Under Canvas North Yellowstone - Paradise Valley — Hotel in Livingston

Pre-Arrival: |Communication with Under canvas staff was great. They responded quickly to emails. However, they were not very informed about things to do in the area outside of the excursions offered on the website. Unfortunately, several of the experiences were not available when we tried to book… such as horseback riding. Even the activities board onsite still advertised horseback riding as an option.||Accommodations/property:|We experienced two other glamping style trips over the past few years and this property was by far the most rustic. Besides the in-tent bathroom and king-sized bed there really were no other high-end amenities typical of other glamping sites. The camp itself was desert-like with no options during the day for escape from the heat. The tent during the day was absolutely sweltering. There were a few trees by the river but other than that it was best to not be on property between 10am.- 7:00 pm. The tents have no AC or heat other than a wood burning stove which guests must start and maintain throughout the night. It is fun at first but gets a bit annoying as the stove only holds enough wood for about 1.5 hours of heat. So, you are having to replenish throughout the night to stay warm.||Dining:|The Under Canvas website describes the dining as “locally sourced and rotating café style options.” The food is served on tin trays reminiscent of an army cafeteria and although the quantity of food was sufficient the quality was average at best and it was expensive. They do offer limited wine and beer but (no other adult beverages).|Again, compared to other glamping experiences this was a disappointment.|The grab and go sandwiches were good but the options were limited to a few food offerings.| ||Excursions: |We were able to book a 2-hour river float with Under Canvas the second evening. It was great and our guide was very knowledgeable and experienced. Loved seeing the Yellowstone River, learning the history of the area, and getting a better understanding of the local wildlife. The pricing for the excursions at Under Canvas compared to some of the other properties in the area was definitely more expensive so probably best to book your adventures outside of Under Canvas. We did find an e-bike tour and guide (Big Sky Ebike Tours) in Gardiner, Montana, the town adjacent to the North entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The tour was fantastic spent all-day riding through the park, seeing wildlife, geysers, hot springs, and hiking into some remote trails and areas. Our guide, Jay had everything covered from amazing bikes, headsets so we could stay connected during the ride, lunch at one of the geyser spots, and a wealth of knowledge about the park. Definitely a high light of our trip.||Under Canvas Staff:|We were greeted by very friendly, helpful people on-site. Again, it would have been nice if they were more familiar with options for things to do outside the camp.||Conclusion:|Montana is beautiful! This was our first experience in this part of the country and we will definitely be returning. Under Canvass was not the glamping experience we would recommend but did offer a step up from...

I’m a big review reader so I wanted to write an honest review. First the pros: the people are so nice, the morning views are spectacular and you sit around campfires talking to all sorts of great people (because no wifi). That said, our stay was anything but relaxing. The first night ( Saturday) there was a loud concert next door that kept my kids up until midnight. I called the front desk and they said it ”should be over by 11.” 11? I just wish someone had warned us. I never would have booked a Saturday night knowing there was a loud concert next door. My kids were absolutely exhausted the next day. But At that point I was still excited to have a peaceful, quiet Sunday night and forget about the concert. Sunday night when we got back to our tent, my daughter looked at the ceiling and noticed it was swarmed with gnats. Gnats crawling all over our water bottles, kindles, phones, toiletries. Hundreds over our bed and swarming into the bathroom. They were EVERYWHERE. We called The front desk and a sweet, helpful young man came and vacuumed but every time he got rid of them, they just kept coming in. He said they were attracted to light and would “die within 6 hrs.” We’d had a few bugs the night before (like maybe 20?) - no big deal it’s camping, but this was so so disgusting and incredibly stressful. We had to turn out all the lanterns and shower in pitch black. I couldn’t even read on my kindle or look at my phone because hundreds of gnats would swarm. I asked if any other tents were available and was told no. I would’ve taken photos but we were all so grossed out we just wanted to turn out any lights. In the morning there were dead bugs everywhere. I was also so skeeved out and did laundry at our next hotel (which was a drag. I didn’t want to have to do laundry to wash all the dead bugs out of our stuff on vacation.) Under Canvas was such a splurge for us and we were SO excited, but to say we were disappointed is an understatement. UC is so pricey and we got two very stressful nights. After our stay, I spoke to other people who’d been to UC and said they would have left if they’d had our experience. Again, the staff is great. Food is good. Views amazing but we were so so so...

Overall -- We expected MUCH better for such high prices. This location is brand new (the grounds are still beat up from the building process), and it needs improvements -- like real shade in the outdoor dining area, which is baking hot all day, better air circulation in the main lobby/food tent (it's sweltering in there with very little cross circulation), and more Vegetarian or Vegan food choices, which are seriously lacking. Wish we'd just drivent to Livingstone for meals since there would have been better food choices for a lot less $$. Also, the staff race around in golf carts on the gravel walkways which kick up dust and make a lot of noise. It becomes quite annoying if your tent happens to sit facing one of those paths. Some tents are probably spared this issue depending on the layout. And you have to text someone to pick you up in one of those golf carts from the parking area. Sadly, they rarely seemed to respond in a timely fashion. So, you end up waiting forever in the car park or get drenched in sweat if you decide to just walk to your tent. Sadly there are no trees anywhere except near the river (which has a lovely pathway with chairs and hammocks). And, unfortunately, there was a farmer across the river pumping water for irrigation the whole time we were there, so there was a whirring, annoying motor running, which you could hear throughout the camp. Many other small things -- you can't control the water temp in your tent (you have to call a staff member to come change it if it's too hot or cold!), there are no bottles or glasses for water in the tent, so you have to walk to the main tent to get cold water since the tap water is HOT. The front porch lounge chairs aren't very comfortable for more than a few minutes, so you can't just chill and relax on your porch. And inside the tent it gets really hot with only two small battery operated fans to help move the air. Upside - very pretty views, comfortable beds and the staff was nice and helpful. But, we wouldn't stay there again unless the price was MUCH cheaper AND it was later in the season when it's not so baking hot with no shade. We wished we'd just gone camping, and not paid a crazy amount for the...