Cowboy Village Resort — Hotel in Jackson

After travelling from Canada to explore Yellowstone and the Tetons, my partner and I thought it would be nice to take a break from camping and spend a night in Jackson. We booked our one night stay at the cowboy village resort as they advertised that they were pet friendly. Huge mistake. Upon checking in, one of the girls at the desk said “fill this out, it’s just for your credit card and license plate, then sign.” I filled it out and signed not thinking much of it, then went to our cabin. We read over the room key card they gave us which stated “dogs are welcome in cabins but never unattended for an extended period of time.” On that note my partner and I set up our dog’s crate and went into town to check out some of the stores. We returned after two hours to check on our dogs and let them out. Later that evening we left again to go see the rodeo around 7:55pm. Upon returning from the rodeo around 9:30pm, I noticed I had a missed call from the hotel but no voicemail and went straight to the front desk. My partner and I asked a man at the front what the call was for at 813pm thinking maybe it was a mistake. He then said our dogs had been barking for 2 hours straight and how loud they were while rolling his eyes at us (we were gone an hour and a half and the cabin was silent when we left and at 930pm walking by) and that someone complained about a disturbance so he charged my card $200 in case they had to refund said guest that complained. My partner and I simply apologized and left despite knowing for a fact our dogs did not bark for “2 hours straight” as we weren’t even gone for that long. Whilst sitting in the cabin, I thought about how silly that whole experience was so I went online and read some other reviews. I found other pet owner reviews that stated the hotel charged them for their dog barking after they had left and without their knowledge of the charges (sounds familiar). I then decided to go back to the desk where an older man now sat. I asked the man if the other person working was around and he said “why?” I then stated that I was just looking to get his name as I was off put by our interaction and how he can’t just charge my card in case they need to refund someone. The man stood up from his desk and came over to the counter. I then asked if the manager was around. He asked what he could help with. Again I repeated I wanted the man’s name and the managers info. The older man refused to provide the name of the employee I had spoken to earlier or any of the managers information. He did however pull out the paper I had signed at check in that was supposedly just my credit card info and license plate and pointed at the fine print that stated if your dogs create a disturbance, you can be charged up to $500. I then said I was never made aware of this and was told this piece of paper was just for my credit card info and license plate. His response was “not our problem you didn’t read it” which I can understand I should have read it but unfortunately didn’t think much of it when the girl checking me in earlier said it’s only for credit card info and license plate number. He then said we weren’t supposed to leave our dogs unattended to which I responded “what is an extended period of time to you?” And he replied “an hour.” I then told him pet owners should be made aware of these policies upon check in and also what their idea of an extended period of time is as everyone’s will be different. To this he sassily told me to have a goodnight. Luckily we were refunded the $200 they attempted to charge me but only because “the people that complained didn’t expect compensation.” Honestly one of the most ridiculous experiences I’ve ever had at a hotel. No customer service and absurd expectations. I’m not paying $430 USD for one night to never leave my room, to be accused that my dogs were barking for two hours when we weren’t even gone that long or to be charged an additional fee of $200 USD in order to refund someone else that complained my dog barked at 8pm. Not a pet friendly or people friendly...

I really wanted to like this place based on all the reviews I read but it fell way short of my expectations. Sadly things started heading calling south when I called and tried to cancel my reservation. Full disclosure, it was a same day cancellation and I was fully aware of the 48-hour cancellation policy but wanted to give it a shot. The staff on the phone very politely reminded me of the policy, and everything would have been just fine, but then he persistently wanted to know whether I would show up at the hotel or not, at which point I replied that since they do not plan to refund my money or give me credit, what I plan to do is none of their concern. We ended up showing up for a one-night stay, and we were given the worst cabin on the whole property: surrounded by the front desk back entrance where all the staff enters in the morning, the laundry machines, and the area where they park the vehicles they use to go around the property. Mind you, I know for a fact there were vacancies that night since I did check their webpage. Now, I have no proof this was done intentionally and out of spite or pettiness, but it definitely seemed like it.

Regarding the "resort" itself, the cabins are on the cozy side with all the amenities you would expect (cooktop, toaster, coffee maker, plates, utensils, etc.), but the rooms have nothing to do with the cowboy theme the name suggests. Not sure why this place is called a resort, maybe because of the pool and hot tub it offers? Maybe because of the free bikes they offer but are never available? Who knows.

One final note, the breakfast was simply ... a joke. They shouldn't even call it breakfast since it was just coffee/tea with some muffins. You get a better breakfast at a Motel 6. And coincidentally, that was the worst coffee I had ever had in hotel/motel.

Having said all the above, the location is very convenient. It's very close to Jackon center, yet far enough so you avoid all the traffic...

I stayed at one of the cabins for two nights with a friend. The cabin had a generously wide bunk bed, a pull out bed couch, and a small kitchen consisting off a small fridge and freezer, a stove, a microwave, and even utensils such as dishes, forks and knives. It also had a bathroom of course.

The location was great, we got lucky and our cabin was as far away from the Broadway as possible, so it was really quiet at night.

The only issue we really had were the beds. While they were big, dare I say queen sized, they were hard as a brick and we woke up to a very not rested at all backs. Our spines felt like accordions. If they added a foam topper my review would get it's missing star.

On the second night we planned things differently, one of us got all pillows available (four per bed) on one of the mattresses to cushion the back and rest properly, while the other got on the pull out bed couch and set the couch's cushions on top of the pull out so the structure below wouldn't carve into the back.

That night was significantly better, again proving some sort of softer surface on the hard mattresses would improve the overall experience.

I hope I get to visit again in the future, though my friend visiting again would be more feasible, and see if any improvements have been...