Swan Lake Trading Post Campground — Hotel in Polson

Bizarre. Met the owners on the morning after a one night stay, our group had one cabin and two yurts. The female owner seemed quite nice, and we had future reservations for a 3 night stay a week later after a back country pack trip. Despite filthy showers and a note on the laundry room being out of service, the property is pretty and charming. Upon our return, however, (showers still dirty, and laundry still out of order a week later) the owners immediately accused one of our party of breaking the cabin window and leaving sunflower seeds all over the cabin. The woman owner chose to argue and humiliate our party, and scoffed when our friend said she didn't even open the window. "Really?! As hot as it was?!" It turned into an embarrassing public showdown right in the store, with friends (?) of the owners weighing in on the accusations and the male owner being loud and seemingly enjoying the confrontation. It ended with my friend's husband going to the cabin and fixing the window latch, though he didnt break it, and suggesting that perhaps mice or other animals had possibly "gotten into" a bag of sunflower seeds that was admittedly and accidentally left behind? The next morning, (yep, we stayed anyway) a member of our party saw the owners in the shop and peeked her head in to ask if they had guest Wi-Fi? The male owner said they "weren't open until 8" and this was their "quiet time!" So our friend waited until after 8am to go ask again about WiFi - she wanted to check her flight. The female owner asked for her phone to type in the password, she would not provide it. Okay.... Then, when the male owner was asked if coffee was complimentary for guests, he said "Yes, until 11am". Two of our party got a refill at 10 am, and a third went in right after and was told by the same owner that coffee ended at 10. She said, "Oh, I thought you said 11", to which he replied "I changed my mind." There were other slights, and like the review from a couple of weeks ago, we were made to feel completely unwelcome. So much so, that we packed it up and moved on. This was the worst we saw in this beautiful state...people everywhere else were absolutely great. I would NEVER RECOMMEND this to anyone. We didn't even care about paying for the two nights we didn't stay...we were just thrilled to leave their horrible behavior behind. Side note: The owners were so engaged in the argument with our friend that they forgot to charge them for the cabin. When our friends realized this the next morning, after all else had been said and done, they went and paid for it after the fact. Not quite the crummy people they were made out to be...

My wife, mother, 3 kids and I rented 2 cabins for the weekend. I called ahead to see if we could bring our 2 outside dogs. I brought our metal fold-up kennel because our dogs sleep outside. They are ranch dogs and never been inside.

When we arrived, the cabins were cute, but needed some major TLC. They were filled with cobwebs and didn't even come with a trash can. I actually brought some tools from my truck to tighten the bunk beds before my boys slept on them because they were falling apart. We're country folks, so we didn't mind one bit. We were happy to be there for our little 2 day getaway. That's until we started to get harassed by the staff.

It started when the owner (Joe) targeted by 10 year old daughter and my 70 year old mother about our dogs. Joe stated we shouldn't have brought them because they were tearing up the cabins. The cabins made out of plywood and T-1-11 siding. Our dogs were never in the cabins one time. Remember, I called ahead to make sure before we brought them. After Joe was through with them, they went inside the Trading Post where the older female clerk told my mother we should leave and go home because "we" didn't fit in. Is that because I wear a cowboy hat and not an Armani suit?

The first night, someone threw a "rager" in the campground parking lot. The next day, Joe again cornered my mother and daughter blaming them for the party and threatening to kick us out. The campground is 100 yards away from the cabins and I was blown away that Joe thought we were the ones rocking out in the cabins with no electricity let alone a boom-box radio. Long story short, Joe complained to my mother 2 more times before I finally went up there to talk with him. Then he wouldn't speak with me because he only likes harassing older woman and children. I've never wrote a review before, but felt entailed to do so after our trip was ruined by Joe and the older woman clerk. I felt like we were walking on egg shells rather than camping in the woods in a quite cabin. I would never stay at these cabins again.....ever. They are not the Montana experience.

P.S. When we were driving out, I was stopped by a Canadian guy I'd met earlier at the lake. He told me, "you should have stopped at the party the other night that was in the campground" I told him to go talk to Joe at...

This is a review from June 2022 that I forgot to share with everyone. I’m sure after reading my review there will be many out there scratching their heads as to why I gave 5 stars.

My wife & I took off on a 5 state 3 week motorcycle trip from Southern California through the Pacific Northwest & back. We actually had made reservations for another campsite but since it had been raining all day & wasn’t going to let up we decided to look for a more permanent structure to lay our heads at night for the next 3 days.

Upon our arrival the husband & wife camp host team were extremely cordial, helpful and friendly. The small rustic cabin we stayed in had no electricity or bathroom. Bathrooms were nearby but to get to both the cabin & bathrooms/showers we had to traverse a small footbridge that went over a creek. It rained so hard that evening that the small bridge was completely covered with running water. So serious did it rain that the camp host came to us from an overgrown road to show us how we could get out in case of an emergency & to let me know that my motorcycle was in jeopardy of being swallowed up by the rising raging creek. Also I believe this creek ran into a small pond which also was getting full fast.

For the next few days my wife and I played cards, built a small campfire in front of our cabin when the rain let up for a few hours & took walks to Swan Lake nearby. Again the camp host were extremely helpful & offered us some firewood & extra lighting. Also we brought water, food & snacks with us along with a small Jackery power supply that kept our phones & lights charged. Also I believe the front store which I believe also had a kitchen was being renovated at the time.

It’s funny how life works especially as one gets older, hopefully more mature & overall is grateful every day they’re alive. Yes I would’ve loved to enjoy some sun, fishing, hiking & or to venture out a bit more & explore but all in all it was a such a great memorable experience that I wouldn’t trade for the world. The bond that was built upon between my wife & I during our stay here is everlasting & still giving us benefits.

Thank you to the camp hosts that were there in June 2022. I will try & share some photos of our memorable experience here @ Swan Lake Trading Post...