Missoula Travel Forum

does anyone know if there are any hostels or can recommend any cheap motels in missoula. i plan of heading there in feb. any knowledge about the weather during this month??? thanks

I know of no hostels in Missoula, there are plenty of cheap hotels, no place is really unsafe in Missoula but some hotels may be a bit more run down then others. I have stayed several times on east Broadway, the hotels are older and not very expensive, but it is walking distance to downtown.
The weather in February could be rather icky....lol. Might be cold or not, snow or not, but often Missoula gets under an inversion in the winter and the pollution hangs out under it. Head out of Missoula to higher elevation and find the sun. I live 45 miles south in Hamilton.
What brings you to Missoula?
Ellen

ellenh-
i am actually moving to missoula. i find it to be a really great place. my bf and i are in love with montana and after visiting the state so much we just decided to move there! we are very excited and we cant wait to leave illinois. the drive will be a little hectic (with my cat) but i think we'll manage. what do you know about lambros property management in missoula??
thanks!
jessica

ellen-
one other thing, hows the job market in the area??

Congrats on moving to Missoula its a great little town, we have a cabin about 2 hours from there, the winters are extremely cold, can get into the teens and the summers are hot! Good luck!

I don't have any problem with lambros, they are huge i know that. the job scene? depends what you do I guess, college town, service jobs are many but hard to get. proffesional jobs probably do well in Missoula. Once you get here let me know, we go to Missoula about once a month and you will certainly want to explore outlying areas.
welcome new neighbor....
Ellen

thanks for the warm welcomes summer33 and ellen! i am practically jumping out of my seat with excitement just talking about moving there! i love the landscape and the people of this area so i cant wait. now i'm in the market to buy my first (real) car and we'll be soon on our way!

ellen-
by the way, my bf is a certified chef with a culinary degree...i know you are in the restaurant business in hamilton (great web page!), but do you know how the res. business is going in missoula?? any advice would help!

there are many nice restaurants in missoula, the university has a culinary arts school. but you know that kind of work is not usually hard to find(as its a very demanding job....lol)

we had our first snow last night, only about 3 inches but its so beautiful. i grew up on the east coast and the cold here doesn't bother me at all.
Ellen

Hello. I have to be honest with you. Jobs are very very hard to come by and they don't pay anything. Starting your own business is the only way to go in Missoula, service jobs mostly. Maybe catering would be a good thing to consider. Missoula is very clicky, have to know someone to get "in" on some jobs. Rent is very high and wages are low due to the college students working for minimum wage of 4.50 or something ridiculous. My husband applied for a dishwashing job when he was in college in 1993 and they had 40 applicants. I was born and raised there. My best friends and family still live there. We have really good friends that moved there like you are and started from scratch w/ two business ideas. He has a d.j. company and she has a cleaning company now and do VERY well. There is money there since Californians and other rich people bought up the property, thus the real estate prices went through the roof. If you do find a job it's usually part time because then they don't have to pay insurance. I believe the medical field is pretty good for jobs. The restaurant scene is horrible. Anything unique and it is great for awhile but then fizzles. Seems like steak and potatoes is all that is popular there. Ethnic restaurants die. I have a culinary degree too. Ever thought of moving to Portland Oregon. It's awesome. I LOVE Missoula but it's super hard to make a living. It's great to have the camping and fresh water sports around the corner but it is isolated from most major airports by mountain passes and small winding roads. Or the other way is through Montana towards billings, still a long way. I'm sorry for the news. Just being honest. Missoula beat us up pretty bad. One tip, I found all my jobs in bars, hanging out and talking. There are never any in the newspaper. Best of luck. Email if you have more questions. Michelle

i do archaeology and i just need a home base for this summer. i plan on doing work anywhere in montana and wyoming, there's plenty! i can't wait! but that is a little depressing about the restaurant biz and everything else. but for the most part, my bf and i are young, recently graduated (last may) and are just living for the moment. our priority is to enjoy ourselves and just live until we decide to get our act together :)
i actually haven't been to portland...yet.

That's cool, good to hear. A permanent move there kind of scared me. My husband and I worked for the summer in Wyoming in 1997. I worked in the kitchen and he worked the desk. It was sooo fun. You'll have fun in Missoula.
Michelle

Hi. I looked at The Missoulian Classifieds and there are quite a few apartments for rent.
http://www.missoulian.com/classifieds/index.inn?loc=sub&main=Rentals

I spose you can always share a house w/ some college students. I would go to the campus and check the boards and look around. I'll try to find you a cheap hotel. Calling mom tomorrow.

Lambros Realty has been a Missoula institution forever. Don't really know their rep.

If you want the name of that resort in Wyoming let me know. It's in the middle of nowhere near Yellowstone Park and Jackson Hole.
Congratulations on graduation!
Michelle

thanks for your help michelle!-

i have been checking out the missoulian about every day. the one bedrm apts seem to be in our price range, which is good. i do have some friends out there, and we were also comtemplating getting a 3 bedrm house-some of them seem affordable.

i really love wyoming and i worked there also last summer season. i actually worked in yellowstone in the kitchen at canyon, my bf managed the edr dining room. it was a lot of fun, but i'm not sure if i would do it again:)

for the most part, my bf and i will be looking for jobs to get us by, though most ideal would be a chef's position for my him. most ideal for me..i'll do whatever until i can land that archaeology job this summer-fingers crossed!

if you could get me the name of a hotel that would allow a cat, that would be awesome!

thanks again michelle,

jessica

lol most montana hotels allow pets.
I have friends in several restaurants in Missoula, but really can't recommend someone without knowing how they are. Redbird is nice, Pearls is new and nice, Scotty's table is nice.
People live in Montana because they want to live here, not because they want to get rich. That is just a fact of life. It can be hard but if you are good, nothing is out of reach. My town is 5000 people and an hours drive from Missoula, people drive down from Missoula just to eat at the restaurant and we are 8 years strong and busier every day then the last. You'll do fine, I hope I get to meet you when you get here.

ellen- i checked out the webpage for your restaurant and i was so impressed! the flavor combos are amazing! you can be assured that my bf and i will definately be stopping by to partake!

ok but no fair playing anonymous...lol

http://missoula.montana.com/hotels.html

This is a huge list of hotels in Missoula. I'll have my mom call some soon. Haven't called her yet. I live far away and the time zones are crazy.

I bet you can get a deal if you stay a week. Just ask them.
Michelle