About the Best of the Boat contest

In the Steamboat Pilot & Today’s Best of the Boat contest, the community has the last word.

Routt County residents have been voting for their favorite local businesses, organizations and attractions in Steamboat Pilot & Today’s annual readers choice awards contest for over a decade. It’s the biggest contest of its kind in Routt County, with over 100,000 votes cast annually across more than 200 categories.

What’s new for 2026?

Each year, we review all the categories, take some away and add new ones. New this year are:

Auto

  • Windshield Repair/Replacement

Community

  • Business Owner
  • Longstanding Business
  • New Business

Drinks

  • Mocktail

Food

  • Steamboat Springs Restaurant
  • South Routt Restaurant
  • North Routt Restaurant
  • West Routt Restaurant

Health

  • Acupuncture Office

Home & Garden

  • Real Estate Group

Kids & Education

  • School Teacher, K-8
  • School Teacher, 9-12

Outdoors & Recreation

  • Taxidermy

Shopping

  • Nonalcoholic Beer, Wine and Liquor Selection
  • Grocery Store
  • Children’s Clothing Store

Make a category suggestion by emailing nmiller@steamboatpilot.com. After the contest has launched, suggestions will be reviewed for the following year.

Also new this year:

  • Each voter is allowed one vote per category for the duration of the voting period.
  • Categories with fewer than five nominees will be removed from the contest before voting begins. This is intended to keep the contest competitive.

How does Best of the Boat work?

The contest takes place in two phases: a nomination period followed by one round of voting.

Nomination period

The contest starts with a nomination round, where readers can propose businesses, organizations and people for all of the categories. It takes only one qualified nomination for a nominee to move to the voting round. Last year’s eligible business and organization nominees will automatically be nominated in their respective categories. (Individuals will not automatically be nominated.)

Last year’s nominees will not automatically be added in the following instances:

  • Categories that require an individual’s name, such as Artist, Attorney, Barista, Bartender, Bike Mechanic, Budtender, Car Salesperson, Chef, Community Leader, Dentist, Doctor, Financial Planner, Fitness Instructor, Fishing Guide, Golf Pro, Insurance Agent, Massage Therapist, Mortgage Broker, Nurse, Orthopedic Surgeon, Photographer, Radio Personality, Real Estate Agent, Shop Pet, Tattoo Artist, Teacher, Veterinarian and Youth Sports Coach
  • Categories where nominees are likely to change from year to year, such as Band/Musician, Farmers Market Vendor, Mud Season Special, Pet-Friendly Business, Place to Work and Social Media Account
  • Categories that are new or changed, such as Acupuncture Office, Business Owner, Children’s Clothing Store, Esthetician Services, Grocery Store, Longstanding Business, Mocktail, New Business, Nonalcoholic Beer/Wine/Liquor Selection, Real Estate Group, Restaurant, Taxidermy and Windshield Repair/Replacement

Readers can make as many nominations as they like throughout the nomination period.

Voting round

This is the only voting round, and the businesses, organizations and people with the most votes in each category will be crowned Best of the Boat. Readers can vote once in each category.

What are the key dates for 2026?

  • Nomination period: May 22 to June 6
  • Voting round: July 24 to Aug. 11 (voters guide advertising deadline June 25)
  • Winners announced at Best of the Boat party: TBA
  • Best of the Boat winners publication on newsstands: Oct. 23 (winners guide advertising deadline Sept. 21)

Fair voting

  • Nominees/entrants are prohibited from soliciting votes by offering payments or exchange of value of any kind.
  • Voting is limited to one vote in each category per person.
  • Even though we require signups, we recognize that some people, in their enthusiasm, may be tempted to vote several times using different email accounts. Please note that voting under multiple email accounts violates the rules.
  • We do have systems in place to detect fraudulent voting. When we see evidence of fraudulent voting, we may eliminate all suspect votes at our discretion. In extreme cases, we will remove entrants, as well.

I nominated my business, but I don’t see it showing up on the website. Why is that?

If you’re looking at the site during the nomination period and don’t see a business you nominated, fear not! All valid entries are considered and reviewed. But in order for a nomination to show up on the site, we have to approve it manually. Because we receive thousands of nominations, we may get backlogged.

The good news is your business has to be nominated only once to make it to the voting round.

How are nominations moderated?

  • Each nomination will be vetted for accuracy, including whether the business, organization or person is based in Routt County and whether the nominee is an appropriate fit for the category. Incomplete nominations will be removed.
  • Categories with fewer than five nominees will be removed from the contest before voting begins. This is intended to keep the contest competitive.
  • The contest is intended for locally owned or operated businesses. National chains will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

How are the winners selected?

Winners are those who receive the most votes in their category. Finalists are those who receive the second- and third-most votes in their category. If there is a tie, we will announce both as winners or finalists.

How often can I vote?

The Best of the Boat contest allows unlimited nominations but only one vote per person per category during the voting round.

Can I vote from multiple email accounts?

Voting is limited to one vote per person per category. Even though we require signups, we recognize that some people may be tempted to vote several times using different email accounts. We do have systems in place to detect fraudulent voting. When we see evidence of fraudulent voting, we may eliminate all of the votes cast by those voters. In extreme cases, we will remove entrants, as well.

Why should I participate in Best of the Boat?

This contest is fundamentally about celebrating and supporting great Routt County institutions by raising their profile and helping them gain new fans.

Have additional questions? Feel free to email Steamboat Pilot & Today Publisher Nicole Miller at nmiller@steamboatpilot.com.