William F. Cody built the Irma in 1902 as the showpiece of his namesake town and named it for his daughter — and the hotel still runs on his terms: the famous cherrywood back-bar (a gift, the story goes, from Queen Victoria after a command Wild West performance) presiding over the restaurant's prime-rib institution, period suites named for Bill's famous friends upstairs (sleep in Buffalo Bill's own suite if you book fast), and the summer-evening Cody Gunfighters staging shootouts on the porch-front street six nights a week, free, to lawn-chair crowds. Rooms split historic (antiques, creaks, stories) and modern annex (quieter, plainer); all put you on Sheridan Avenue's main stage, five minutes from the Buffalo Bill Center and the nightly summer rodeo. It's lodging as attraction — the East Gate's character base. Booked directly.
Cody founded his town where the Burlington railroad met the road to Yellowstone's East Entrance, and the Irma was its declaration: a sandstone corner hotel "just the sweetest hotel that ever was," by its builder's modest assessment, designed to catch park tourists and host the great man's own court — he kept two suites and an office, and the register ran to presidents, princes, and Annie Oakley. The cherrywood bar remains the relic: carved in France, shipped via cape and rail at staggering 1900s expense, allegedly Victoria's thank-you for the royal command performance — polished nightly by elbows ever since.
Staying splits two registers. The historic rooms and name-suites upstairs (Buffalo Bill's, Irma's, Annie Oakley's) run Victorian-authentic — antique beds, period wallpaper, floors and plumbing with 120 years of opinions — the choice for travelers who want the story with the key; the annex additions behind run motel-modern for the sleep-first. Downstairs does the heavy lifting regardless: the restaurant's prime rib buffet is a Cody ritual (breakfast under the bar's gaze may be better), the Silver Saddle saloon pours to locals and Harley pilgrims equally, and June-through-September the Cody Gunfighters' 6pm street show — melodrama, blanks, and mustache commitment — makes the front porch the town's best free seat.
As a base
Sheridan Avenue's shops and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West are walking distance, the Cody Nite Rodeo runs every summer evening across town, and the park's East Entrance — via the Wapiti Valley's gorgeous 50 miles — sits an hour west, making Cody the scenic-approach base for the lake-and-canyon side of the loop. Summer books the historic suites well ahead on name recognition alone; winter rates drop with the town's pulse. It's a creaky, storied, completely singular night — exactly the point.
Why stay here
- ✓Buffalo Bill's original 1902 hotel
- ✓The Queen Victoria cherrywood bar
- ✓Historic name-suites upstairs
- ✓Prime rib restaurant institution
- ✓Free summer gunfight shows out front
- ✓Walk to Buffalo Bill Center
- ✓Cody Nite Rodeo minutes away
- ✓Scenic East Entrance route to the park
Good questions
Historic room or annex?+
Historic (ideally a name-suite — Buffalo Bill's own books months out) for the full 1902 experience, creaks included; the annex rooms behind trade story for quiet and modern plumbing. Choose by temperament.
What's the bar's story?+
The cherrywood back-bar was carved in France and — per the cherished account — sent by Queen Victoria after Cody's royal command Wild West performance. It cost more than the hotel's land, and it's still the town's centerpiece.
How does Cody work as a park base?+
An hour from the East Entrance through the Wapiti Valley's gorgeous approach — ideal for the lake/canyon side, paired with the Buffalo Bill Center and the nightly summer rodeo in town. Most trips do Cody nights on arrival or exit.
