Editor Pick
Austin's Chuckwagon Motel
- November 27, 2007
- Rated 5 of 5 by
callen60 from Ozarks, Missouri
This small complex is the best place to stay in Torrey. There’s not much to this small town of 120 residents, and the complex that owner Randy Austin and family have built here occupies a fair amount of space near the center of town. There’s a building of standard motel rooms, although it’s rustic wooden construction and three-story height make it more appealing than the great majority of such units. There’s a pool, which we weren’t able to use, but which would be great on summer evenings after a full day of hiking in the dry, high-altitude air.
We stayed in one of the ‘cabins’, which I arranged over the phone in mid-winter. For $109 a night, what we found when we arrived was more like a small, simple but pleasant condo: 8 or 10 similar units lined the west side of the parking lot below the motel, each a free-standing building with a parking area out front. Inside, we found a living room to the left of the front door, with a fold-out sofa, a 21" TV (and satellite, probably a necessity for television here) and a lounge chair. To the right was a small but complete kitchen, with refrigerator, dishes, and double sink. Two modest but comfortable bedrooms were in the back, each with a TV. (The TV felt odd to me, but my kids couldn’t leave it alone.) There was a smallish full bath behind the kitchen. Overall, there was plenty of room, and slept five of us comfortably for the one night we spent there, and a terrific bargain.
Across the parking area was a small but well-stocked store and deli, a great place to stock up on supplies and food, including a well-above-average selection of meats and cheeses. After returning from a terrific meal of burgers and shakes down the street at Brink’s Drive-In, we put together the next day’s breakfast and lunch, supplemented by a healthy selection of postcards.
My only regret about Austin’s was that we weren’t here longer. Capitol Reef had a lot more to explore than we were able to see (because of both time and the weather), and this would be a comfortable base from which to do it. It’s a few miles into the park from here, and you’ll pass a few other lodging choices, but I’d stay here on a return trip.
From journal On the Plateau, Part VII: Empty, Beautiful Capitol Reef