Montana
Historic Hotels & Inns in Montana
From Glacier’s park lodges and Butte’s Copper King Mansion to the hot springs at Chico and Boulder, Philipsburg’s silver-boom hotels and Fort Benton’s Grand Union: every historic hotel and inn in Montana we could verify.
The short answer
Glacier National Park has the most, with five stays in or just outside the park: book the Many Glacier Hotel, the Great Northern Railway’s Swiss-chalet hotel of 1914–15, or Lake McDonald Lodge, where the lodge rooms, cabins, Cobb House and Snyder Hall are all historic. Those two are Montana’s only Historic Hotels of America members. In Butte, William A. Clark’s Copper King Mansion is a B&B whose overnight guests get a tour, and at the Hotel Finlen you should book a Historic Hotel room in the 1924 Tower, not the 1959 Motor Inn. At Chico Hot Springs Resort in Paradise Valley, book the Historic Main Lodge of 1900, and at Boulder Hot Springs every room is in the historic hotel. The Grand Union Hotel opened in Fort Benton in 1882, and the hotel and state tourism call it Montana’s oldest. Mixed properties need care: at Lone Mountain Ranch book a contributing cabin, at Double Arrow Resort the lodge rooms, the Aspen, the Western Cabin or Cabins 7–8, and at the Madison Hotel the hotel or hostel rooms, not the motel.
Our top picks
Best overall
Many Glacier Hotel
Built 1914–17 · Glacier National Park
The Great Northern Railway's 1914–15 Swiss-chalet hotel on Swiftcurrent Lake, with a 1917 annex; all guest rooms are in the historic hotel.
Best small inn
Kaiser House Hotel
Built 1881 · Philipsburg
Michael Kaiser's 1881 hotel, one of the oldest masonry buildings in Philipsburg; the hotel's four guest rooms carry historic themes.
Most haunted
Copper King Mansion
Built 1888 · Butte
William A. Clark's Butte mansion, finished in 1888; overnight guests get a tour, and public tours pass through the B&B rooms from…
Best resort
Chico Hot Springs Resort
Built 1900 · Pray
Percie and Bill Knowles's 1900 hotel at 112-degree springs in Paradise Valley; book the Historic Main Lodge, not the Warren Wing or…
Best lodge
Lake McDonald Lodge
Built 1913–14 · Glacier National Park
John E. Lewis's Swiss-chalet hotel of 1913–14 on Lake McDonald; lodge rooms, cabins, the Cobb House and Snyder Hall are all historic.
Grand hotel
Grand Union Hotel
Built 1882 · Fort Benton
Fort Benton's 1882 steamboat-era hotel on the Missouri River levee, which the hotel and state tourism call Montana's oldest; reopened in 1999.
Where they are
Where to go
Every historic inn in Montana
| Inn | Town | Built | Rooms | Type | Price | Haunted | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairweather Inn | Virginia City | 1870s | – | Inn | – | Rates | |
| Kaiser House Hotel | Philipsburg | 1881 | 4 | Inn | – | Rates | |
| Grand Union Hotel | Fort Benton | 1882 | 26 | Grand hotel | – | Yes | Rates |
| Boulder Hot Springs | Boulder | 1883–1910 | – | Resort | – | Rates | |
| Copper King Mansion | Butte | 1888 | 4 | B&B | $$ | Yes | Rates |
| The Broadway Hotel | Philipsburg | c. 1890 | 9 | Boutique hotel | – | Rates | |
| The Grand Hotel | Big Timber | 1890–91 | 14 | Inn | – | Yes | Rates |
| Hotel Arvon | Great Falls | 1890 | 33 | Boutique hotel | – | Rates | |
| The Pollard Hotel | Red Lodge | 1893 | – | Boutique hotel | – | Yes | Rates |
| Chico Hot Springs Resort | Pray | 1900 | – | Resort | – | Yes | Rates |
| The Murray Hotel | Livingston | 1904 | 25 | Boutique hotel | – | Rates | |
| The Yodeler Motel | Red Lodge | 1909 | 24 | Inn | – | Rates | |
| Belton Chalet | West Glacier | c. 1910 | – | Inn | – | Yes | Rates |
