Our family of 6 stayed at Dinner Plain which is ideal for families. Dinner Plain has mostly houses for rent and is much cheaper than staying at Mt Hotham. We tend to share a large house with another family who also have kids. Dinner Plain has snow so you can stare out the window while drinking hot chocolate and watching the snow fall. There is a small hill with a T-bar which the kids loved for night skiing.

To get to Hotham is about a 20-30 min bus trip away. Once you are at Dinner Plain you don't need the car.

The kids loved ski school.

When there is powder the skiing is amazing. It opens up tree skiing and lots of steeper runs. The crazy thing is most people stick to the groomed trails. (Hey more powder for me). Generally if you get a powder day you have 2 to 3 days to enjoy it before it goes back to Australian hard packed/icy snow.

Hotham is not as big as say Perisher but there is plenty of interesting terrain.

The chair lifts are not as impressive as Perisher but who cares.

Hotham and Dinner Plain has good cross country skiing. And it's only location in Australia that has Biathlon.

In terms of nightlife I generally eat in but there are a small number of good places to eat and drink. If you want to party then Dinner Plain is not the place for you.
If you want a special dinner with your wife/husband then the food at the Ramada is excellent. Mountain Kitchen is a lovely cafe for coffee and cake. There's a brewery. Hotel High Plains is good for dinner or just a drink.

There is a small grocery store but realistically you want to go shopping at Bright on the way to Hotham.
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I have been skiing at Hotham for about 30 years and despite the ever increasing amount border collies it's still ridiculously great fun.I had a yard sale fall that I blame on them.The powder capital of Australia still gets big dumps but some of the best fun is had on about 15cms of fresh that's when the mountain skis the best.The mountain views are THE BEST in the country. Side and back country abounds and while not as peaceful as it once was (you may have to share) there is awesome skiing still to be had.The other benefit of skiing back and side country is the lesser number of border collies .There's a couple of adventurous ones but not many.If you find the bc a bit busy do a bit of exploring and you shall find some solitude.I do like border collies and so should you.
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Lets get one thing straight. By world standards, skiing in Australia is expensive. There, I said it. Now get over it. If you love the snow & are a good skier or boarder, there is only one place to ski in Australia - Mt Hot Ham. Having skied more resorts than one could possibly poke a ski pole at, I can honestly say a powder day at Hotham is still as good as some of my funnest days overseas. And a day riding spring corn in the nearby slackcountry can be just as good too.

Hotham has more good days than other resorts in Oz, has better quality snow, has lifts running during the worst storms (due its terrain aspect), has relatively low crowds plus has some steeper, technical terrain including trees & a vast easy access backcountry. Oh .... and what other resort ski resort in the world has early lift opening 5 days a week (7.30am) at no additional cost!

Negatives are many at Hotham, as with all resorts in the land of Oz. Excessive cost has & will always be stated in reviews, but it's true. If you don't have a season lift & resort entry pass you are donating a fair proportion of your income to the resort during every visit. But if you are going to spend all that money on skiing in Australia, may as well go here rather than somewhere else. Skiable verticals are short - 400m at most - longer in the backcountry, but not by much. There is not a whole lot for novices & beginners. The drive up can be challenging for many. It's not too bad in reality though, but the management of the road clearing & such has seen a definite decline in the last decade. After hours, Hotham has been in a slow steady decline as well - or maybe it's just that I'm getting older! It's not a place to party all night, although two venues do cater to it. Accommodation can be super expensive. Staying in one of the many club lodges takes some of the pain away.

Unlike many resorts though, at Hotham on a powder day, at least one good fresh line is guaranteed before needing to get on a lift. The village up top, lifts below setup certainly has its advantages! The all chair lift system may be aging, but it is efficient & functions well in all weather. Lift lines are obvious in Heavenly & bottom of Village on busy days, but very rarely in evidence anywhere else.

In the end, if you love skiing & are in Australia, Hotham is the place. Follow the snow, go when the forecast is good, avoid weekends inbounds, ski during the storm & have some backcountry gear & skills for the following days.
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This place is just a mess! Chairlifts are slow, runs are short, lack of snow, food is ok but also overpriced everywhere on the mountain...all that for a day ticket price of 140$ + 50$ Resort entry fee not to mention the pricing of accomodation. Can not reccomend anyobe going there. Also the fact everyone is saying that it is the best place for advanced Skiers or Snowboarders is definately not true. Mt. Buller Summit is way more intense and way easier to access. Mt. Feathertop might be more advanced but has nothing to do with Mt. Hotham, it is just accessible with Touringskis or Splitboards and not a daytrip.
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We visited Mt Hotham in early September.

There was great snow and it was generally uncrowded. The lifts are not very fast or new, but there are quite a few lifts so that makes up for it mostly. It is very child friendly.
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Hotham is Australia's #1 Freeride/Backcountry resort. The terrain is second to none and they are know for their powder, which is hard to believe for Australia but the past three seasons have made that clear!

