I'm the PP who posted the VRBO link. We stayed in Teton Village and always entered the park via the Moose Wilson road. Piece of cake. It is bumpy and slow driving but takes about the same amount of time as looping around to stay on the main roads, and there's a much better chance of seeing wildlife on the Moose-Wilson.

Thanks for the advice on things to do. We're pretty excited about rafting and the shoot out! I have a question about this:

Anonymous wrote:
From the place in Jackson, you'll be a pretty quick drive into the Tetons NP -- from Teton Village, it will be farther.

Looking at the map, Teton Village is closer to an entrance to GTNP than Jackson is (only one mile, according to the Teton Mountain Lodge website), but that is taking Moose Wilson Road to the Granite Canyon entrance instead of entering the park from the South Entrance off of US 89/191. We're going in the summer so Moose Wilson Road should be open. Is there some reason we can't enter the park at the Granite Canyon entrance? The NPS website is not at all helpful re. the location of the park entrances.

We stayed at Cowboy Village in Jackson. #5 of 40 for hotels on tripadvisor. Fun place walkable to town and it fit our budget.

That place in Jackson looks great. I think we drove by it a few times. I'd say it's a little bit of a hike into town, but if your kids are good walkers, it should be okay. I think if I were you, I'd just stay there the whole time and not switch between. And here are a few things to do while you're there:
-- White water rafting, assuming your kids are old enough
-- Hit the rock climbing park at Phil Baux park
-- Watch the evening shootout at the Square
-- drive up into Tetons. Do the Junior Ranger program; Hike; maybe rent a motor boat and boat around Jackson Lake.
From the place in Jackson, you'll be a pretty quick drive into the Tetons NP -- from Teton Village, it will be farther. I think the views will be great from both, so I wouldn't go to Teton Village just for the mountain views.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I'm partial to the quiet mountain view myself, but my friend persuaded me that there are so many fun things for the kids to do in the town of Jackson that we shouldn't skip it altogether. So I ended up booking two nights in Teton Village at this hotel:

http://www.tetonlodge.com/

and three nights in town at this one:

https://rusticinnatjh.com/

Has anybody ever stayed at either one?

OP again. I also meant to say that we love VRBOs and are staying at a VRBO in Big Sky, but when I looked for ones in JH, the pickings were really slim.

OP here. I'm partial to the quiet mountain view myself, but my friend persuaded me that there are so many fun things for the kids to do in the town of Jackson that we shouldn't skip it altogether. So I ended up booking two nights in Teton Village at this hotel:

http://www.tetonlodge.com/

and three nights in town at this one:

https://rusticinnatjh.com/

Has anybody ever stayed at either one?

for a quiet spot, we stayed at Ann Kent Cabins in Kelly. Just a short drive to town. the cabins are a bit rustic and nothing fancy, but the trade off was that we had the most gorgeous unobstructed view of the mountains.

Anonymous wrote:Wow, the pictures of the mountains in that VRBO listing are amazing. Are those views from the rental or just from the area?

I'm the one who posted it. The slideshow is pretty long, but the photos are labeled, so you can see that those with "view from the front of the house" etc. are indeed the views from the property. Some of the other views are from nearby, maybe 5-10 minutes away. The Tetons are spectacular and you can see them from pretty much anywhere in Teton Village.

We stayed at Snake River lodge in Teton Village. Expensive but really nice -- the pool is cute and heated, and they put out free apps for dinner. TV is smaller than I expected. There are a few restaurants, but not much. It's a short drive into Jackson, but I think that road backs up a lot during the summer, so it could take 30 minutes to get into town if traffic is bad.

In Jackson, we stayed at Snow Mountain. It's a little far to walk into downtown, but they have condo type rooms, so more space. Snow Mountain has a ton of activities in the summer -- alpine slide, trampoline, etc., which my kids really liked.

I definitely recommend the white water rafting out of Jackson. I think the river runs high early in the summer, though, so they may not allow kids under 12 or 14.

Spring Creek Ranch

We go in winter to ski and prefer to stay in Jackson just because there is more going on. Teton Village is pretty small and limited but if you want quiet maybe it's okay. It's about 12 miles from Jackson and you can drive or take the town bus. The bus is easy but takes maybe 40 mins or so.

Wow, the pictures of the mountains in that VRBO listing are amazing. Are those views from the rental or just from the area?

You may not be the VRBO type, but we stayed at this VRBO in Teton Village last summer and loved it. Great layout for a family, very quiet, easy walk down to the heart of the village. There were hot air balloons lifting off across the field out our window in the early morning, and a fox and I surprised each other as I sat out back with a glass of wine one night. Really idyllic.

https://www.vrbo.com/436724?unitId=1019786

We stayed at the Four Seasons in Teton Village and liked it but it's not as nice as you would expect (some of their properties are mind blowing, some are just ok. This is the later category). Teton Village has a lot to offer, though, and it's pretty easy to get into town (we had a car - no problems with parking. You'll want a car to go into the parks, obviously). Since you're going in the summer, FS has a really nice pool area. Winter and it's right on the mountain, which is great for ski in and ski out.

Town felt cute but cramped. Some great restaurants in town though. I don't know about partying atmosphere, but it didn't strike me as that type of place.

We are planning a MT/WY vacation this June. We are spending a few days in or near Jackson Hole, and I'm trying to decide whether we'd like to stay near Jackson Town Square or in Teton Village. We'd probably prefer a quiet spot, but would want to take advantage of restaurants in town. How hard is it to travel between Teton Village and Jackson proper? Is parking an issue in town? If we stay in town, will it be relaxing or more of a party feel? I have never been to WY or MT at all, so forgive me if these are dumb questions!