| Sacajawea Hotel | Three Forks | 1910 | 31 | Boutique hotel | – | Yes | Rates |
| Madison Hotel | West Yellowstone | 1912 | – | Inn | – | Rates | |
| Lake McDonald Lodge | Glacier National Park | 1913–14 | 82 | Lodge | – | Yes | Rates |
| Many Glacier Hotel | Glacier National Park | 1914–17 | 214 | Grand hotel | – | Yes | Rates |
| The Calvert Hotel | Lewistown | 1917 | – | Boutique hotel | – | Rates | |
| The Andrus Hotel | Dillon | 1917–18 | 12 | Boutique hotel | – | Rates | |
| Hotel Finlen | Butte | 1924 | – | Grand hotel | – | Rates | |
| Lone Mountain Ranch | Big Sky | c. 1927 | 26 | Resort | – | Rates | |
| Double Arrow Resort | Seeley Lake | 1930 | – | Resort | $$ | Rates | |
| Swiftcurrent Motor Inn & Cabins | Glacier National Park | 1933–37 | 95 | Lodge | – | Rates | |
| Rising Sun Motor Inn & Cabins | Glacier National Park | 1941 | 72 | Lodge | – | Rates | |
| Northern Hotel | Billings | 1942 | 160 | Grand hotel | – | Rates | |
| Dude Rancher Lodge | Billings | 1950 | 56 | Inn | – | Rates |
Price is a typical nightly rate: $ under $200, $$ $200–349, $$$ $350–549, $$$$ $550+. Rates vary by season; check the inn for exact prices.
Elsewhere in Montana
Built 1870s · Virginia City · Inn
Fairweather Inn
Why stay The Anaconda Hotel of the 1870s, several times remodeled, on Wallace Street in Virginia City's landmark district; rooms have private or shared baths.
Built 1881 · Philipsburg · Inn
Kaiser House Hotel
Why stay Michael Kaiser's 1881 hotel, one of the oldest masonry buildings in Philipsburg; the hotel's four guest rooms carry historic themes.
Built 1882 · Italianate · Fort Benton · Grand hotel
Grand Union Hotel
Why stay Fort Benton's 1882 steamboat-era hotel on the Missouri River levee, which the hotel and state tourism call Montana's oldest; reopened in 1999.
The ghost story Montana's state tourism office says visitors cite the sound of phantom hoofbeats on the stairs, credited to a cowboy shot when he rode his horse into the hotel and up the main staircase.
Built 1883–1910 · Spanish Colonial Revival over Queen Anne · Boulder · Resort
Boulder Hot Springs
Why stay A hot-springs hotel begun by Abel Quaintance in 1883, remodeled in Spanish Colonial Revival style in 1909–10; all rooms are in the historic building.
Good to know Breakfast: included · No pets
Built 1888 · "Modern Elizabethan" per NRHP nomination · Butte · B&B
Copper King Mansion
Why stay William A. Clark's Butte mansion, finished in 1888; overnight guests get a tour, and public tours pass through the B&B rooms from May to September.
The ghost story House Beautiful is reported to have named it the most haunted house in Montana, and some visitors describe a 'ghostly presence' in the ballroom.
Good to know Breakfast: included
Built c. 1890 · Philipsburg · Boutique hotel
The Broadway Hotel
Why stay A two-story commercial building from Philipsburg's silver-mining boom, restored in 2003 by Jim Jenner and Sue Mays; nine themed rooms, the hotel says.
Good to know No pets
Built 1890–91 · Railroad-era commercial masonry · Big Timber · Inn
The Grand Hotel
Why stay Sheep rancher Jacob Halverson's 1890–91 hotel on McLeod Street, restored in the 1990s, with an 1890 saloon; most rooms have unattached baths.
The ghost story Yellowstone Country's tourism office says the hotel is rumored to have footsteps from empty rooms, whispering voices and mysterious puddles.
Good to know Breakfast: available · Pets welcome
Built 1890 · Western Commercial · Great Falls · Boutique hotel
Hotel Arvon
Why stay Robert Vaughn's 1890 Arvon Block, vacant and slated for demolition in 2010, then rehabilitated by the Jennings family with historic tax credits.
