Ski Tip Lodge

Very unassuming when you walk up but the experience when you walk in door is «bucket list» worthy. From the fireplaces to the amazing service and food. This is a must experience restaurant!

What a wonderful experience! From the moment we walked in to the last bite! The wait staff was incredibly knowledgeable of the menu and described the menu like poetry! The food was amazing and beautifully presented! We found our new favorite on the wine list! We will definitely be back on EVERY visit to Keystone!

There are several reasons they have been honored with a 2015 Top 100 Restaurants award. There are several reasons why I only gave them 3 stars this year, down one from last year. The food is amazing, the service is second to none. It is the only place to go when you are in Keystone and want a romantic evening. It is a four course meal $ 75, three courses for children $ 45. Be aware they also tack on a 6.4% «service». Sales tax and gratuity are on top. Dessert is served fire-​side in one of two «living rooms».
Our server, Chris, had excellent menu knowledge and was very kind toward our 5 year old daughter. Megan’s wine knowledge is beyond even some of the top wine expects, in Napa. She has been there for many years. Reservations are needed well before you arrive for your ski trip. There are only ten tables and they seat in two settings with stagger timing, every 15 minutes.
This time we were underwhelmed with the bread basket. It still had all in-​house baked items, but they didn’t have anything with a wow-​factor. It could have been in any 3 – 4 star restaurant. It lacked something seasonal or local.
This time they actually served our daughter elbow macaroni from a box! I had to pick my chin up from the table when it was served. Last year, she was served house-​made pasta. It was such a disappointment and a huge waste of $ 45.
Over all it is a quaint lodge with great service. I don’t know if they have a new chef, but it will make us think about it before coming back.

I cannot say enough about this cozy spot! The service was amazingly informative but never stuffy. We chose our courses and had our Somm choose our wines. What a unique selection of very small production wines and perfect pairings. There is truly not one thing I would change about our experience!

Excellent food! Great selection despite being a relatively fixed menu. The taste of the food was superb. The chef is extremely creative. We did the wine pair and it was amazing how the food and wine added to each. The sommelier was one of the most knowledgable I Have ever meet. She was charming, friendly, and professional and added a heat dimension to the dinner.

My fiancé (Alex), my brother (Jason), and I all ventured out to Summit County to visit my parents for Christmas this year. My diligent mother scored our group of 5 a reservation at Ski Tip lodge for Christmas dinner.
Between the 5 of us, we managed to try most of the tasting menu options. Courses that stuck out to me were the clam chowder, seared foie gras, trout with some sort of rice, and a dessert with some sort of basil sauce.
The clam chowder was not as creamy as the quintessential soup that comes to most minds. It had a lot more layers of flavors and was much more refined. The foie gras was also delicious due to its decadent nature. It was so rich and creamy! The trout was the standout entrée for me because it was lighter than the other options (steak, pork chops, etc.) and had a unique sauce that had hints of curry flavors. It was a little more creative than the classic entrees made up of steak and potatoes, etc. Along this same line, the dessert that stuck out to me was the most creative one also! I can’t remember exactly what the dessert was, but I remember that it included blueberries and a basil sauce. The herbal notes of the sauce were so interesting in a dessert context.
One unique thing they do here is to move each group of diners between their entrée and dessert courses. After you finish your entrees in the dining room, your waiter finds you a perfect spot by the fireplace in the front part of the restaurant to enjoy your desserts at. This is a fun touch and also gives you some time to digest your meal before scarfing down dessert!
The Ski Tip lodge is very good at putting out consistent, classic dishes while also pushing outside its box every once in a while. This makes it a great place for a wide range of diners and a great spot for any special occasion!

