Hubbard's Yellowstone Lodge — Hotel in Big Sky

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I’m always dubious of a business that only has 5-star reviews. It typically means that 1) the business is too new or 2) the business is only having friends and family submit reviews. Hubbard’s has been around since the ’70s, before the internet was even a thing, so they are not new.

I wanted to provide an honest review for those considering going to Hubbards. I wish I would have read a review like this before I went.

The Good

The ranch is situated between the mountains overlooking the Yellowstone River. The views are stunning and photographs don’t do them justice.

The guides are great, filled with amazing stories. Don’t go to Yellowstone National Park without a guide. You will regret it.

The Bad

The staff is friendly, but the management seemed disinterested.

The accommodations are okay. They are not “first-class” as the website promotes. There is no air-conditioning in the rooms so be aware of the time of year that you go. We were there in late June and the daytime temps reached into the high 80s. The room would eventually cool off late at night, but it was quite warm during the day/evening.

The activities are fun but overpriced. On top of the extraordinary rates that Hubbard’s charges to fish, ride, tour, you are expected to tip your guide another $100/day. The guides themselves are actually really cool and they were one of my favorite parts (see above). Just make sure you bring plenty of cash.

The Ugly

The food is not good. Admittedly, I have a vegetarian diet, but even the meat-eating friends that we traveled with found the food unenjoyable. The website promotes a “professional chef” yet we never actually met the “chef.” I have been to plenty of hotels, restaurants, and resorts where the actual chef will come out to meet the guests and more importantly talk to those with special dietary restrictions. That did not happen with us. The website further promotes that “[Hubbard’s] is happy to provide vegetarian meals and to accommodate any special nutritional requests.” To be fair, we were asked by one of the managers at check-in about our vegetarian diets and about our friend who simply wanted meat and potatoes. Not one of the meals that followed over the next four days met our requests. The joke that was the food hit its peak when they served us a microwavable frozen pizza. Not kidding. This ranch is expensive. At over $500/night, it's reasonable to expect better food.

Hubbard's also limits the ages of children to those 12 and older. For some unknown reason, a family with 4 to 6 kids under the age of 12 showed up the day after we checked in. Those kids were there the entire weekend with us. I have no problem with kids. I have my own kids. However, when you go to the website and the first thing the ranch says is that Hubbard’s is “an upscale ranch…for adults and children over the age of 12,” you don’t expect to have kids running around.

Hubbard’s is a 3-star guest ranch. There are some neat things about the ranch but there are a lot of deficiencies that they need to clean up to become a 5-star experience.

Pro tips:

• Stop in Livingston before you get to the ranch to buy your own food, snacks, and drinks. NOTE: the bar does not have liquor if you are looking for that. • Pay attention to the weather for the time of year you plan to go. • Bring plenty of cash for tipping. • Be really specific if you have any food requests and then have limited expectations on what you will be served. • If you have kids under 12, call the ranch to see if you can bring them. Apparently, they allow others to do it. • Get off the ranch as much as possible. There are some really cool places to go explore off of...

NEW REVIEW - WEDDING!!

If you are looking to be treated like royalty in one of the most beautiful settings ever then you have found the right place! Nancy will do everything she can to accommodate you during your stay and the rest of the staff at the lodge will treat you like family. We love it so much we decided to get married here!! The weekend was filled with love, laughter, and happiness. The staff at the lodge are friendly and helpful and there are plenty of activities. The horses are well taken care of and the scenery while riding is amazing. My husband went into Yellowstone for his first time fly fishing a had the time of his life. The best part....our wedding pictures are stunning! We can not recommend this place enough! I loaded some pictures to show how beautiful it is...

I have so many great things to say about Hubbard's I'm not sure were to start! This family run business has some of the best customer service I have ever received. Nancy was great from the moment we started emailing her throughout our entire stay. She and her staff accommodated everything we needed and at times some of those needs weren't the easiest. The food was PHENOMENAL, seriously the best steaks I have ever had! The staff does cooking absolutely everything and the service is fantastic. We had two massage's while we were there since I had hurt my lower back a week prior. Mary the massage therapist was so great I am leaving a 4 day horseback riding vacation in less pain then when I started! Her additional training in medical massage really helped me out. We came to Hubbard's to horseback ride; and that is all we did the entire time we were there. As someone who has owned and been around horses her entire life I have seen a lot when it comes to the training and care of horses used for trail riding. Wray takes such great care of these horses; you can see in the way they act and how they look that they are well take care of. And the training....easily some of the best trained horses I have ever had the pleasure of riding! He truly care about the horses and about the experience of the rider. If you are looking for a beautiful, relaxing trip, with lots of options you have...

We pretty much picked Hubbard's by accident and what a perfect accident to pick! The trip was to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip to celebrate a special birthday and we needed a lodge that provided great fishing AND great horseriding. Hubbards excelled at both. ||The Lodge is in a stunning location looking out the most amazing views of the Tom Miner Basin and Yellowstone river. We stayed in the new 'bunkhouse' '6' which offers very comfortable rooms with its own lounge with hot and cold drinks available.||The staff are all really friendly and helpful; it has the feel of a great team which is usually the sign of great management. The whole experience was laid back and friendly with respect to staff and other guests - we were made to feel welcome from the get go.||Food was varied, of high quality and plentiful; the bar was stocked with great local beers and wines. Excellent for rehydration after a gruelling days fishing or horseriding!||The fishing was a nice mixture of easier challenges on the Yellowstone or Hubbards own Merrill Lake through to sight fishing for huge educated browns and rainbows on Depuys/Armstrong spring creek. All the fishing off site required a journey of up to an hourish so no big deal. The lodge can supply Orvis waders and 5wt setups on loan and has a good stock of flies and other bits - clothing etc to buy.||The horseriding was excellent and despite the riding at Hubbards being done solely on the walk, its interesting, while being able to take in the breathtaking scenery. The horses are all well kept in excellent facilities. There is a range of mounts able to cope with every level of skill and size. Riding activities ranged from driving cattle to new pastures and leisurely mountain trail riding. Rides were taken both from the stables and from horses trailered to more remote locations.||This was supposed to be the once-in-a-lifetime trip for us both. We are so glad we ended up at Hubbards and so a big thanks goes out to Nancy and her team at the Lodge with special mention to John and Annabelle the wranglers, and Coobie and Brewer our...