Good to know Pets welcome
Built 1893 · Red Lodge · Boutique hotel
The Pollard Hotel
Why stay The Rocky Fork Coal Company's 1893 Spofford Hotel, the first brick building in Red Lodge, with a 1903 annex of 25 rooms; Thomas F. Pollard renamed it.
The ghost story Montana's state tourism office says it is rumored that mysterious figures move through the third-floor hallways at night. Yellowstone Country reports sightings of a woman in a yellow gown and a prankish man called George.
Good to know Elevator
Built 1900 · Victorian · Pray · Resort
Chico Hot Springs Resort
Why stay Percie and Bill Knowles's 1900 hotel at 112-degree springs in Paradise Valley; book the Historic Main Lodge, not the Warren Wing or Lower Lodge.
The ghost story Yellowstone Country's tourism office reports that Percie Knowles, wife of the original owner, is said to grace the historic hotel, with guards reporting a rocking chair, perfume and a woman by the lobby piano.
Good to know Breakfast: available · Pets welcome
Built 1904 · Livingston · Boutique hotel
The Murray Hotel
Why stay Josephine Kline's Elite Hotel in Livingston, later renamed The Murray and known for its hand-crank elevator; 25 rooms, the hotel says, all historic.
Good to know Elevator
Built 1909 · No-style commercial; theme motel · Red Lodge · Inn
The Yodeler Motel
Why stay Daniel O'Shea's 1909 apartment building for working-class families, remodeled in 1961 as Red Lodge's first and only theme motel.
Built 1910 · Eclectic; pedimented portico · Three Forks · Boutique hotel
Sacajawea Hotel
Why stay John Q. Adams's 1910 stop for Milwaukee Railroad passengers, joined to the older Madison House, which was hauled to the site on rollers.
The ghost story Montana's state tourism office reports that the hotel is said to be haunted by John Q. Adams, its builder, who is seen roaming the halls making sure everything is in order. Yellowstone Country also tells of a vanishing maid.
Good to know Pets welcome
Built 1912 · Log, saddle-notched · West Yellowstone · Inn
Madison Hotel
Why stay A 1912 log hotel enlarged in 1921, the only early hotel left in West Yellowstone; the hotel and hostel rooms are historic, the motel rooms aren't.
Built 1917 · Lewistown · Boutique hotel
The Calvert Hotel
Why stay A brick high-school dormitory for homesteaders' children, its southern half built in 1917; Emma and George Marsh made it a hotel in 1928.
Built 1917–18 · Two-part commercial block with Renaissance Revival elements · Dillon · Boutique hotel
The Andrus Hotel
Why stay Jesse Warren's three-story brick hotel, finished in February 1918 and one of Dillon's first concrete-framed buildings, now suite-only.
Good to know Elevator · Pets welcome
Built 1924 · French Second Empire · Butte · Grand hotel
Hotel Finlen
Why stay George Shanley's nine-story hotel of 1924 in Uptown Butte; book a Historic Hotel room in the Tower, not the 1959 Motor Inn.
Built c. 1927 · Rustic log · Big Sky · Resort
Lone Mountain Ranch
Why stay The Butler-Kilbourne family's log ranch in Gallatin Canyon; book a contributing cabin such as Chipmunk or Porcupine, not the 1980s cabins.
Built 1930 · Rustic log · Seeley Lake · Resort
Double Arrow Resort
Why stay A log lodge of 1929–30 on an early cattle ranch; lodge rooms, the Aspen, the Western Cabin and Cabins 7–8 are historic, the lake-named cabins new.
Built 1942 · Modern · Billings · Grand hotel
Northern Hotel
Why stay Holabird & Root's ten-story hotel of 1942, built after the first Northern Hotel on this site burned in 1940; a renovation cut 212 rooms to 160.
Good to know Parking: on-site free
Built 1950 · Ranch · Billings · Inn
Dude Rancher Lodge
Why stay Percy and Annabel Goan's 1950 motel, meant to evoke a frontier cabin or ranch, keeps its knotty pine walls, ranch-style furniture and carpets.