Edit to this review. While the task was not easy, we were finally able to speak with the head of their customer service department and he was able to help us out for a small fee due to our circumstances. I doubt this will be the case for most, but good to know that it is possible and I was very pleased with the final outcome of our correspondence.
BUYER BEWARE — cancellation policy and customer service representatives are abhorrent.
This lodge was booked for a ski trip which was given to me as a birthday present from my spouse for my upcoming 28^th birthday. Unfortunately, one week before my stay, I tore my MCL while skiing and will not be able to ski by the time of our reservation one week from now.
Since he did not click the box for the travel insurance, the hotel refuses to provide any type of compensation or reimbursement even though we are happy to provide a doctors note and proof of injury. The best they could offer was extending the dates until the end of the season, which happens to be 5 weeks from now– seeing as that my recovery will take a minimum of 6 – 8 weeks, that does absolutely nothing for me, which I explained to seemingly deaf ears.
The lack of customer service from management and customer service representatives is astonishing. Understanding that this lodge does not hold itself at high standards and will do anything to make an extra dollar (or $ 500 in our case) should be taken into consideration before booking.

Let’s face it, there’s only two real restaurants I want to eat at in the Keystone area, and since we did the other last time, I opted for Ski Tip Lodge this time!
To be honest, I’d give the food only 4 stars sadly, but the service and charming-​ness of the restaurant are a solid 5.
Based on other reviews regarding the restaurant being hard to find I called ahead to get directions and confirm my reservation. You can trust the map on Unilocal because it’s pretty much dead on, and the signage from the road saying Ski Tip Lodge is pretty obvious, but maybe in a snow storm it can be hard to spot? lol.
As others mention Ski Tip Lodge offers a pre-​fixe menu (4 course for $ 70? or $ 75). The night I was there the menu listed two soup options, two appetizer options (one salad and one app), four entrée choices and I believe five desserts.
The atmosphere is «homey» and literally you are dining in a very old stucco style house. Lots of staircases and winding hall ways to secret rooms, I imagine playing hide and seek in here would be amazing! Not to mention all the fabulous fireplaces from room to room!
While we spent some time looking at the menu and the VERY extensive wine list, the sommelier came over to chat and gave her recommendation for a Chianti which she then decanted for us. Chianti isn’t my first choice, but the boys enjoyed it and then even went ahead and ordered some wine by the glass after the bottle was done. I smartly avoided the inevitable altitude and wine headache lol.
Bread was then brought out, wheat, a specialty white and a cheddar cracker with bread and homemade jam. 5 stars for the bread! And menu selections were made.
For dinner I went with the a —
Thai carrot soup — which was delicious and so vibrant in the bowl.
Chicken and waffles — definitely different from most, and not my fav, but not bad.
Beef Tenderloin — cooked to perfection, and although the spice was a bit much for me (personal taste) the combination with the risotto was just perfect.
**Was a little disappointed they didn’t have an Elk option on the menu this night, but I guess there’s always next time!
For dessert you move into either of the two sitting rooms and we settled into some couches near a giant fireplace! Desserts are read off by the server so I think I’m remembering correctly that there were five choices.
By this time I was really full (damn the bread!) but I managed a spoon-​full of the three different desserts our party of four ordered.
Not going with my norm I tried a flourless chocolate bread pudding which was essentially a chocolate mousse, but it was great! My bite of the apple strussel and the banana cream pie were also delicious! 5 stars for the pastry chef definitely.
This is a great restaurant, and for the area it’s an amazing restaurant! Check it out, and make a reservation in advance! OpenTable let me make one more than a month in advance!

The ski tip is an excellent place for a romantic dinner with an extensive wine list and unique mountain charm. Our server Dominic was excellent. I wholeheartedly recommend this destination restaurant to anybody.

A great quite haven with amazing food.
Evening fireplaces and a great small bar.
Half a mile up from Keystone and a Hot tub not far. I hear someone complain because they had no TV in there room, but that’s what I loved about it!
It’s a good spot!

