One&Only Moonlight Basin – the brand's first-ever ski resort

One&Only Moonlight Basin opened in Big Sky, Montana, on 18 November 2025 — the Dubai-headquartered group's first resort in the United States and, for that matter, its first ski resort anywhere in the world. It occupies 240 private acres bordered by more than 17,000 acres of permanently protected wilderness inside the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, its three lodge buildings, 19 freestanding cabins and private homes designed by Tom Kundig's Seattle-based practice Olson Kundig. A private heated gondola lifts guests straight from the resort's own Sky Lodge into Big Sky Resort's 5,800-plus acres of terrain, one of the largest ski areas in North America. The resort totals 92 keys, pairing Olson Kundig's glass-and-timber architecture with residential-style layouts built for privacy and space. The MICHELIN Guide places it among its Two Key hotels, and it stood as the sole American nominee on the Guide's 2026 World's Best New Hotels shortlist, alongside Capella Kyoto and the Chancery Rosewood in London.

01The house

The resort is a joint undertaking between One&Only's parent Kerzner International and Lone Mountain Land Company, the developer behind the wider Moonlight Basin community, and was built to redefine the nation's standard for ultra-luxury hospitality. Serge Ditesheim, fresh from launching One&Only Mandarina in Mexico, was installed as general manager to lead the opening. Architect Tom Kundig deliberately avoided alpine kitsch, choosing natural materials, local artwork and floor-to-ceiling glass over the oversized timber and antler chandeliers typical of Western lodges, so the low-rise structures read as an extension of the mountainside rather than an interruption of it.

Inside the Main Lodge, a rounded fireplace nodding to grain silos anchors the lobby beneath a star-patterned ceiling, flanked by colourful ceramic magpies by Alessandro Gallo and a bronze cowboy hat by Paul Harris. Above the spiral staircase hangs Vortex, Montana artist Tracy Linder's suspended sculpture woven from bison, elk and horse ribs gathered on her own Molt ranch — one note in an art collection built largely around locally based artists.

02Rooms and suites

Accommodation spans the Main, East and West lodges, holding 73 rooms and suites plus 19 freestanding cabins scattered through the lodgepole pines, for 92 keys in total. The entry-level Moonlight Room runs to 753 sq ft with a king bed, balcony and stone soaking tub, while the Moonlight Suite doubles that footprint at 1,100 sq ft with a separate bedroom and living area. The Big Sky Suite, the grandest in the Main Lodge, wraps a private terrace around an outdoor soaking tub with panoramic views.

Insider tip

An hour from Bozeman airport and Yellowstone's west entrance; private gondola straight to the ski lifts.

Every room, whatever the category, comes with a working fireplace, a private balcony or terrace, a stone soaking tub and a minibar stocked with Montana spirits, local beer and wine. The freestanding cabins go a step further, each with its own outdoor soaking tub and a fire pit just outside the door — the kind of seclusion that lets guests watch elk or fox cross the clearing from their own deck.

03Where to eat

Six venues make up the culinary programme, all overseen by executive chef Matt Dahlkemper. Wildwood, the all-day restaurant in the Main Lodge, looks straight across at Lone Mountain's slopes and builds its menu around ranch-to-table ingredients, with dinner service moving tableside and an intimate Chef's Table set inside the wine cellar. Down at the Sky Lodge, reached by the resort's private gondola, The Landing opened first, in December 2024, as a preview of the hospitality to come, serving locally sourced, seasonal American alpine dishes to guests and the wider Big Sky community alike.

The showpiece is Akira Back, the eponymous restaurant of the Aspen-raised, Michelin-starred chef and former professional snowboarder, who brings a reimagined Japanese steakhouse to the pines — dry-aged A5 wagyu, Japanese yakiniku and seafood alongside the bold, creative cooking he is known for worldwide, built this time around Montana's own seasonal ingredients.

04The bar

Dear Josephine, tucked into the Main Lodge, takes its name from Josephine Doody, a real Montana bootlegger and moonshiner of the Prohibition era, and dresses its cosy room in copper tones that recall the region's mining history. Further into the trees, reachable by electric buggy, Moonshack plays a rougher note: a freestanding speakeasy cabin built for whiskey pours and cigars, open to resort guests.

05Spa and wellbeing

The One&Only Spa fills a 17,000-square-foot building of its own, with eight treatment rooms, steam and sauna facilities, an oxygen bar and an indoor lap pool whose glass walls retract to a terrace with an outdoor onsen and cold plunge pool. Above the Moonshack, a private observatory adds guided stargazing sessions to the resort's wellness programme, taking advantage of the valley's famously dark, high-altitude skies.

06The neighbourhood

Big Sky sits roughly an hour's drive from Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport and about the same distance from Yellowstone National Park's west entrance, close enough for a day of wildlife safari, fly-fishing or geothermal sightseeing. On site, 15 miles of trails thread the lodgepole pines for hiking, mountain biking and Nordic skiing, and two private lakes give guests a beach for swimming, kayaking and trout fishing. The town itself has been climbing fast: Expedia named it its top trending destination for 2026, on the back of 13.7 million visitors to Montana in 2024.

07Making the most of a stay

Dogs are welcome up to 40 lbs per pet, with a limit of two per booking. Families are well looked after too: alongside a games room stocked with pool, foosball and chess, the KidsOnly Club runs dedicated programming for guests aged four to twelve, leaving the adults free for the spa, the gondola, or a quiet hour at Dear Josephine.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.