Background:

My wife and I drove from Astoria, Oregon to Spokane, Washington to visit my mother then we where off to Salt Lake City. Even though I made many journeys in the area when I lived in Spokane, I had never been on US Highway 12 from Orofino, Idaho to Lolo, Montana so we decided to use the highway as part of our route.

I decided that Hamilton, Montana would be a good place to spend the night so I made reservations at the Best Western Hamilton Inn. I checked both the Best Western website and the Travelocity website and booked through Travelocity since they had the best rates.

I highly recommend the drive along Highway 12 as it is extremely beautiful and a good place to stop for the night is the Best Western Hamilton Inn

The Hotel:

Hamilton is located 55 miles south of Missoula and 43 miles south of the intersection of US Highways 12 and 93, which is in Lolo, Montana. Hamilton is an outdoorsman dream area with plenty to do including hunting, fishing, hiking, biking, jogging, and just enjoying the great outdoors.

The Best Western Hamilton Inn is located directly on US Highway 93 just south of the downtown area. The hotel is u shaped with the motel office in a building in the center of the u and has 36 rooms. The hotel is mostly one story with a small two story section, has a hot tub near the office, offers a continental breakfast, free high speed internet service, free newspapers (USA Today), free local calls (if under 30-minutes), and for those brave souls: winter hookups. In addition the front desk is open 24 hours per day.

I love these classic motels that you can park right in front of your room so you don’t have to carry your luggage far. Yeah, I know it can be noisy if you have bad neighbors who come in and out at all times, but in my years of traveling there was very few times this was a problem.

For families: they offer rollaway beds, cribs, and do have a couple of family rooms with hide away beds available.

Business Services: The motel offers meeting rooms (accommodate up to 20); fax services, high-speed Internet service, and photocopying.

Other Information: Pets are not allowed, check in time is 2:00pm and check out time is 11:00am, and it has a 3 star rating from AAA.

The motel does not have an exercise facility or a pool.

Check In:

Check In was smooth and simple. It took them only a couple of minutes to get my set up and on my way. The lady running the counter was friendly, although we asked where there was a good restaurant but she was new to the area and didn’t have a clue.

However, in the breakfast area just beyond the registration desk they had a binder that had menus from most of the restaurants in town. This was a nice feature especially for budget travelers because you can check out the prices of the restaurants before you actually went into them.

The Room:

As it turned out our room was right across from the office. As you enter the room there is a table and chairs against the window that also had the phone on top of it (does have data ports), followed by the queen-sized bed with a nightstand on each side one with a digital clock. On the other side of the room is a dresser with the television on top of it.

Beyond the dresser was the area for luggage with one suitcase stand. Next to the luggage are was the vanity and sink. Next to that was the door into the bathroom, which contained a full size tub and a toilet. The only sink in the room was at the vanity.

The rooms also offer a coffee maker, ironing board and iron, hairdryer and additional toiletries. The rooms are also bright, with white walls and lightly colored bedspreads. All rooms are equipped with air conditioning and heating that is not loud. Some rooms also offer a refrigerator and microwave but ours did not.

The television had about 25 channels to choose from including the major networks, ESPN, CNN, and the weather channel among others.

The Good:

The motel is close to the downtown area with many shops and restaurants plus the motel is in the center of outdoor activities in the Bitterroot Valley. The rooms are comfortable, well lit, and you do not hear much noise even with the parking lot out your window. The motel also offers efficient service.

The Bad:

The bed was a little soft for my taste, and the room was a little on the small side which you expect with some of these older motels. Also the bathroom was showing some signs of wear but otherwise there was nothing that really stood out.

Breakfast:

The continental breakfast was pretty typical. There was toast, cereal, orange juice, milk, fruit, and donuts. The room where the continental breakfast is small but the motel does not have that many rooms so usually there is not that many people in there at one time. There are a couple of tables with four chairs at them plus a couple of couches.

Check Out:

Check out was quick and efficient although the person working the counter in the morning was less friendly than the person the night before.

Competition:

Other motels in the area include the Super 8, Bitterroot River Inn Motel, Comfort Inn, Deffy’s Motel, and Bitterroot Motel. The Super 8 and the Comfort Inn had prices comparable to the Best Western. I did not check prices at the independents.

The Area:

Restaurants (all within a mile or so of the motel): Fiesta El Jalisco, The Edge, KFC/A&W, Subway, 4B’s, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Hardee’s, McDonald’s, BJ’s, Cheng Family Restaurant, Greek Gyro Express, Pasqual’ s SW Cuisine, Big Sky Candy, The Banque Company, Kitchen Café, The Signal Grill, A Place to Ponder (Bakery and Café), Bamboo Garden, Spice of Life Café, Bitterroot Bistro & Café, Taco John’s, and Sundance Café.

We ate at the 4B’s which is similar to a Denny’s but with better quality. The Food was good and the service very friendly. Entrées range between $7 and $10. When we look at the menus in the motel most of the other restaurants range in price from $12 to $35 so the 4Bs is a good bargain.

Attractions: Ravalli County Museum-across street, Fly Fishing and Hamilton Golf Course-Half Mile, Bitterroot River-1 Mile, Daly Mansion-2 miles, Numerous Hiking Trails-5 miles, Como Lake Recreation Area-10 miles, Teller Refuge Wildlife Preserve-12 miles, Lake Como-18 miles, St. Mary’s Mission-18 miles, Fort Owen-18 miles, Darby Pioneer Museum-20 miles, Stalkaho Falls-20 miles, Painted Rocks Resevoir-35 miles, Lost Trail Ski Area-50 miles, Big Hole Battlefield-75 miles


Recommended: Yes

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