Good to know Breakfast: available
No inns match that filter.
Ways in
Themes in Montana
The Great Northern Railway’s Glacier lodges
The Great Northern Railway’s first Glacier hotel was the Belton Chalet, across from its Belton station, now West Glacier, and its largest was the Many Glacier Hotel of 1914–15 on Swiftcurrent Lake; both belong to the Great Northern Railway Buildings National Historic Landmark. John E. Lewis built Lake McDonald Lodge privately as the Lewis Glacier Hotel, opened in June 1914, and the railway’s Glacier Park Hotel Company acquired it in 1930. The same company built auto camps for travelers arriving by car, at Swiftcurrent from 1933 and at Rising Sun in 1941; book the historic cabins at either one, not the Motor Inn rooms.
Copper, silver and gold towns
In Butte, William A. Clark, one of the Copper Kings, began his mansion in 1884 and finished it four years later; it is now the Copper King Mansion B&B. The nine-story Hotel Finlen opened there on New Year’s Day 1924, when a copper glut had slowed the city, and it and the Fox Theater were the only substantial buildings put up in Butte’s business district in the 1920s. Philipsburg has Michael Kaiser’s 1881 Kaiser House Hotel, one of the town’s oldest masonry buildings, and The Broadway Hotel, in a two-story commercial building from the silver-mining boom. In Virginia City’s National Historic Landmark district, the Fairweather Inn is the several-times-remodeled Anaconda Hotel of the 1870s, bought by Charles and Sue Bovey in 1946 as part of their restoration of the town.
Hot springs hotels
At Chico, in Paradise Valley, Percie and Bill Knowles built a hotel in 1900 at 112-degree springs; book the Historic Main Lodge, where the resort counts 48 rooms, 13 with private baths and 35 sharing hall baths, not the Warren Wing, Lower Lodge or cabins. After Bill died in 1910, Percie and her son Radbourne made it a respected medical facility, and Mike and Eve Art began restoring the resort in 1976. At Boulder Hot Springs, Abel Quaintance built the first part of the present hotel in 1883, C. W. Kerrick added a Queen Anne section in 1888–91 and a 1909–10 expansion gave the complex its Spanish Colonial Revival look; it now runs as a spa and retreat center, with all its rooms in the historic hotel.
Railroad hotels and main streets
The Grand Union Hotel opened in Fort Benton on November 2, 1882, at the height of the Missouri River steamboat trade, and within a year railroads to Helena and Calgary had undercut the town. John Q. Adams, a purchasing agent for the Milwaukee Railroad, built the Sacajawea Hotel in Three Forks in 1910 as a stop for passengers and train crews. On the Northern Pacific, Josephine Kline’s Elite Hotel in Livingston, later The Murray, was one of the downtown hotels built to serve its passengers, and Jacob Halverson’s Grand Hotel went up in Big Timber as the railroad’s 1883 depot turned the town into a shipping center. Other main streets have Robert Vaughn’s 1890 Arvon Block in Great Falls, now Hotel Arvon, the 1893 Spofford, now The Pollard, in Red Lodge, The Andrus Hotel in Dillon, and Holabird & Root’s ten-story Northern Hotel of 1942 in Billings, built after the first Northern burned in 1940.
Road trip
Paradise Valley to Glacier, inn to inn
Paradise Valley and Livingston
Start at Chico Hot Springs Resort in Pray, in a Historic Main Lodge room at the 112-degree springs, or in downtown Livingston at The Murray Hotel, with its hand-crank elevator.
Three Forks and Butte
Stop at the Sacajawea Hotel in Three Forks, John Q. Adams’s 1910 hotel for Milwaukee Railroad passengers, then sleep in Butte at the Copper King Mansion or in a Historic Hotel room in the Hotel Finlen’s 1924 Tower.
Philipsburg
Stay on Broadway at the Kaiser House Hotel, Michael Kaiser’s 1881 hotel, or at The Broadway Hotel, both inside the Philipsburg Historic District.
Glacier National Park
End at the Belton Chalet in West Glacier, just outside the park, or go on to Lake McDonald Lodge, the Many Glacier Hotel or the cabins at Swiftcurrent and Rising Sun. Check seasons and which rooms to book in our Glacier guide.