F&B is not the focus, terrain is. So if you want fancy meals head to Falls but if you want to shred, Hotham is the one.
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I was lucky enough to have been there with proper powder snow and it was amazing. There are lots of great tree runs, gullies and short steeps. Lots of fun.
On the flip-side my children really enjoy Mt Hotham. Ski school is great and the Big-D area is good for kids to learn on.
We have stayed at Hotham once but generally we go stay at Dinner Plain (15-20mins by bus) because it is cheaper and we can rent a house.
There is a small slope at Dinner Plain which is good for night skiing with the kids.
The cross country skiing is also very good.
The big attractions for Hotham are; staying on the snow and good terrain. The negatives are it's a long drive from Sydney.
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Down in Perth, Oz from Europe and I knew there might be a chance of a weekend off, so packed my ski suit.
Hallelujah, I have the weekend off so fly Perth Melbourne, Pick up a car and I'm in Mt Hotham by Friday evening.
Up early on Saturday - wow! My expectations weren't very high so I was well impressed with what was on offer. Perfect snow conditions reasonable vertical drop and a variety of lifts - all well served with chairs.
Nothing very steep but some techie way-outs from the gullies and quite a lot of off-piste - I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Early to bed after quite a few beers with Chris & Co. (thanks fellas, really enjoyed it), so Sunday was up early and; hell, this is the place that just keeps on giving. 4-5 inches of powder overnight meant fantastic skiing conditions - unfortunately I was a bit hung-over and didn't have goggles with me (yeah, yeah - excuses) so it was mid morning before I could really enjoy myself and by that time a lot of the powder was skied out, but I still managed to find some.
All in all, it was a rare treat for me to be skiing in August and I'd def go back if opportunity arises.
Thanks Hotham!
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Was very disappointed the setup is really bad . The parking is very poorly set up . If you're stayiing at you're accomodation you cannot leave you're car there entry fee is redcicolusly priced . Everything way to expensive . The anomoshere was not professional at all. It felt like I was in a chook den just treated like a number . It has the potential to be great but it is way below par
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I love snowboarding at Hotham. It's just fun. You make the most of what you have and even though it's a small resort , I can't wait to get back every year for a number of reasons.

I snowboard extensively every year . I've been to many great places like Jackson Hole, Laax, Niseko, Furano, Verbier, St Anton, Aspen, Zermatt , Courchevel , Vail etc. As much as these places are great, I still would never miss a Hotham season.
Apart from Dick's Ditch in Jackson Hole and some terrain through Gate 7 in Niseko, Hotham has the most fun series of gullies you can drop into and climb the walls. Ducking and weaving under the gum trees above Black Snake run on a powder day is always exhilarating.

Rushing out to the Orchard area after a dump of snow and getting first tracks is always satisfying. The runs are short but there are numerous little hits that you scope out on the lift on the way up that you are going to fun on all day.

Not having to wait for a lift to open for freshies is great. You just drop in along the road that goes across the top of the mountain that Hotham sits along, into the valley below to lifts at the bottom.

I love that the lift system is old school and sometimes you are sitting on a block of ice. The liftys are always chatty and have jokes of the day ready to go.

The narrow kat tracks sharpen your riding skills as you dodge jams of people at times and you will never see more people careering into each other anywhere in the world I don't think than Slalom Gully. I have also seen the best collection of snowboarders dodging through trees, people and laying down some amazing tricks than at any other mountain I've boarded on.

Ok. Terrain park at Vail has the best but Hotham boarders really rip and I saw nothing in Aspen, Beaver Creek, Telluride, Japan to compare.

There is excellent food at Hotham. The Bird and Chill Bar and Zirky's do excellent lunch. Swindler's is great for après . The General has a great vibe and amazing views. Live music at The Bird and The Chill Bar some afternoons. Excellent food at Yama Kitchen. Splurge once to try it.

I love how Hotham runs a lift from 7.30am from Wed-Sun. Last lifts at 5 although there is night skiing at Big D on Thursday and Saturday. That being said...Night skiing/boarding is totally overrated and not sure why resorts do it. I've been to 5 Japanese resorts and they all do it and hardly anyone bothers.

There is a wide variety of accommodation at Hotham. Absolute ski/ski out is available and can be expensive but look at staying at a lodge for good value.

Alternatively, stay at Dinner Plain, a super pretty Australian style ski town 9km away. The drive in is pretty or catch the bus. There is an Onsen Spa/ gym there with gorgeous hot spring under the gum trees. Nice pubs, restaurants and cafes. Studio apartments up to 7 bedroom houses and ski lodge accommodation all available at all price points. Husky dog sledding, a beginner ski slope, cross country skiing , snowshoeing options for anyone not wanting to take on the steeps and deeps of the main resort.

There aren't big long runs in Hotham. There is some really good steep challenging terrain. The runs through the trees and along the creek are very pretty. You can hike out and get to some good back country areas. When the Boarder X track is up and running, you could find yourself on a lift next to Chumpy Pullin , World Champion and Olympian. The Canadian Ski cross team trained there in 2015 and they had a gold and bronze medaled Olympians in that crew.

I have had incredible powder days there with overnight falls of 40cm. I missed the 70cm night! It's a great place to go with a group. You don't lose each other. You will sharpen your reflexes. The big jumps on Summit are easily accessible.
It's very Aussie. There is a lot of dressing up and high jinx. It's old school . You might see an echidna or a wombat in the snow. I have. That's Aussie. 👍🏽
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