Grand Union Hotel

Opened to the public Nov. 1, 1882 the Grand Union Hotel was Fort Benton’s pride, a haven of relaxation in a boisterous frontier town at the head of navigation on the Missouri. Total cost of the finest hostelry between Seattle and the Twin Cities was $200,000. The name echoes the reconciliation following the great Civil War in which many guests participated, wearing blue or gray.

Steamboats blew for their landings and great cattle herds crossed the Missouri within sight and sound of its patrons. Army officers, Canadian Mounties, miners, trappers, freighters, river captains, stockmen, missionaries, Indian agents and road agents rubbed shoulders in the Grand Union’s lobby, supped in its spacious dining room and adjourned to its well-stocked bar for the relaxation due a frontiersman at a weary journey’s end.

Following a multi-year, multi-million dollar restoration, supported by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the U.S. Parks Department, and the Montana State Historic Preservation Office, the Grand Union Hotel re-opened its doors on its 117th anniversary on November 2, 1999. Continuously updated since, the Grand Union is proudly listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the recipient of various state and national restoration awards recognizing the historical character of Montana’s oldest operating hotel and one of its most famous landmarks.

The vision was to return the building to its original hotel and restaurant use capturing the historic ambiance of the lobby, rooms, and restaurant–yet with modern amenities and uniquely Montana farm-to-table dining. The result is an authentically historic lodging and dining experience, set on the river banks of the Upper Missouri National Wild & Scenic River and gateway to the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. The Grand Union is proud to continue its tradition of providing the grandest lodging and dining experience to be found in Montana.