What should I check before buying a ski lodge?

A ski lodge sells beds, meals and a short walk to the lift, yet the lift is often someone else’s. That gap is the first thing to understand. Your guests come for the hill, so anything that changes the hill changes your bookings. Read a lodge’s records with that in mind, and ask what the lodge controls and what it simply benefits from.

The link to the ski area

Ask how guests actually get from the door to the snow. Is there a private path, a shared road, a shuttle or a ticket package? Find out whether any right of access, partnership or lift-ticket arrangement exists, who holds it, and whether it passes to a new owner. Ask your lawyer to read it. A handshake with the hill’s operator will not help if that operator changes.

Snow years and the calendar

Bookings in a ski town track the snow, the holidays and the weather forecast. Ask for booking records across several winters, including a weak one, and see how the lodge coped. Ask how far ahead guests book and what happens to deposits when conditions are poor. A lodge that only fills in good snow years carries a risk you should price into your own plan.

Off-season and the building

Summer can bring hikers, weddings, retreats and groups, or it can bring empty rooms. Ask what the lodge does outside winter and who books it. Then have the building inspected, including roof, heating, water supply and fire safety, because mountain weather is hard on structures. Ask what repairs were deferred and whether staff housing is part of the sale or rented from someone else.

• The written access or ticket arrangement with the ski area, and who holds it.
• Booking records across strong and weak snow seasons.
• What the lodge does between winters.
• An inspection report on the building and its systems.