Artful Lodger Bed & Breakfast

I had a very mixed experience with this beautiful, secluded mountain escape. I will start with the great. The accommodations are EXCELLENT. It is nestled about 30 minutes outside of Bozeman in the Springhill area. You definitely feel like you are getting out to the country for your stay, but it is nice to be so close to town that we were easily able to go spend a day in Bozeman. There are two spaces you can stay, a little one bed cabin which is PERFECT for a couple looking for a romantic getaway; and there is a larger barn style bunk house that sleeps I believe 8. We only utilized the smaller cabin.There is very usable kitchenette with everything you'd need to make a small easy meal, and we had full access to Ken's personal kitchen If we desired. The bed is MARVELOUS. Seriously, best night of sleep I had in months. There is a gorgeous bathroom with a jetted tub. The aesthetic of the place and the grounds is just wonderful. You walk out of your cabin to a beautiful green lawn and garden, and a roaring creek. There is a beautiful wooden bridge crossing the creek that leads you to a gorgeous bathhouse, complete with a sauna, showers, massage table, towels, everything you'd need. Just down from the bathhouse are several cute porches that include a fantastic hot tub, and cool tub. This area is gorgeous, day or night, right next to the creek. Perfection. Ken serves breakfast in his home on the property, and boy does he go all out. Fresh bread, homemade jams, cheese board, fresh OJ, coffee, homemade crepes one day; the spread was fantastic. Ken is a very nice host, the property has been in his family his entire life, he had many great stories and history to share. Overall a very pleasant host. This leads to where our trip was soured. At breakfast the first day of our 2 day stay here, Ken gave us a very long "schpeel/offer" of giving us a "tantric massage." He tried very hard to make it seem like it was not a "sex thing," but it most certainly was and my partner and I felt VERY uncomfortable with the entire pitch. He got fairly graphic. He did not once stop and ask us if we were at all interested or okay with this conversation, and yet he was still being so "nice" it felt hard to just interrupt and put a stop to the conversation, he was otherwise such a great host we didn't want to be rude, but he just kept going and going until we finally managed to interrupt him with a reason why we had to leave. We spent that day in Bozeman, and upon returning that evening we were immediately sent a text message from Ken requesting us to come join him in the sauna. I was still not over the awkwardness of his pitch at breakfast, and this just felt like him pushing the issue more, we politely declined, and then stayed in our cabin the rest of the evening. Not wanting to walk in to the sauna and be propositioned again. On our second (and last) breakfast with Ken the next morning he made it through breakfast (another wonderful spread) without anymore mention of the awkward proposal from the previous morning. That is until we were getting up to leave, he went for a hug, and then proceeded to rub his hands all over my back very inappropriately, lamenting the fact that we didn't take him up on his "tantric massage" offer. I felt very violated. I left his house immediately without another word while by partner finished goodbyes. If that hadn't already been our last morning here, I still would have left and found a room in Bozeman. I was extremely uncomfortable. This behavior is wildly inappropriate and killed any chance of me ever returning to his establishment, despite how WONDERFUL everything else about the space was. I was floored by how inappropriate his behavior was, and disappointed that an otherwise 5 star weekend was soured so completely and felt compelled to share my honest experience.
May 22nd, 2019

Sep 27th, 2017

I don't think I could rate The Artful Lodger high enough--it is heaven on earth. And Ken is an amazing host! We stayed here two nights while we got married nearby, and also had our officiant, maid of honor and my brother stay in the other cabin. Everyone was 100% in love with this place and never wanted to leave! So, first of all, the grounds. It is, as I said, heaven on earth. A creek runs through the property. The hot tub and cold plunge are situated above it, as is an amazing building with showers and a sauna. The cabin for two is spacious and beautiful and the bed feels like sleeping on a cloud. The barn building sleeps quite a few people. The upstairs has gorgeous balconies and big windows and a beautiful little bathroom--our friends loved staying there. The downstairs has beds and couches--a perfect hangout area and one we also used for staging wedding things. Then there are the beautiful woodland paths leading to each place--lanterns are lit along them every night. It feels magical! And everything is landscaped so beautifully. You really just have to see it for yourself to believe it! Next, breakfast. Ken had a gorgeous breakfast waiting for us both mornings and we were allowed to eat in his own cabin! And cooking for our team of people was no small feat either. Three were carnivores, I am a vegetarian and my brother is vegan. There was food for everyone and then some! Ken had even specially prepared vegan food for my brother. I can not tell you what that meant to both of us. It was just so kind and considerate of him to accommodate that way. And everything was gourmet-caliber delicious! The carnivores raved about the bacon and home made sausage, I loved the egg dishes and pastries, and my brother just loved the special carrot salad Ken had prepared for him, along with the many other things he could eat. It was just an all around pleasure. We also loved sitting around the table listening to Ken's stories. He has led the most interesting life! If you have the time, do talk with him. He's a fascinating person, and a kind one. And he was born in Montana and raised partially in Yellowstone by his father who was a park ranger! We loved his stories about that, and his travels, but most of all we loved his stories about the wildlife on his property. Such funny anecdotes! The Artful Lodger is worth every penny and then some. I can not recommend staying here highly enough, it's just simply wonderful and relaxing and other-worldly. If I won the lottery I'd rent out a cabin there for the rest of my life! Thanks for the amazing time, Ken. I think one of the highlights of our somewhat disastrous wedding was actually coming back to Artful Lodger and just sitting in the hot tub with our friends chatting. It was the perfect way to end a chaotic day. Memories to last a lifetime! A million thanks from our entire party!
Nov 30th, 2016