GREAT FALLS, Mont. -- Great Falls, the hub of the largest Lewis and
Clark signature event, counts approximately 2,000 hotel rooms.
The small city has seen several properties open in the last few
years: Holiday Inn Express, Extended Stay America and Crystal Inn
& Suites, as well as the Hampton Inn earlier this summer.
Nearby Fort Benton contains about 50 rooms, and the star hotel
here is the 1882 Grand Union Hotel, a 27-room property built to the
luxury standards of its era, just before travel by rail undercut
the town's importance as the westernmost terminus on the Missouri
River.
The state's oldest operating hotel, it was fully restored
between 1995 and 1999 and is listed in the National Register of
Historic Places.
Rates range from $79 to $145 per room, depending on season.
Commission is 10%, and agents can book through the hotel or on a
request basis via the Historic Hotels of the Rockies at www.historic-hotels.com.
Other options include bed-and-breakfasts, many of which also are
in the National Register of Historic Places. I toured two such
properties:
• The 1891 Collins Mansion in Great Falls was overhauled in nine
months and opened in June 1998.
The ground floor accommodates a broad entry with staircase,
breakfast rooms, professional kitchen and event rooms; the five
guest rooms (with baths) are on the middle floor. Room rates,
including breakfast for two, are $75 and $85 in winter, $85 and $95
in summer; commission is 10%.
• The Stone School Inn is a converted 1911 grade school that
stood empty for about half a century until it was overhauled and
reopened in November 2001.
Located in tiny Valier, it is a 90-minute drive north of Great
Falls and about 40 minutes southeast of Camp Disappointment, the
northernmost point on the Lewis and Clark trail.
Commissions are negotiable on rates that vary from $85 to $105
per room.
To contact Nadine Godwin, send e-mail to [email protected].
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For more details on this article, see:
• Tracking Lewis and Clark: 2003 is only the
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