Living in MT, one of our go to winter getaways. IF you can go eat in the Mammoth Hotel restaurant in the park at the lodge. There are a couple of good places in Gardener over the last few years not many 10 years ago. There is a nice grocery store in town to get things as there is a full kitchen in your room. These rooms are basically single bedroom apartments with full kitchen. Staff has always been great and we often hit it at Christmas time. They have always fixed a Christmas dinner in the check in area. I know many times people coming in who weren't able to eat and were able to get something and were very appreciative. We usually bring something to add and if unable to eat at the park restaurant. They do a special Xmas dinner, but at present it is for Mammoth Lodge guests. You can check in and maybe get in. The bar though has great stuff and a nice fire to sit beside after a day of cross country skiing or snowshoeing. We are lucky to live within three hours of here. The best part is that you can drive across Lamar Valley to Cooke City in the park and winter is frankly the best time to go as long as you don't slide off the road. Having a 4WD truck/winch, we have helped people specifically on two occasions and seen a hundred other "crashes" of various intensity. So WATCH THE ROADS and really 4WD/AWD is more than recommended. Particularly if you are from flat states and don't have a clue about Montana winter driving... It can kill you. The "apartments" are great homey nice dedicated bedroom and very sleepable couch sleeper beds. We have no negatives on this place. Well, a few times wish they had put new couch/beds in... but no biggie

This place is FANTASTIC!!! Our first visit to YNP happened to be just after all but the Northern entrance had been closed. We did not know we could not travel East on the beartooth road out of Cooke City at the NE entrance/exit so we had to turn around and drive back through the park and exit where we entered (completely our fault!!). We found lodging here and it was PERFECT!! We highly recommend and will be staying again when we come back next year (much earlier, of course!!)

We stayed three nights in #110, a two-bedroom, one bath suite with a kitchen. It was great… had everything we needed, a well-stocked kitchen, coffee, nice drink glasses, good A/C, a grocery store across the street, and could park near our door. Elk and deer wandered through this charming little town daily. We didn’t use the guest laundry, but it was open 5:00-8:00 in the evenings. The owner was so kind to mail some clothes to us that we left in a drawer. Gardiner is the north entrance into Yellowstone National Park, where the main road was destroyed in the June 2022 flood. The temporary road is a winding four miles into the park with lots of 15-mph curves, but don't let that stop you... the Gateway Inn is a great base for visiting the park.

I'd love to give Gateway five stars and rave about it. The room was spacious and generally clean. It appeared to have been remodeled somewhat recently. The grounds (frequented by deer and elk) are pleasant. The pricing is fair. We were able to reserve a pet-friendly room. There were two issues, only one of which is under the inn's control. We had an end unit; immediately adjacent to us was a large fifth-wheel RV that we were told was occupied by the maintenance manager. On the first night, we heard loud noises (thumping, as if cupboard doors were being slammed shut) through the wall of our bedroom -- all night. We mentioned this to the manager, and the sounds ceased on the second night. However, they came back with a vengeance the third night. Needless to say, we did not have a restful sleep. We have no idea what caused the noise. The second issue is the "town" of Gardiner itself. It's actually an unincorporated part of the county, and it shows. Once you get off the main highway that runs through town, the streets are either gravel or filled with potholes that would swallow a small car. Also, we were here at the end of the season, and some restaurants were closed while the remainder were so short-staffed that they really couldn't keep up with even normal business (and the staff were clearly hassled and unhappy). One night we had a frozen pizza we bought at the grocery store. The other two nights we settled for food that was, OK after not being able to get into the best-rated restaurants. Late September or early October is the best time to visit YNP -- we live 90 minutes from the west entrance and visit several times a year. The weater is still beautiful and the crowds are down. This was our first stay in Gardiner, and it will be our last -- it's back to Jackson and West Yellowstone for us.

We loved our three nights here. You can park your car right smack in front of the door. Our cabin (cabins are connected to each other) had a great kitchen with a full-size fridge and ice maker plus a table to eat on. It was clean, quiet, and comfortable. There are elk on the property, which sits back from the main road. You can walk to restaurants, but driving was never a problem. These cabins are not luxurious, but very comfortable and everything we could have wanted for our time in Yellowstone.