Sponars Chalet

Best price accommodation closest to snow, can park on site, no need for ski tube. Free shuttle bus 10 minutes from slopes. Charm of bygone era of this historical site. Breakfast and dinner supplied, hired skis easily. Friendly staff, some from Europe.

Being an intrepid traveller and writing many many reviews, I immediately was thinking that I would give Sponars a 4 star rating when I entered as the building is quite old and basic but after 3 nights there I could give it no less than 5 stars. Why? Josh. Pure and simple. He is the on-site manager and lives and breathes Sponars. His mission every day is to give the guests everything they want or need. Personable , cheery, present . The other staff who come for the winter were also very nice. Make no mistake, Sponars is not a luxury lodge. It however, has everything you need to make your stay fun , cosy and comfortable. From the convenient and well priced ski hire, to the free shuttle bus daily to the lifts, skiing is made easy at Sponars (for an off site lodge). The breakfast is plain but plentiful , there is always tea and coffee available , and the 3 course dinners were really good too. We had a great musician over the weekend to provide live music whilst we played darts, pool and ping pong. The pool is a tad cool unless you are doing laps (very quickly) but there is a sauna to heat up again right next to it. If you are looking for a nice but basic lodge at a great price point with all your needs met, this is the place for you!

Great option for families looking for the on-snow 'Lodge' experience just a short drive to Perisher. Plenty of good places to play and relax with a 28C heated 25m pool with sauna, comfy lounge area with large screen TV to keep in touch with other sports plus rustic touches everywhere reminding you of the grand history of the location as NSW's first alpine haven - Hotel Kosciuszko.

What a great experience after our less than desirable visit in 2020. New owners and managers are brilliant. They are still ironing out issues due to the short time they had to prepare for the 2023 season. The vibe was great, food was tasty, rooms are comfy, pool and sauna are a great plus. The skis we hired there were brand new and brilliant. Also being bussed up and back each day was great. Definitely great value for money. A must stay for next season!

We stayed at Sponars for the opening weekend of the 2023 snow season. We learnt that the new managers had only JUST took over the place, and the full staff had not arrived yet. Which explains the poor customer service (had to regularly find a barman to buy a drink, had to find the barista to make a coffee as the kitchen staff couldn’t). The pool and steam room weren’t available (pool was cold as heater wasn’t going, and the steam room was dirty and used for storage). The included breaky was ok, just bacon/eggs/toast and packet cereal, but dinner was pretty bad. No salad, despite being on the simple menu, steamed veggies were stone cold (and very few). A buffet style sitting would be much better than table service (and prevent long wait times). The rooms were adequate, lounge area good and location absolutely stunning. The lake out front looks amazing at sunrise and you’ll see platypus playing on the surface. Overall the hotel has a lot of charm, it just needs polish (dusting/cleaning, etc). I would only return to Sponars for the location; and when it is busier (as there would be more profit to pay for staff, salad, and to heat the pool), and the management and staff were more practiced.

Good - ski hire, shuttle bus, clean room, comfy beds. Bad - food. Overall, the food was pretty poor and very disappointing. Breakfast and dinner are included in the price. Hot breakfast on one of the three days we stayed was good but the attempts to make frittata, or whatever they were, missed the mark. They were tasteless. Soup and Main on one of the three nights was good - leek and pumpkin soup and chicken parmigiana. The other two nights the soups were awful (minestrone soup was vegetables in a watery tasteless stock) and the mains were not great. Desserts on all three nights were awful - cold pieces of cake were not at all enjoyable. The dining room and bar staff were very friendly. Great location close to the snow but I’d be unlikely to stay again given the price and quality of the food.