowstone to 292.

Delaware North has another connection to the region. It operates retail stores in Yellowstone National Park under the terms of a contract with the U.S. National Park Service (NPS).

"This is a model that works well for us," Kelly said, alluding to the company's first hotel - Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite & the Cottages at Tenaya Lodge - at the gateway to Yosemite National Park, where Delaware North handles most of the park's visitor services for NPS.

In the nearly 10 years that Delaware North has owned Tenaya Lodge, it has increased the resort's guest rooms and expanded its services. Delaware North acquired the adjacent Apple Tree Inn in Dec. 2008. The former Apple Tree Inn now serves as Tenaya Lodge's guest cottages. In addition, Delaware North is in the midst of a $10 million, 20,000-foot expansion of Tenaya Lodge's spa and conference and meeting facilities.

Delaware North made industry news in Feb. 2010 by announcing it was outperforming the beleaguered hospitality industry, a phenomenon Kelly attributed to the systems and processes in place at Delaware North, and the fact that the company has a cadre of unique destinations that will always be in demand as guests continue to seek "authentic" experiences.

The family-owned Delaware North has added eight lodging properties to its portfolio of owned hotels in the past year alone. In all, the company owns 11 resorts; six in North America and five in Australia.