I gave the Dude Rancher Lodge a rating of Excellent due to the high quality of service we received and the price for the room. We arrived at 7:00 PM hungry and tired thinking that we had made reservations via one of the on line sites, but we were not in their system. Even before my husband could find the receipt they met the price that we told them we had booked it at even though it was the last room of that size available. They had other customers who came in soon after us requesting the room, who would have had to pay more than what we did, but they honored our word and gave us the room. To me this is HUGE! We have two kids and to have to put them back in the car at that point and try to find something else would not have been fun. The room was clean, the furnishings were a bit warn, the rooms on the smaller side but again good for the price we payed. The only real complaint was that the air conditioning did not work as well as we would have liked. We enjoyed the rope hand rails on the stairs and it definitely had a Ranch/Bunkhouse theme which my two kids enjoyed! Unfortunately for us their restaurant was the only one close that was still open, and we would have done better ordering pizza in. It was very disappointing. Needless to say we got up the next morning and drove down the road a bit for breakfast. The location was right down town on big streets, and a good distance off of the freeway. Even with the location being not so good, we will keep the Dude ranch in mind and stop there again if we are due to hit Billings in the evenings on our trek across Montana next summer.

The rooms were small and dirty with exposed pipes leading into the floor. The carpet was black in places with ground in dirt. The bedside lamp was made of wood decorated with bands of fur. Tacky just isn't a strong enough word. The room smelled. The air conditioning did not work and the room was hot. The bathroom was featured an orange sink on a yellow counter top. It needed more cow fur to really make the whole thing flow together. Avoid this motel.

Stayed here prior to 2 week motorcyle trip; the irony of the Dude Rancher is that it's in the middle of the town, surrounded by corporate buildings and parking lots. Very funky that way; apparently, the ranch moved on. Convenient to town and walking distance to restaurants, fast food, supermarkets. Rooms have dated character - pine, orange textiles and cattle brand design on carpets. However, carpets are so stained and filthy that you want to wipe your feet when you leave the room. I am not a fastidious traveller, but this creeped me out... ! Certainly not 5-star; at least not my room.

Nice, rustic lobby area with fireplace, slate floors, couches and morning coffee; restaurant next door is fine for breakfast. Pleasant people at front desk; unhurried.

But if you're looking for a ranch... dude... keep looking.

My wife and I just completed a 16 day, 5200 mile motorcycle trip thru the Midwest. One of our goals was to get to the Dude Rancher Lodge after seeing the Hotel Impossible episode featuring the lodge. We scheduled one night on their websight and we were really anticipating the stay at the Lodge.
As it went, we got room 205 which we found out was one of the rooms refurbed on the show. The price that we paid was way too low for the quality room that we received. We LOVED the place so much that we decide to stay a 2nd night. We didn't have anything that we wanted to see in Billings, just the Lodge so we decided to use the 2nd day for a 'down' day to relax and rest before starting home.
We have decided that the next trip will be with Billings and the Lodge as the primary destination and maybe we will make it to some of the states that we didn't make it to this time (Idaho, Washington, Oregon)!
Keep up the great work and a 5 star hotel in my book! Thanks!!!!!
Frank and Lil Kiehner
East Prospect, Pa.
PS. The blinking light in the lobby was really interesting!!