Overall I HIGHLY recommend Lake Condos if you’re wanting to stay in Big Sky. Beats $400/night hotel rooms without kitchens! The staff was super welcoming & friendly even though we weren’t owners – not the case everywhere. We loved our time spent at Lake Condos so much that we’re purchasing a week of our own in Summer AND Winter!
This is a great location about an hour from Yellowstone’s West Entrance. TIP: Leave EARLY to beat the crowds. We got there around 7:15am and didn’t wait at all to get in. If space allows pack a small foldable cooler and ice packs to pack sandwiches and snacks. Never know when you’ll get stuck in a Bisson traffic jam! No space? No problem! The office is going to start offering small coolers for guests to borrow for a small fee. Also in West Yellowstone is the Grizzly & Wolf Sanctuary which I highly recommend. Arrive prior to opening to be sure to get a spot in the Keeper Kids program for your children. $5 per kid & they get to go with a Keeper into the bear enclosure to help hide food for the bears to find as part of their enrichment. So cool! Big Sky Resort is less than a 5 minute car ride and offers a lot of things to do. We rode the tram to Loan Peak 11,100 elevation and a must do! We took mountain bike lessons and had amazing instructors.
The view from our unit was AMAZING! Small Lake Rental business on property kept my kids (6 & 9) out on the lake for hours at a time on stand up paddle boards, kayaks, paddle boats and canoes. So much so that we skipped going anywhere for 2 days so the kids could just play & meet new friends. We saw a lot of people fishing as well. Check out the Epic Yellowstone Pass offered by Geyser Whitewater. For $188 per person we received unlimited boat rentals, 1/2 day rafting trip, 1/2 adventure pass at Zipline Adventures that also had a huge ropes course in West Yellowstone and unlimited rock climbing on a small 30′ wall inside of Geyser’s facility in Big Sky.
We visited in July & it was not uncomfortably hot in our unit without A/C. We kept the windows open, used the box fans in the windows to pull in the cooler outside air, and were very comfortable during the day and cozy under blankets at night. The fans were a nice background white noise while sleeping and didn’t bother us at all.
We stayed in unit 1556 on the first floor & while a bit dated was well kept & clean. 2 bedroom (King & Queen beds), sleeper sofa with the most comfortable sofa bed mattress you’ve ever slept on and 2 full bathrooms with tub/shower combos. Unit included a washer & dryer, gas grill, humidifiers, box fans and a gas fireplace (we didn’t use). This is a spacious unit and could easily accommodate 8+ people using an air mattress in the master bedroom. The office offers rentals of air mattresses and other items you may need but not want to pack. Crock pots and griddles are available to borrow for free. Lake Condominiums even provided plastic wrap, tin foil, bar soap, salt & pepper. No timeshare I’ve been to EVER provides those items. Laundry detergent & dryer sheets could be purchased for $1 in the office. The office also had a huge selection of board games, DVD’s for $1 per night, $1 microwave popcorn and many books. A toilet was running and maintenance responded right away and repaired the issue.
Pick up groceries in Bozeman when you arrive as food is very expensive in Big Sky. $6-7 for a loaf of bread, and not the fancy kind. If you need to grab something during the week I recommend the Country Market. It is small but I found it to be $2 cheaper on most items vs a competitor, Roxy’s.
We traded into this resort via RCI. I read all of the reviews ahead of time so knew there wasn’t A/C or elevators and stairs were necessary. I even called the resort prior to booking and had all of my questions answered by the amazing staff who even recommended that I book my rental car and activities ASAP as they were unusually busy this summer and things were booking up. I appreciated this as we are a last minute, wing it kind of family. I took that advise and was able to obtain a renal car and white water rafting reservations prior to our arrival – everything was booked when we got there.
If you’re pretentious & the décor of a unit affects how you enjoy your vacation then this isn’t the place for you. BUT if you’re looking to make amazing family memories, in an affordable, clean and comfortable unit, close to tons of things to do give Lake Condos a try.