Why Most Jackson Hole Hotels Are a Total Rip-Off (And Where to Actually Stay)
Jackson Hole is a robbery. Let’s just start there. You’re going to pay $600 a night to sleep in a room that smells slightly of damp pine and old leather, and you’re supposed to be grateful for it because there’s a mountain nearby. I’ve spent way too much time and an embarrassing amount of money testing the lodging here over the last five years, and honestly? Most of the ‘best’ lists are written by people who got a free stay and a gift basket. I didn’t.
I’ve stayed in six different spots in the valley since 2019, and I’ve tracked my sleep quality and ‘value-to-misery’ ratio pretty closely. Last February, I spent exactly $4,210 on an 11-day trip across three properties just to see if the price tags actually meant anything. They usually don’t. But if you’re going to drop the cash anyway, you might as well not hate yourself when you check out.
The Amangani is a cold museum
Everyone raves about Amangani. It’s the darling of the Instagram set. I stayed there once for a milestone birthday, and I’ll be honest: I hated it. It’s beautiful in that sterile, ‘don’t touch the sandstone’ kind of way, but it feels like sleeping in a very expensive tomb. The silence is heavy. It’s uncomfortable. I might be wrong about this—I know people go there specifically for the zen—but I felt like I had to whisper even when I was in my own bathroom.
The view is the only reason they can charge those prices. It’s perched on East Gros Ventre Butte, and yeah, looking at the Tetons from that infinity pool is a religious experience. But the service felt scripted. I prefer the Four Seasons in Teton Village if I’m going to go full luxury. At least at the Four Seasons, the staff acts like they enjoy being alive. Plus, you can actually walk to the lifts. At Amangani, you’re stranded on a hill unless you want to wait for their shuttle, which always took exactly 14 minutes longer than they promised. Total buzzkill.
The Four Seasons is a corporate machine, but it’s a machine that works. Amangani is a sculpture that you’re allowed to sleep in.
The time I tried to be cheap
I used to think I could outsmart the Jackson Hole market by staying in the ‘budget’ motels in town. I was completely wrong. In 2021, I booked a room at a place I won’t name (it rhymes with ‘Shmoke Shmree Shmotel’) because it was $180 a night while everything else was $500. I arrived at 11:00 PM in a blizzard. The heater made a sound like a dying lawnmower, and the walls were so thin I could hear the guy next door scrolling through TikTok. I didn’t sleep a wink. I ended up checking out at 4:00 AM and sleeping in my rented Tahoe in the parking lot of a gas station just to get some peace. Never again.
Anyway, that experience taught me that in Jackson, there is a ‘floor’ for quality. If you go below a certain price point, you aren’t just saving money; you’re actively ruining your vacation. If you want to stay in the town of Jackson—which you should if you actually want to eat at decent restaurants and not just the overpriced hotel bistros—go to The Anvil Hotel. It’s a renovated motel, so it still has that ‘park outside your door’ vibe, but they did it right. The beds are actually comfortable. The Woolrich blankets aren’t just for show. It’s the only place in town that feels cool without trying too hard.
What I mean is—actually, let me put it differently. It’s the only place that doesn’t feel like a tourist trap pretending to be a ranch.
The Teton Village trap
There is a weird divide in Jackson Hole. You either stay in the Town of Jackson or you stay in Teton Village. People will tell you that Teton Village is ‘where the action is.’ This is a lie. Teton Village is where the skiing is. After 6:00 PM, the place has the energy of a suburban mall after closing time. Unless you are a hardcore skier who needs to be the first person on the tram, staying in the Village is a mistake. You’re trapped in a bubble of $28 burgers and shops that only sell Patagonia vests.
If you MUST stay out there, Hotel Terra is fine. It’s fine! The rooms are a bit cramped for the price, but the rooftop hot tub is decent. But I refuse to recommend the Snake River Lodge. I don’t care if people love the pool area with the fake rocks; the rooms feel like they haven’t been updated since the Clinton administration. It’s dusty. It’s tired. I actively tell my friends to avoid it because the price-to-carpet-stain ratio is unacceptable.
- The Anvil: Best for people who actually like good coffee and a walkable town.
- The Wort Hotel: Best if you want to feel like a wealthy rancher from 1954. (The Silver Dollar Bar is loud, though. Be warned.)
- Mountain Modern: Good for families, but it feels a bit like a high-end dorm room.
- Amangani: Only if you want to take photos and not talk to anyone.
A take that will probably get me yelled at
I hate the Cloudveil. There, I said it. It’s right on the town square, it’s brand new, and everyone acts like it’s the second coming of hospitality. To me, it’s just a Marriott Autograph Collection property that happens to have some wood grain on the walls. It’s soul-less. It’s the kind of hotel that exists in every major city now—the ‘curated’ experience that feels exactly like the one in Nashville or Austin. If I’m in Wyoming, I want to feel like I’m in Wyoming, not a corporate boardroom with a view of a stag-horn arch. I know people will disagree because the rooftop is ‘chic,’ but I found it incredibly boring. Give me some character, even if it’s a little rough around the edges.
My favorite spot—and I almost don’t want to say it because it’s already hard to book—is The Virginian Lodge. They just renovated it. It used to be a total dump, like, truly bottom-of-the-barrel. But they kept the dive bar (The Virginian Saloon) and fixed the rooms. It’s quirky. It’s got a massive courtyard with fire pits where people actually hang out. It’s the only place in Jackson where I’ve had a conversation with someone who wasn’t a tech bro or a real estate agent. It feels real. Worth every penny.
Is Jackson Hole worth the hype? Sometimes I wonder. I keep going back, so clearly they’ve got their hooks in me. But I’ve learned that the ‘best’ hotel isn’t the one with the most stars or the highest price tag. It’s the one that doesn’t make you feel like a mark.
Why do we keep paying these prices? I honestly don’t know. Maybe we just like the punishment.
Stay at The Anvil. Drink the coffee. Avoid the Village unless you’re skiing. That’s it.