Hmmm,
with six guys your best deal is gonna be a condo on the mountain. Although I think the variety of nitelife is wider in town, Ski time Square has the Tugboat saloon and some nice restaraunts, none notable enuf to mention. The bus from town to the ski hill is convenient (or vice versa, to visit town at night) The notable great restaraunt in town (that I've been to) is the Cottonwood Grill, along the river- We've enjoyed the food at Harwig's too, but last time we were there, the cheapest wine on the list was $35 - and that was for Canyon Oaks, which is perfectly good out of the $3 bargain bin but doesn't belong on a supposedly high-end wine list! Sure I'll splurge on a wine sometimes (if it's $35 or less) I think we chose the "barley wine" instead.
There's a mix of tacky 70's condo's and newer high-end stuff scattered at the base of the mountain. The most important tidbit though, is that a lot of the ski out, or ski in/out condos near Ski-Time square are up on the ridge above, and not at all convenient to walking to/from dinner. And the ski-in is from up higher on the mountain, NOT from apres-ski at the base. There's plenty of cheap condos between the mtn and town that are not on the bus lines, and not walking distance to anything. Steamboat is one of those mountains where most skiers never return to the base until the end of the day, but that may change some this year with the new Christie Quad. Now it should be easy to avoid Gondola lines by riding that plus Thunderhead to the top (of the Gondola, which is essentially mid-mountain)
