Dive survives with luxury facelift

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

By Henry Sweets

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-The structures that once housed the Wagon Wheel Village and the rough-and-tumble Log Cabin Saloon have survived the wrecking ball.
But don’t expect the rowdy party nights of the old saloon to return.

Instead, the Rustic Inn at Jackson Hole opened last Tuesday with its front desk and bar in what used to be the popular old saloon and package store. The offices and new, upscale bar will serve as the central hub for 145 individual guest cabins on the 7-acre property.

The Route 89 Smokehouse restaurant has been demolished to make way for the hotel’s swimming pool and lounge deck.

The second story dance floor of what used to be the Log Cabin Salon has also been removed to give the new bar a vaulted ceiling.

The stylish, granite bar is open to the public, but high-back western chairs and beaver-pelt ottomans will leave little evidence for those seeking nostalgia from the old bar.

The bathrooms that once concealed some of Jackson bar culture’s more unspeakable acts are now outfitted with richly hued tile and soft lighting. Cloth hand towels are arrayed next to the sink on a bronze moose paddle.

An outdoor patio with gas-powered chimneys now sits where lines of motorcycles, bikes and cars once did, back when the locale was known as The Cabin.
Last fall, developer Jerry Johnson said he would eventually demolish the original structures after a small-scale renovation. But his nephew, operating manager Jeremy Johnson, said those plans have been scrapped.

He denied rumors that the changes were only temporary, saying this new hotel is intended to revamp a district of Jackson and compete with Teton Village’s luxury hotels.
Seventy-five existing cabins have been remodeled and 78 new cabins have been installed on the space vacated by what used to be the Wagon Wheel Campground.
The cabins feature amenities like 48-inch flat screen televisions, down bedding and heated marble floors.

When the bar was sold last year, an outcry went up amongst employees and patrons, who thought the structure would be torn down.

“It used to be a really busy, happy place,” Alice Bryan said.
Bryan, an employee there since the early ’90s, said crowds came and went, but during the last few years they tapered off.

Pete Muldoon, a bartender at The Cabin from 2003 to 2004, said the bar was once the center of activity in town. He agreed that the bar was not always the rough place some thought it was, but said the scene was wild at times.

“I didn’t get punched in the face until the last night I worked there,” he said.
Judging by the fine interiors, the new bar doesn’t seem like it will be conducive to the famed roughhousing of Log Cabin days past.

Photo by SPENCER SIMENSEN
The Rustic Inn boasts new digs and new appeal.

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Dive survives with luxury facelift | Planet JH News Article: General News

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