Ski Tip is one of my top restaurants of 2014. The food here was interesting and full of flavor. Every bite was amazing, and I went home with a massive food coma.
I had the wild game soup, which actually had very little «game» taste. The spices and flavoring in the soup were just strong enough to overcome the game taste but wasn’t over powering.
The bacon wrapped scallops were next, which was pure genius. Who doesn’t love bacon?
Lastly, finished the meal with peppercorn elk. This was the most interesting part of the meal. The entire elk was covered in a nice layer of peppercorn that really provides amazing flavor to the elk.
On top of the amazing food, the ambiance was so quaint and cute. The restaurant is in a small lodge with a few tables and a nice dessert seating area with a fireplace.
Overall, I 100% recommend this to anyone in the area!

Ever wish you had more than one stomach? I can not be a bigger fan of this place. Oh my God, just thinking about this place makes me salivate. If you’re in town for a ski trip, you’ve gotta check this place out. The ambience is impeccable and the food is to die for. The service was great and very helpful.
You can’t make a wrong decision on the menu, if they have the bacon wrapped scallop — I highly recommend it.
Go!

Yes, it’s fine dining start to finish. No glitches or complaints. Great 19^th century space, really professional service. Four course prefix was $ 75 and we added wine pairing for another $ 40 per person. All the food was exquisite and employed a modern twist. The sommelier pairings were the best part of the experience. Besides working perfectly with each course the wines were very interesting and new to us. Don’t eat before dining here because you’ll want to finish eating and drinking everything. Our bread basket was also superb.

The food was good, but we were very disappointed with the service. First, there was no parking available at the restaurant and I was forced to car stalk other guests looking for a spot, making us 15 minutes late for our reservation. The hostess was less then helpful accommodating us when asked about the parking issue. Second, our waitress took 45 minutes to bring out any food besides bread. The sommelier and another waiter served us our meals more often than our waitress who we felt ignored us for a larger table. Third, one of the wait staff brought out the wrong dessert. Fourth, I was questioned about my family’s status as home owners in keystone when I used our homeowners resident card. Really disappointed because I read so many great reviews on Unilocal.If i’m going to pay $ 250 for a meal for two, it needs to be flawless and our meal was anything but.

Delicious food. Quaint ski lodge feel. Cozy dining makes for a loud dinner.
The Ski Tip Lodge, looks just like a romantic storybook ski cabin. White washed walls, North European feel, wood everywhere and fireplaces all around. Inside is warm, inviting, and intimate cabin atmosphere.
The dining area feels a little dated and is quite small (10 tables) but the food is spectacular. You’ll need a reservation and they only seat at two times (around 6 and 8). Not great for large parties, 4 – 5 would be ideal.
The food is a fixed 4 course meal and comes with fresh baked bread and a wine pairing option. While not ideal for people with dietary needs (gluten or vegetarian) the food is amazing. Even though I hate beets, I tried a Thai inspired beet soup that changed my mind, it was divine.
For my main course I had the fresh river fish which came in a savory buttery sauce with roasted brussel sprouts and vegetables. Our server escorted us to the main lounge areas for desert which helped space out reservations and cut noise in the tiny dining area. We left feeling (too) full and had a great time.
Traditional french/​american culinary feel with international twists. Best for special occasions and not for those who might be hard of hearing or have special dietary needs. Although if you’re staying in Keystone, highly worth the visit. Would love to go back.

The food is very good and there is a great wine selection. I was here 3 yr ago and went back last night (Dec. 27^th). Three of the four entrees were again very good. The Scottish salmon was dry (over cooked). I didn’t recall feeling like an assembly line product last time I visited. There are too many tables wedged in the small space, so you constantly have patrons, wait staff, etc. passing along side /​behind you that the $ 75+/person isn’t worth it. Dinner was a long time coming, so when the plates were cleared we were «asked» to move to a sitting area in another room. Again, it was too crowded for the space, and the table and hard back chairs were a little less nice than the seating at my local Starbucks. The wait staff was very attentive, no complaints there. Getting each shift of dinners through and turning over the room for the second seating was so obvious, and I was so disappointed with the crowding and noise (expense = old = hard of hearing), that I would have left, but didn’t want to put my family through the embarrassment.
I’d be willing to try it again, but only in a slow time of season. Four people, no alcohol $ 410 w/​20% tip.

