One&Only Moonlight Basin Brings Luxury To Big Sky

Published on Nov 19, 2025, 7:49 pm CST

7 min read

Key points

One&Only Moonlight Basin has opened as One&Only's first resort in the United States
The Big Sky property offers 73 lodge rooms and suites, 19 cabins, and 62 private homes on 240 acres
A private gondola links the resort to Big Sky Resort's Madison Base for fast ski access
Dining includes The Landing, Wildwood, Akira Back, Dear Josephine, and a speakeasy-style Moonshack
Year-round activities range from skiing and snowshoeing to hiking, mountain biking, and trout fishing
A large spa, outdoor onsen, and kids club position the resort for high-end family and wellness travel

Impact

Who This Helps: Affluent ski travelers and luxury guests now have a new top-tier option in Big Sky with direct mountain access
Booking Strategy: Plan well ahead for peak winter and summer dates, and look for opening offers that bundle savings with resort credit
Family Travel: Interconnecting rooms, spacious suites, cabins, private homes, and a kids club make the property suitable for multigenerational trips
Seasonality: Expect strongest demand for ski season and summer outdoors, with shoulder seasons offering more space and potential value
Destination Positioning: The opening pushes Big Sky further into the global luxury spotlight alongside long established Rocky Mountain resorts

One&Only Resorts has officially opened One&Only Moonlight Basin in Big Sky, Montana, marking the ultra luxury brand's debut in the United States and its first dedicated alpine resort. The property welcomed its first guests on November 18, 2025, adding ski in, ski out style access to Big Sky Resort, a private lakeside setting, and a mix of lodge rooms, cabins, and private homes on 240 acres of forested terrain within the Moonlight Basin community.

For travelers, the opening brings a new high end base in southwest Montana, within driving distance of Yellowstone National Park and about an hour from Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport (BZN), with year round outdoor activities and a strong focus on food, wellness, and residential style stays.

One&Only Moonlight Basin In Big Sky, Montana

The resort sits within the private Moonlight Basin development above Big Sky, bordered by roughly 17,000 acres of protected land and framing views of Lone Mountain, Fan Mountain, and the Spanish Peaks range. Kerzner International describes the setting as a place where forests, lakes, meadows, and mountains are the main draw, with One&Only layering its design and service approach on top of an already established outdoor playground.

Accommodation is spread across six main resort buildings, including the Main Lodge, East Lodge, and West Lodge, which together house 73 guest rooms and suites, plus 19 freestanding cabins that add privacy and space. Rooms start at generous square footage, and many include fireplaces, soaking tubs, and terraces that look toward the surrounding peaks, which aligns the property with the larger suite focused trend in modern mountain resorts.

For guests who want a residential stay, One&Only Moonlight Basin also offers a collection of four to six bedroom Private Homes. These homes feature multiple levels of indoor and outdoor living space, fire pits, hot tubs, gourmet kitchens, and garage access, and they are positioned to take in views of forest, lakes, and snow capped peaks. The private homes can be purchased and also booked for group getaways, blurring the line between second home ownership and high end vacation rental inventory under a branded flag.

Latest Developments

The opening of One&Only Moonlight Basin follows several years of construction and a phased rollout that included the One&Only Sky Lodge, a dedicated ski lodge and dining hub, which debuted in December 2024 as a preview of the resort's wider offerings. Hospitality and local reports confirm that the full resort, spa, restaurants, and private homes are now welcoming guests ahead of the 2025 to 2026 ski season, with a ribbon cutting ceremony held in mid November.

One&Only is using targeted opening offers to seed demand. Early promotions highlight savings of up to 25 percent and a resort credit of around $ 500.00 (USD) for stays of three nights or more, which is significant at this price point and signals that the brand wants travelers to test the property early in its life cycle.

At the portfolio level, One&Only Moonlight Basin is the company's first resort in the United States and also its first ski oriented property, adding a mountain counterpoint to beach and city locations in destinations such as the Maldives, Dubai, and Mexico. A second U.S. resort is already in the pipeline next to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, suggesting that Kerzner International intends to grow the brand's footprint in key North American leisure markets.

Analysis

From a traveler's perspective, One&Only Moonlight Basin changes the competitive set in Big Sky and the wider U.S. mountain luxury space. The resort combines traditional ski in, ski out convenience with ultra luxury positioning and a strong residential component, which places it alongside, and in some cases above, established names in Colorado and Utah on nightly rate and amenity depth.

Food and beverage is central to the concept. The Landing in the Sky Lodge serves what One&Only calls "eclectic American comfort food" and operates as a social hub overlooking the slopes, while Wildwood in the Main Lodge focuses on ranch to table dishes and daily breakfast. A separate Akira Back restaurant, led by the Michelin starred chef, brings Japanese and Korean inspired plates, dry aged steaks, and prime wagyu cuts, which is a notable upgrade on the typical mountain grill or steakhouse.

Bar and lounge spaces lean into Montana history and alpine themes. Dear Josephine, an intimate cocktail bar in the Main Lodge, nods to Prohibition era bootlegging and frames views of the surrounding forest, while Moonshack, a speakeasy style cabin tucked into the woods, focuses on whiskey and cigars for guests who want a more secluded evening setting.

On the activities side, the resort is anchored by the One&Only Gondola, which links the Sky Lodge to Big Sky Resort's Madison Base in about five minutes, giving guests quick access to more than 5,800 acres of ski terrain when conditions allow. Beyond alpine skiing, guided snowshoeing, fat tire biking, and Nordic skiing round out the winter offerings, while a network of trails, trout fishing, and stand up paddle boarding on the property's private lakes take over in the summer and shoulder seasons.

Wellness and family infrastructure are also core to the design. The spa sits partly cantilevered over the landscape with large glass walls that open in warmer weather, and it includes an outdoor heated onsen, cold plunge, and an indoor pool that can connect to fresh mountain air. A dedicated kids club and a range of interconnecting rooms and multi bedroom homes support family and multigenerational travel, which is crucial for a destination that often sees extended winter and summer stays.

Background

Moonlight Basin itself has evolved from a stand alone ski area into part of the broader Big Sky Resort after a 2013 consolidation, creating one of the largest linked ski domains in the United States, with more than 5,700 acres of terrain and a mix of private club areas and public lifts. Kerzner's move to place a One&Only within this landscape reflects a broader trend in luxury hospitality, where brands pair high end hotel offerings with real estate, club memberships, and curated outdoor experiences, then market the combination as a lifestyle platform rather than a simple room product.

For travelers, the practical takeaway is that One&Only Moonlight Basin is likely to sit at or near the top of the local rate spectrum, but it delivers a full ecosystem of dining, spa, and activities that can reduce the need to leave the property, especially in harsh winter conditions. Guests staying elsewhere in Big Sky may still interact with the resort through public venues such as The Landing and, where policies allow, select bar or restaurant reservations.

Final Thoughts

One&Only Moonlight Basin gives Big Sky a new benchmark for luxury stays, connecting a high touch resort experience with direct access to some of the largest linked ski terrain in the United States and a deep roster of year round mountain activities. Travelers who value space, privacy, and resort based amenities, and who are comfortable at the top end of the price range, now have another reason to look at southwest Montana for winter ski trips and summer alpine escapes, as One&Only Moonlight Basin settles into its first full season.