Red Bear Inn's Story

About the Owners

Beth was raised in the family business of hotels in West Yellowstone, Montana. Because she started her first unofficial job at a hotel, she grew to love the industry. After getting an education in electronic engineering, she entered the service industry troubleshooting machines and problems for 25 years.

Ted was raised in a family that fixed things. From an early age he was taught to fix cars, houses, and anything he could get his hands on. After studying electronics in New Jersey, he entered the service industry, also troubleshooting machines and problems for 35 years.

The two met in upstate New York at a hotel, ironically.  Their love of the hotel industry along with years of corporate travel inspired them to find a place to call their own. Their unique points of view, as well as their different cultural backgrounds, provided a great opportunity to get back to Beth’s roots and do it together.

She is the yin to his yang and together they have created a place that they call home.  They welcome people from all over the world and share with them their take on how to hibernate like it’s a hobby.

Company Origin

In Montana, black bears can be abundant and grizzly bears are also spotted occasionally. While you may have heard that it is possible for bears to be aggressive in the wild, we know through research that bears do not want to have experiences that involve humans. They prefer to run away at even a sniff of a human. However, these amazing mammals are often the crux of conversation amongst people out West.

As a young girl, the owner of the Red Bear Inn, Beth, had an extra interest and large amount of love for bears. She researched and wrote science reports as often as possible about bears in school. Beth would also drive around at night as a teenager to hopefully spot bears and observe their behavior in the nearby town of West Yellowstone.

Beth comes from a hospitality-oriented family and once, at her family’s hotel, she witnessed a bear trying to get into the door of a cabin on the property! From Beth’s point of view, growing up, there was nothing better than a bear. With that love of bears and the color of her red hair, the dream of Red Bear Inn was born.