Hot Springs Hills Inn is at 640 South 6th Street in Hot Springs, South Dakota, in the southern Black Hills. Look for the blue roof. It's visible from Highway 385, which matters at the end of a long driving day when nobody in the car wants to circle the block twice.

You park at your door. The Fall River trail runs past the property, and restaurants, a grocery store, an ATM and the trailhead are all walkable. More on what's within walking distance of the motel.

Yes. Hot Springs Hills Inn is locally owned and operated in Hot Springs, South Dakota. There is no corporate reservation center between you and the motel. The person who picks up at 605-745-3130 is the person who can actually do something about what you're asking for.

That's why we can hold a room for a late arrival, or tell you which Wind Cave tour to book instead of reading you a script. We're not a fancy place. We're a well-run one, and those are two different things.

Check-in at Hot Springs Hills Inn starts at [3:00 PM] and check-out is [11:00 AM].

If you're going to roll in late, call ahead. We'd much rather hear from you at nine o'clock than have you standing at a dark door at midnight. Later check-out is often possible when the day allows, but ask at the desk instead of assuming.

It's built around family travel. At Hot Springs Hills Inn, kids 12 and under stay free in the room with their parents, and every room has a fridge, a microwave and a coffee maker, so breakfast for a picky six-year-old doesn't have to be a restaurant decision.

There's guest laundry on site too. Sounds boring right up until day four of a road trip, when it's quietly the best thing on the list. Here's more on using the motel as an affordable family base for the Black Hills.

Yes. Free mini golf comes with any room rental at Hot Springs Hills Inn. The course is on the property. No charge, no coupon to print, no partner course across town.

Honest opinion: it's a big part of why families book here a second time. After six hours in a car, a nine-year-old does not need another scenic overlook. They need to hit a ball at something. See what else comes with the room.

Every room rate at Hot Springs Hills Inn includes free continental breakfast, free Wi-Fi, free mini golf, guest laundry, parking at your door, and the outdoor heated pool when it's open [roughly May through September — confirm].

Nothing on that list turns into an upsell at the desk. Full rundown of what's included at no extra charge.

Hot Springs Hills Inn has 35 rooms. Each one has a new pillow-top mattress, individual climate control you set yourself, a 40-inch flat-screen with cable, and a fridge, microwave and coffee maker.

We put the money into mattresses instead of a lobby. If you've slept badly in three motels in a row, that's the trade we made on purpose. Here's why the mattresses matter more than people expect.

Hot Springs Hills Inn is a few minutes from the Mammoth Site, which sits inside Hot Springs itself rather than out on the highway. You can walk the bone bed in a morning and still have your whole afternoon.

Go early if you can. The dig is under a roof so weather doesn't matter, but the tour groups stack up later in the morning. More on staying near the Mammoth Site.

Wind Cave National Park is a short drive north of Hot Springs Hills Inn [about XX minutes — confirm], close enough that you sleep in the same bed both nights instead of packing up again.

Book the cave tour ahead in summer, and take the prairie loop on the way back for the bison. You'll still be in the pool before dinner. Here's how we'd plan a day at Wind Cave from our front door.

More than you'd expect from a motel on a highway. The Fall River trail passes Hot Springs Hills Inn and follows warm spring-fed water through town, and downtown Hot Springs with its sandstone buildings is close enough to walk on a decent evening.

On the property you've got the mini golf and the heated pool. Some nights nobody leaves at all.