One&Only Moonlight Basin opens: ‘We are now a global destination’

Luxury resort, restaurants and amenities open ahead of ski season 

By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER 

The first guests at One&Only Moonlight Basin checked in this morning, Nov. 18, at 9:30 a.m. A couple hours later, scissors held by Sam Byrne, CrossHarbor Capital Partners co-founder and managing partner, and Matt Kidd, Lone Mountain Land Company president, cut the ribbon to the resort. A pop of champagne followed as employees of the first One&Only resort in the U.S. filled glasses to hand out to attendees. 

The resort occupies 240 acres in the Moonlight Basin area of Big Sky, and many of the windows frame Lone Mountain’s northeast face, as well as Fan Mountain and the Spanish Peaks range. Four restaurants on the property are now open, including a Japanese-Korean restaurant and The Landing, which opened to the public this summer. One&Only Moonlight Basin also opened a 17,000-square-foot spa and wellness space, and private homes offer residents a secluded space. 

Kidd started off the ribbon-cutting ceremony by describing how this development puts Big Sky on a global stage. 

“This hotel connects Big Sky to the world like nothing else before. We are now a global destination,” Kidd said. “People from all over the world are working here, and people from all over the world are visiting and that is connectedness and that matters.”

Developed by Lone Mountain Land Company, the resort project required partnerships with teams at Olson Kundig Architecture, Bozeman-based Langlas & Associates, Kerzner International, Michelin-starred chef Akira Back, and, of course, One&Only. 

“This has been an unbelievable partnership, an unbelievable journey, and really we’re just getting started and to all of you, to the entire Big Sky community,” Kidd said. “It takes so many different pieces of the puzzle to make this all work and to be able to bring this into fruition to be able to help this place thrive. And we have just a tremendous amount of gratitude for all of our community partners and everyone that’s been a part of this.”

Kidd passed the microphone to Mark Kirby, president of One&Only since early 2025. Kirby noted that the new One&Only location accomplishes two firsts, being in the U.S. and alpine destination—in the winter, guests can hop onto the One&Only gondola to reach slopes at Big Sky Resort. He commended the work people put in to open One&Only Moonlight Basin. 

“I’ve never seen an opening so incredibly collaborative that everybody just wants this resort, this hotel, to really come to life and open in a very, very special way,” Kirby said. “We’ve opened up a lot of hotels over the years, but I’ve never seen anything where everybody just works so beautifully together with such an incredible spirit from this region. So we’re super privileged to do that.”

Sam Byrne spoke about One&Only next, saying that he learned about the piece of land, surrounded by the Spanish Peaks and Lone and Fan mountains from Kevin Germain, VP of Moonlight Basin. 

“When Kevin walked up to me earlier today, I had a tear in my eye. I was so excited to see him and say, ‘You did it. You created something that was so respectful of what was the best piece of land out here,’” Byrne told the crowd. 

Finally, Byrne addressed the audience, including dozens of Big Sky business leaders and various media workers. 

“I could not be happier to be welcoming you here today and again, [I’m] super humbled by what we’ve created and hope you feel the same way,” he said. 

With that, the crew, which included Akira Back and Tom Kundig owner and founder of design firm Olson Kundig, held the wide One&Only ribbon as Kidd sliced the ribbon with golden scissors.

PHOTO GALLERY BY JACK REANEY