Beyond the inns
Signature tours in Montana
Tours are sold by GetYourGuide and run by local operators. If you book one through these links, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. Ratings and prices are GetYourGuide’s.
Context
History and architecture
Of the stays we list, the earliest date belongs to Virginia City’s Fairweather Inn, the Anaconda Hotel of the 1870s. Michael Kaiser built his Philipsburg hotel in 1881, the Grand Union opened in Fort Benton in 1882 and Abel Quaintance built the first part of the Boulder Hot Springs hotel in 1883; William A. Clark finished his Butte mansion in 1888, and Montana became the 41st state on November 8, 1889. Robert Vaughn opened the Arvon Block in Great Falls in June 1890, the Rocky Fork Coal Company’s Spofford Hotel welcomed its first guests in Red Lodge on July 4, 1893, and the Knowles family built at Chico in 1900. Glacier was established in 1910, the year John Q. Adams built the Sacajawea Hotel in Three Forks, and the Great Northern Railway’s Belton Chalet dates from around the park’s creation. The Madison Hotel opened in West Yellowstone in 1912, Lake McDonald Lodge in 1914, the Many Glacier Hotel in 1915, The Andrus Hotel in Dillon in 1918 and the Hotel Finlen in Butte on New Year’s Day 1924, and Emma Marsh bought a Lewistown high-school dormitory in 1928 and made it The Calvert Hotel. Double Arrow’s log lodge went up at Seeley Lake over the winter of 1929–30, and the Butler-Kilbourne family opened its ranch, now Lone Mountain Ranch, to guests in the 1930s. Motor-age stays followed: the Glacier Park Hotel Company began auto camps at Swiftcurrent in 1933 and Rising Sun in 1941, Percy and Annabel Goan built the Dude Rancher Lodge in Billings in 1950, and a 1909 apartment building in Red Lodge became The Yodeler Motel in 1961.
Questions travelers ask
What is the oldest hotel in Montana?
There’s no settled answer. Of the stays we list, the earliest date belongs to the Fairweather Inn in Virginia City, the several-times-remodeled Anaconda Hotel of the 1870s. Michael Kaiser built the Kaiser House Hotel in Philipsburg as a hotel in 1881. The Grand Union Hotel in Fort Benton opened on November 2, 1882, and the hotel and state tourism call it Montana’s oldest.
What is the most haunted hotel in Montana?
There’s no official ranking. House Beautiful is reported to have named Butte’s Copper King Mansion the most haunted house in Montana, and author Karen Stevens suggests the Many Glacier Hotel may be the most haunted place in Glacier National Park. Montana’s state tourism office retells stories of phantom hoofbeats on the stairs at the Grand Union Hotel, figures in the third-floor halls of The Pollard Hotel and builder John Q. Adams roaming the Sacajawea Hotel, and Yellowstone Country’s tourism office says Percie Knowles is said to grace the hotel at Chico Hot Springs. These are stories, not documented fact.
Which Montana hotels are Historic Hotels of America members?
Two: the Many Glacier Hotel and Lake McDonald Lodge, both in Glacier National Park.
Can you stay in a historic lodge in Glacier National Park?
Yes. Four of the five we list are inside the park: the Many Glacier Hotel, Lake McDonald Lodge, Swiftcurrent Motor Inn & Cabins (book a Historic cabin) and Rising Sun Motor Inn & Cabins (book a Cabin Room or Store Motel Room). The Belton Chalet is just outside the park at West Glacier. None of the five is open in winter.
Are there historic hot springs hotels in Montana?
Yes, two we list. At Chico Hot Springs Resort in Pray, book the Historic Main Lodge of 1900, where most of the 48 rooms the resort counts share hall baths. At Boulder Hot Springs, whose hotel dates from 1883 to 1910, all rooms are in the historic building, and the inn runs as a spa and retreat center.
How we chose these inns
Every place on this page is at least 50 years old, holds a credential we can check (National Register listing, a listed historic district, landmark status, or Historic Hotels of America membership), and takes bookings today. We verify each one against primary sources before it goes on the list, and last checked this list in October 2026. Read our criteria.
