THE PORCHES have bought this little hotel and maybe after the 2007/8 season it will be leveled to make way for MORE CONDOS to add to the every spreading sprawl of condos at this once quaint western countryside that has totally lost it's western country appeal! Sadly, it is just a massive sprawl of million dollar condos on top of condos on top of condos that lack any kind of architectual review comittee's input.
The Ptarmagin Best Western is clean, cozy and has a staff that is both informative and friendly. We rented skis downstairs at the Snow Stalker satelight ski shop and it worked out great. You can ski in and out off the lobby and leave your skis and poles in a locked area overnight. The restaurant serves great breakfasts, lunches and dinners. There is an outside hot tub and heated pool.
If you are sking this year, I can tell you that we stayed here in January and it was great! We had a group of 60! No complaints....other than it's future!

Be aware of getting "stuck in the middle": We made reservations through the "TripAdvisor" web site, through links to Expedia and in turn Best Western -- but somehow the fact that some of our party were children got lost (children under 18 are supposed to stay free at Ptarmigan Inn, according to their web site).

Expedia refuses to deal with the problem, blaming it on "the property" (Ptarmigan Inn) -- the Ptarmigan Inn staff said it was Expedia's problem, and said they were unable to make any change to the reservation (even though our child was standing there in front of them). Best Western customer service has been no help, saying it's up to Expedia to resolve the issue. So we've been "stuck in the middle" for well over a month now, having had to pay an "extra guest" rate for children that was unanticipated.

Beyond that, we found the Ptarmigan Inn to be pleasant, (mostly) quiet, and our room (mostly) smoke-free. There was lots of parking (in off season), an open pet policy, and the cleaning staff was very good.

Unfortunately, during our visit the pool had been closed, but it was cold enough outside that it would not have been enjoyable anyway. (very small pool, but very nicely landscaped pool area)

The building architecture blended very nicely with the surroundings (which included picturesque fall colors).

The front desk staff was very nice. The price was right, but the hotel is older and not really that great. The floor had that matted down look and the carpet in our room needed a good vacuuming. The sock found under the edge of the bed was less than appealing as well. The bathroom had some hair on the floor and that is really fairly disgusting. Perhaps since it's a ski resort hotel and it was the off season, they don't clean as well.....? I don't know, but we wouldn't stay there again. The only reason we stayed this time was because we had booked through Expedia and couldn't cancel.

We stayed one night here, mid-September - this is 'between season' in Steamboat, reflected in the room rate of around $60. We are experienced travellers, but had a bit of trouble finding it! This, it transpired, is due to a city-enforced absence of road signage, which we think is fine. (I see no other reviewers note this problem, so it must be just us).

Check-in staff were very friendly, offered us an option of rooms. We took one looking out on the Gondola. Small by BW standards, with a balcony which is just big enough for one person to stand on. We had no problems with cleanliness of room. There is a restaurant and a bar in the hotel, and a hard-wired internet terminal for the use of guests.

Location is very nice, especially if you are a skier. The ski-run comes right down to the rear of the hotel - you could unclip your skis (is that what you do?) and be in your room in 3 minutes. The Gondola and ski-lifts depart from 150 metres away. In the off-season, though, all this is rather deserted. The 'downtown' part of Steamboat is separate, about 2 miles away. Lots of shops, restaurants, etc., there.

We enjoyed our stay in this beautiful Rockies location.