To kick off our time in Wyoming – the 48th state on our 50 state road trip – we spent five days in Gillette. Gillette is a city in the northeast of the state and we were primarily staying there to visit Devils Tower – a unique natural landmark.
We booked a stay at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Gillette as there was a reasonable room rate available, plus we had a discounted Marriott gift card to redeem which would allow us to save even more on the stay.
Shae and I had only stayed at a couple of Fairfield Inn properties before this and hadn’t been blown away with either one, but we were impressed with this property. There was a good breakfast selection, a guest laundry area and – unexpectedly for us – there’s a great indoor water park at the hotel.
Here’s a full review of our stay at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Gillette, WY.
Check-In
We arrived at about 4:30pm and got checked in quickly. I have Titanium status with Marriott (Fairfield Inn is one of Marriott’s brands) and I’d originally hoped we’d be able to get a room upgrade. However, the hotel was sold out for at least some of our stay, so there weren’t any upgradeable rooms unfortunately.
The check-in process didn’t take long though and we were soon on our way up to our room – 307.
Bedroom
When entering our room, the bathroom was on the right and the bedroom straight ahead.
It was on the smaller end of hotel rooms as there was no sofa, although there was a small armchair in the corner. The king bed was comfortable and the blackout curtains worked pretty well to keep the room dark at night.
Opposite the bed was a desk and office chair. To the left of that was a mini fridge, microwave and coffee maker, then to the left of that was a dresser with a TV on top.
To the right of the bed was the room’s closet which contained a luggage rack, iron and ironing board.
Bathroom
The bathroom had a sink with a long countertop, with lots of storage space underneath which was helpful as there was limited storage space in the bedroom area.
The shower had excellent water pressure and so was nice and refreshing.
There were large bottles of wall-mounted toiletries rather than small bottles.
Breakfast
The Fairfield Inn & Suites Gillette offers complimentary breakfast for all guests. It’s served from 6:30am-9am on weekdays and 7am-9am at the weekend. I’m not much of an early riser, so it was a shame that breakfast always finished at 9am.
That said, there was a decent selection of food at breakfast. There were always several hot options, as well as freshly cut fruit, yogurt, muffins, bread, bagels, waffle makers, oatmeal, cereal, etc.
There was also a coffee and tea station that seemed to be available 24/7.
Water Park
Something I hadn’t realized when booking our stay was that the Fairfield Inn Gillette has a water park. It was therefore a pleasant surprise when we arrived and saw a couple of water slides spiraling outside of the building.
The water park is open from 8am-10pm and features a smallish swimming pool, a lazy river-style pool, a splash area with a small slide for younger kids, a couple of water slides that open out into a larger pool and a whirlpool in the corner.
There was a large group holding a birthday party in the pool area at the weekend when we were there, but despite so many people being there it didn’t feel too crowded.
Amenities
Guest Laundry Room
If you need to do any laundry during your stay, there’s a guest laundry area featuring two washing machines and two dryers. It cost a very reasonable $1.50 per load for either type of machine.
Fitness Room
The hotel has a fairly small fitness room with two treadmills, an elliptical and some weights.
Business Center
If you need to use a computer and/or print anything off, there’s a business center you can use.
Pantry
There are grocery stores and restaurants a short distance from the hotel, but they also have a pantry area in case you’d rather grab something to eat or drink from there.
There’s also a drinks vending machine and an ice machine.
Fairfield Inn & Suites Gillette Pet Policy
The Fairfield Inn Gillette is a pet-friendly hotel. The pet fee is a very low $25 per stay rather than per night. Their website says there’s a weight limit of 20 lbs per pet and a limit of two pets per room. If you have a dog that weighs more than 20 lbs, it could be worth calling the property in case they have some leeway with that weight limit.
Service
We didn’t have many interactions with the staff at the hotel as we declined housekeeping each day. However, the front desk staff were friendly when checking in and out and breakfast was always kept well-stocked.
Wi-Fi
The Fairfield Inn offers complimentary Wi-Fi for all guests. The connectivity and speed was good throughout our stay.
Check-In & Check-Out Times
Check-in is from3pm, while check-out is at 12pm.
Location
The hotel is just off I-90 and so it’s easy to get to the property from there. It’s only a couple of miles to downtown and is an hour away from Devils Tower.
Parking
Parking is free for all guests and there always seemed to be plenty of spaces.
Cost
The Fairfield Inn Gillette offered a long term stay rate when booking 5+ nights which we were eligible for due to us staying five nights. That cost $99.68 per night including tax which was a decent rate compared to how much other nearby hotels were charging, plus I needed five extra nights towards re-earning Titanium status this year with Marriott.
This stay actually cost us far less than that though. Last year there was a Marriott Amex Offer giving $200 back when spending $500. I bought a Marriott gift card from the Ritz-Carlton Boston and redeemed it for this stay, so our ~$500 stay effectively cost ~$300, or ~$60 per night.
I’d clicked through to Marriott’s website to book this stay when the Capital One Shopping portal was offering 7.5% cashback. As a result, I also earned $33.37 cashback.
If we’d redeemed points, it would’ve cost an average of 9,680 points per night. That would’ve been a decent points redemption, but the $500 gift card we’d bought at a discount made a paid stay more appealing this time.
Final Thoughts
We had a great stay at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Gillette. Although our room wasn’t massive, it was comfortable and quiet. The breakfast was decent and we had fun enjoying the water park one afternoon.
Truffles Approval Rating
Truffles gives the hotel four paws out of four – pawfect! She enjoyed how quiet our room was, plus the low $25 pet fee means more money in the budget for treats for her 🙂
Our Rating
Room = 3.9 / 5
Hotel Amenities = 4.7 / 5
Food = 4.4 / 5
Location = 4.2 / 5
Service = 4.0 / 5
Overall Value = 4.5 / 5
Total = 4.28 / 5
Address
Fairfield Inn & Suites, 2577 S Douglas Hwy, Gillette, WY 82718
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