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Just as diverse as the area’s landscape, which fades from small Western cities into vast lengths of open prairie and forested mountains, are its accommodations. In the population centers lodgings range from new chain hotels with wireless Internet access to elegant and historic stone inns decorated with buffalo skins and Victorian furniture. Move beyond these cities, however, and everything changes. Campgrounds abound in the open countryside. On the prairie, expect sprawling guest ranches alongside cold mountain-fed creeks. In the higher elevations, look for charming bed-and-breakfasts on mountain slopes with broad alpine vistas. But whatever the type of accommodation, all kinds of amenities are available, from the ordinary to the unconventional, including saunas, hot tubs, horseback riding, fly-fishing lessons, and square dancing. Perhaps the greatest benefit of all, however, is the isolation. In what some might call a welcome change in this era of information overload, many rural lodgings don’t have in-room televisions or telephones, and vast stretches don’t have cell-phone service.
Located in Hot Springs State Park on the banks of the Big Horn River and by far the best hotel in town, this handsomely restored 1918 hotel has spacious rooms with attractive Western log-cabin-style furnishings, and suites have fireplaces. Guests can take a dip in the seasonal courtyard pool or soak in the private hot tub, fed directly from geothermal mineral springs. The hotel is a short walk from several other hot springs pools inside the park.
Here you have the chance to stay at an authentic, upscale 33-acre Western ranch, just a 15-minute drive from downtown Cody, without spending a mint or having to contend with a minimum-stay requirement. In one of the seven guest rooms a wooden fence stands before a wall-to-wall picture of the Tetons, and in another you can bed down in quilted comfort in an old chuck wagon. More options? Sleep in a genuine sheepherder's wagon, circa 1897. Guests don cowboy hats for breakfast, which is cooked over an open campfire, while an Australian sheepdog and two horses show off their repertoire of tricks. Ask head wrangler Jerry about his autographed guest soap collection.
This enchanting, fully restored grand hotel, founded in 1880, served emigrants on the Bozeman Trail, two U.S. presidents, and some of Wyoming's most colorful characters, and it remains in top form. Owen Wister immortalized the Occidental in his 1902 novel The Virginian, about the Johnson County Cattle War. After winning a high-stakes poker game in 1918, one family held on to the hotel for 58 years, keeping intact all of its original furnishings and architectural accents. A lavish $1 million–plus restoration under current owners John and Dawn Wexo spruced up the Victorian-style rooms and tin-ceiling lobby, saloon, and restaurant, sparing this living treasure from the wrecking ball. Most spectacular among the many nostalgic suites are the Clear Creek, with its six-post cherrywood bed, adjoining sitting room, and spacious bathroom, and the elegant Teddy Roosevelt Suite, furnished with a high-back walnut bed, an antique hardwood desk, and a claw-foot tub. Down in the saloon, the 25-foot bar, stained-glass shade, and tin ceiling look brand new—except for 23 bullet holes, revealing origins in the cutthroat, quick-draw era. On Thursday nights nowadays there's a bluegrass hootenanny jam-packed with friendlies.
Although the exterior of this motel near downtown and the Stagecoach Museum is unremarkable, the lobby is attractive, with a ceramic-tile floor, hardwood trim, and wrought-iron tables and lamps. There are some extra-large rooms that can accommodate up to eight people.
The simple but attractive single and duplex log cabins here are pure Western, right down to the pitched-roof beam ceilings, iron bedsteads with horseshoe designs, and bathroom wallpaper printed with boots and cowboy hats. High-thread-count sheets and soft duvets ensure a restful sleep.
The rooms in this clean and very quiet lodging have coffeemakers, large cable TVs, white fluffy comforters, and easy chairs with ottomans. The location is right by the mountains and down the street from the Casper Events Center. You can also make use of the business center, fitness center, and included continental breakfast.
The soaring atrium of this five-story hotel, which is five minutes from downtown by car, has a waterfall and is filled with overstuffed chairs and couches, as well as Scooter's Sports Bar. With white-and-blue accents and tan walls, the rooms are typical of chain hotels, but most have some Western-style touches, and some look out on the Big Horn Mountains. Three restaurants ($–$$$$), including the Brew Garden, The Greenery, and Sugarland Mining Company, serve burgers, steak, chicken, and pasta. The Sunday brunch buffet is popular and a good deal.
Built in 1902 by Buffalo Bill and named for his daughter, this striking downtown property retains both its frontier charm and rough edges, with period furniture and pull-chain commodes in many rooms, a large restaurant open all day, and an elaborate cherrywood bar said to have been a gift from Queen Victoria to Buffalo Bill. For those looking for modern amenities and trappings, this probably isn't it. But if you want true history, and the chance to bump into a ghost or two, choose one of the 15 rooms in the original hotel (named after local legends) rather than in the annex, which has standard contemporary rooms. On summer evenings the Cody Gunslingers Shootout takes place in front of the Irma Hotel.
Brown carpeting and red drapes decorate the spacious rooms of this hotel. With its inlaid cedar accents and comfortable deck chairs, the room housing the indoor pool is surprisingly stylish for a small-town hotel.
About 15 miles west of Cody and 30 miles east of Yellowstone National Park's east entrance, this sprawling property offers basic accommodations in a mountain setting on the Shoshone River. Most rooms are in a motel or duplex cabins, but there are two larger suites in the main lodge. There's also an RV and tent camping park.
Just 2 miles from Yellowstone's East Entrance, these cabins in a pine forest are a good base for destinations both inside and outside the park. Buffalo Bill's original getaway in the high country, this is now a National Historic Landmark. The cabins, some of which stand alone and some of which are grouped together, have two or three beds, and there is a reunion lodge that sleeps up to 22 people. A trailhead for an extensive cross-country-ski-trail network is at Pahaska, as are a gas station and a place for horseback rides.