We had the 4 course meal on Christmas Day. The butternut squash soup was great along with the bacon wrapped venison. I had the beef tenderloin as my main course. The outside of the steak was a little burnt. To finish I had the apple strudel. This meal was pricey for what you got. With 2 meals and just one glass of wine my husband and I spent $ 200. It was not on the level of what I expect to get with paying this amount of money

Fine dining in a relaxed atmosphere. The rack of lamb was fantastic and the cuscus was the best I’ve ever had. The wine pairings were very interesting, and broadened my horizons to Spanish varieties. The service was impeccable, and I can’t wait to go back!

After a rocky start, Ski Tip delivered in the food, wine and ambience departments. The challenge on a dark, snowy night was making a reservation and then finding the place. Requests for 7 pm and 6:45 reservations were declined. We were pushed back to 6:15.
I put the address listed on Google for Ski Tip into my GPS, but ended up a couple of miles west on Rt. 6. Apparently Ski Tip has two locations listed in Keystone. We called the number listed for Ski Tip, but the operator insisted there was no street address to put into a GPS. Directions were provided, but we managed to drive by the place even after finding the Ski Tip lodge sign for the turn-​off of Rt. 6. Twice. The parking lot was visible in the falling snow, but there was no sign of a restaurant. Literally. The restaurant is located in a building which looks like a house. No sign. With the snow coming down there were not even any footprints from the parking lot to the door.
The problem turned out to be that Ski Tip is owned by Vail resorts. So when you call Ski Tip your call is switched to the Vail resorts central switchboard. The address they gave us for the Lodge was incorrect. And of course it turned out there was a street address which could have been put into the GPS. In fact it was printed on the bottom of the menu.
When we finally found the place, we were seated in the comfortable, somewhat formal dining room. By then it was 6:45 p.m., the time of one of our declined reservation requests. There were only 2 other parties in the dining room, which has tables for perhaps 10 or 12 parties. Within 20 min. or so both of the other parties had left. For the next 45 min. or so we were the only party in the dining room. I even asked the server why our requests for 6:45, 7:00 and 7:15 reservations had all been turned down when there was no one else there. No coherent explanation was forthcoming.
Nevertheless once we found the place, and managed to convince them to allow us a reservation in an empty dining room, the experience was quite positive. While the menu choices are not that varied, the execution was excellent. After a delicious dinner including fish and beef entrees, we got to the «surprise» dessert. This consisted of being invited into the comfortable lounge in front of a roaring wood fire. There we enjoyed the pistachio foam crème brûlée, and somewhat less satisfying apple cobbler.
Our meals, including one glass of French Burgundy each, ran $ 223. If you are looking for high-​end dining in the Keystone area you could do worse than trying to find Ski Tip lodge.

I wanted to try one of Keystone’s gourmet restaurants while on the mountain, but as of course these type of meals are expensive I was wary to try some of the other options based on the Unilocal reviews — nothing worse than being disappointed by an expensive meal.
No such worries at Ski Tip! Even though there’s not a wealth of information out there on this place, my worries were unfounded.
It’s taken me a very long time to write a review of the Ski Tip… probably because I wanted to be very thorough and make sure I didn’t miss any glorious detail of our meal here. Unfortunately enough time has now passed that those details are getting blurry, save to say that the meal was excellent and worth the $ 70/​person for 5 courses.
My greatest concern was that the food would match the ‘classic/​antique’ décor of the cottage location, but the plating, flavors, and menu were all very interesting (check out the pictures). I will go back, happily, next time we’re in the area.
I desperately wanted to take our dessert and coffee by the fire, but unfortunately was too full from the other courses to do so and we had to have it packaged to go. Even after spending two days in a freezer, it was a memorable end to a fantastic meal.