Warm and genuinely attentive at the individual level, but operationally still finding its feet. Butlers, bartenders, and resort hosts repeatedly go above and beyond, and named staff get singled out for thoughtful touches. The weakness is consistency — policies vary by who you ask, and billing disputes have been hard to resolve after checkout.

Akira Back is the headline and arguably the best restaurant in Montana, with an extensive wine list and a chef who works the room. The Moonshack whiskey bar in the woods is a signature experience worth the trip on its own. Breakfast is the weak link: a handsome buffet that skips the hearty mountain classics, with occasional stockouts on basics like milk options and bottled water.

Spacious, intelligently zoned, and designed around the views, with balconies that deliver. Finishes are what you expect at this tier. Housekeeping has slipped on occasion — including used amenities left in-room — which shouldn't happen above $1,000 a night.

Spectacular setting on Lone Mountain, accessed via the resort's private gondola — a genuinely unusual luxury ski experience. It is not ski-in/ski-out. The property is also spread out enough that getting between lodge, spa, and restaurants requires a shuttle, and the shuttle isn't yet reliable. Big Sky town is 20 minutes away and round-trip transport runs over $300.

Hard to defend at current rates given the operational rough edges. When everything works, the ski experience, Akira Back, and the Moonshack justify the spend; when systems go down or charges appear without explanation, the premium stings.

The strongest category. Olson Kundig's building frames the landscape from every hallway and elevator bank, and the Moonshack — a relocated Idaho cabin scented with torched rosemary — is the kind of detail that defines a property.