Iconic Hoff Hut Hotham business listed for sale for around $400k

The selling agent, Castran director Lachlan Castran, says the unusual offering has already attracted strong interest from prospective owner-operators with the relevant experience and financial capacity.

“It’s one of those assets that is completely unique and without peer,” he says. “You can certainly see the opportunity not only as a very strong business with great fundamentals, but equally as a lifestyle play as well.

“How many people do you talk to in your day who genuinely go to work by Ski-Doo?”

The venue operates from the historic Joyce Brockhoff Hut and is one of only two hospitality businesses positioned directly on Mount Hotham’s ski slopes.

Hoff Hut trades seven days a week when the chairlift is operating during the snow season, serving coffee, soups, bread, quiches, pies and baked goods, along with wine and craft beer.

Strong seasonal business fundamentals

Castran says the business benefits from a captive audience and a trading season of about 16 weeks, generally running from June until late September or early October.

For the right owner-operator couple, he adds, its performance could provide a lifestyle opportunity.

“It’s a business where, for the right couple, if you worked it, you probably wouldn’t have to do a whole lot more for the rest of the year, if anything at all,” Castran says.

“The business itself has really strong fundamentals. It is very healthy and has a great outlook, and that has been evident when it has been pressure-tested with interested parties to date.

“The owner is selling for an age and stage reason rather than because of any concern about the business.”

Despite the listing being live for less than a week, interest has come from a broad range of prospective buyers, including people approaching the end of their professional careers and seeking a lifestyle change, as well as younger hospitality operators looking for a distinctive first venture.

“It will be really interesting to see who lands with the business in the end because the inquiry to date has been quite wide,” Castran says.

“The people who inquire on this have got a good hop in their step and a streak of adventure in them.”

Rich Victorian alpine history

Beyond its commercial appeal, Hoff Hut occupies a special place in Mount Hotham’s history.

The stone shelter was constructed for the Australian Women’s Ski Club in memory of champion Victorian skier Joyce Brockhoff, a foundation member of the club who won downhill and slalom championships during the 1930s.

Brockhoff was a member of the family behind biscuit manufacturer A.F. Brockhoff & Co, which later merged with Arnott’s.

Work on the hut began during the summer of 1947-48, with locally quarried stone transported to the site by horse team. Designed by Geelong architects Buchan, Laird & Buchan, it officially opened in April 1949 near some of Brockhoff’s favourite skiing terrain.

The building underwent repairs and alterations over subsequent decades, including restoration work after it was declared derelict around 1990. It was restored and reopened as Hoff Hut Hotham ahead of the 2019 snow season.

Castran says the historic stone building, expansive deck and views across the alpine terrain give Hoff Hut a character that newer hospitality venues can not readily reproduce.

“In a world full of beige these days, businesses like this and destinations like this really rise above,” he says. “People hang on to that because they share amazing memories.

I can’t tell you how many people have called me this week and shared different stories about what they’ve done there or who they’ve met, whether the weather was incredible and they had amazing skiing conditions, or it was inclement and they sought refuge in the place and had a yummy pie – it’s definitely a business that people love.”

The Hoff Hut Hotham business is for sale by private negotiation, with price expectations of around $400,000.