Sources (74)
- Fairweather Inn: npgallery.nps.gov
- Fairweather Inn: www.historic-accommodations.com
- Kaiser House Hotel: historicmt.org
- Kaiser House Hotel: historicmt.org
- Kaiser House Hotel: www.kaiserhousehotel.com
- Grand Union Hotel: npgallery.nps.gov
- Sacajawea Hotel: visitmt.com
- Grand Union Hotel: www.grandunionhotel.com
- Grand Union Hotel: historicmt.org
- Boulder Hot Springs: npgallery.nps.gov
- Boulder Hot Springs: www.boulderhotsprings.com
- Boulder Hot Springs: www.hotspringsguides.com
- Copper King Mansion: npgallery.nps.gov
- Copper King Mansion: 929nin.com
- Copper King Mansion: thecopperkingmansion.com
- The Broadway Hotel: southwestmt.com
- The Broadway Hotel: npgallery.nps.gov
- The Broadway Hotel: www.hotel-scoop.com
- The Broadway Hotel: historicmt.org
- The Grand Hotel: npgallery.nps.gov
- Chico Hot Springs Resort: visityellowstonecountry.com
- The Grand Hotel: historicmt.org
- The Grand Hotel: montanahistoriclandscape.com
- Hotel Arvon: npgallery.nps.gov
- Hotel Arvon: www.hotelarvon.com
- The Pollard Hotel: historicmt.org
- The Pollard Hotel: npgallery.nps.gov
- The Pollard Hotel: billingsgazette.com
- Chico Hot Springs Resort: npgallery.nps.gov
- Chico Hot Springs Resort: historicmt.org
- The Murray Hotel: en.wikipedia.org
- The Murray Hotel: npgallery.nps.gov
- The Murray Hotel: www.murrayblock.com
- The Yodeler Motel: npgallery.nps.gov
- The Yodeler Motel: historicmt.org
- Belton Chalet: www.glacierparkcollection.com
- Belton Chalet: www.nps.gov
- Many Glacier Hotel: dailyinterlake.com
- Belton Chalet: npgallery.nps.gov
- Belton Chalet: en.wikipedia.org
- Sacajawea Hotel: npgallery.nps.gov
- Sacajawea Hotel: sacajaweahotel.com
- Sacajawea Hotel: historicmt.org
- Sacajawea Hotel: ground.news
- Madison Hotel: npgallery.nps.gov
- Madison Hotel: www.madisonhotelmotel.com
- Lake McDonald Lodge: npgallery.nps.gov
- Lake McDonald Lodge: en.wikipedia.org
- Lake McDonald Lodge: en.wikipedia.org
- Lake McDonald Lodge: www.nps.gov
- Many Glacier Hotel: npgallery.nps.gov
- Many Glacier Hotel: npgallery.nps.gov
- Many Glacier Hotel: www.glaciernationalparklodges.com
- Many Glacier Hotel: en.wikipedia.org
- The Calvert Hotel: npgallery.nps.gov
- The Calvert Hotel: www.thecalverthotel.com
- The Andrus Hotel: npgallery.nps.gov
- The Andrus Hotel: www.andrushotel.com
- Hotel Finlen: historicmt.org
- Hotel Finlen: www.finlen.com
- Lone Mountain Ranch: npgallery.nps.gov
- Lone Mountain Ranch: lonemountainranch.com
- Lone Mountain Ranch: lonemountainranch.com
- Double Arrow Resort: npgallery.nps.gov
- Double Arrow Resort: doublearrowresort.com
- Double Arrow Resort: doublearrowresort.com
- Swiftcurrent Motor Inn & Cabins: npgallery.nps.gov
- Swiftcurrent Motor Inn & Cabins: www.nps.gov
- Rising Sun Motor Inn & Cabins: npgallery.nps.gov
- Rising Sun Motor Inn & Cabins: www.glaciernationalparklodges.com
- Northern Hotel: npgallery.nps.gov
- Northern Hotel: historicmt.org
- Dude Rancher Lodge: npgallery.nps.gov
- Dude Rancher Lodge: www.duderancherlodge.com
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