Mellau is a quiet Bregenzerwald village at 700 m, lift-linked over the mountain to Damüls for the combined Damüls-Mellau ski area, one of the snowiest pockets in the Alps. The numbers (110 km of piste, 29 lifts) are big, but the real character is in the wooden Vorarlberger Wälder farmhouses and the famous local woodwork seen at the Werkraum.
Mellau is a ski resort in Austria, in the Austrian Alps. The village sits at 700 m and the lifts top out at 2050 m, with 110 km of pistes and 29 lifts. Its BestSnowHotels snow score is 80/100, and the season usually runs Dec 7 → Apr 14.
How we score and classify resortsRun counts and piste kilometres are indicative. Green runs only exist in France, Spain, Andorra, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Japan, the United States, Morocco, Algeria, Lesotho, South Africa, Egypt, Canada, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Chile; Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Germany start at blue. Indicative average snow depth near the top of the resort, in cm.
A handful of well-rated hotels in and around the resort. Pick one, then compare live prices across Booking, Expedia and Hotels.com.
Very good · 595 reviews
Strong value for Mellau, with a high guest rating that punches above its nightly price.
Guests rate this hotel as very good (4.5/5 from 595 reviews). It sits about 850 m from the slopes. A mid-range option for Mellau, with live nightly rates shown for your exact dates so you always see the best price.
Excellent · 460 reviews
Moments from the lifts in Mellau, so you can ski back to the door and skip the morning queues.
Very good · 217 reviews
Moments from the lifts in Mellau, so you can ski back to the door and skip the morning queues.
Excellent · 132 reviews
Strong value for Mellau, with a high guest rating that punches above its nightly price.
Ratings from Google, prices indicative per night. Live availability and rates via our booking partners.
Mellau itself sits below the Mellaubahn gondola, so true ski-in/ski-out lodging is rare; the slope-side options live higher up at Damüls, which is the obvious move if direct piste access is a deal-breaker.
Damüls regularly tops Alpine snowfall charts, and that translates directly into Mellau's piste map: powder pockets between trees, wide open carving fields up at 2,050 m, and a long red back-down to the village that opens later in winter once cover builds. The area is well shaped for confident intermediates, with the harder black off the Uga Alpe and a serious freeride zone around the Sunnegg and Portla sectors. Beyond the skiing, the Bregenzerwald is one of Austria's most respected design regions: low-key, wooden, very quiet, and quite different from the painted-postcard Tirol. Cheese dairies, Werkraum-prize-winning carpenters, and a regional bus that runs free with the lift pass make it a thinking-skier's choice for a long week.
Hotels and apartments around the lifts. Compare prices on Booking, Expedia and Hotels.com.
Everything on our site connected to Mellau: its area, the lists it makes, head-to-heads and trip guides.
Mellau offers 110 km of pistes across 29 lifts, from 700 m to 2050 m. Whether it suits beginners depends on the dedicated learner zones at the base of the slopes, so check the local ski-school options for green and blue run access.
The season runs from Dec 7 to Apr 14, with a snow score of 80/100. The best conditions are usually from late January through February, while spring skiing in March and April brings longer days and softer afternoons.
Mellau itself sits below the Mellaubahn gondola, so true ski-in/ski-out lodging is rare; the slope-side options live higher up at Damüls, which is the obvious move if direct piste access is a deal-breaker.
Mellau has 110 km of marked pistes served by 29 lifts, between 700 m and 2050 m of altitude.
Mellau counts about 80 marked runs in total. The colour breakdown above shows how they split by difficulty, a good guide to whether the resort fits your level.
The closest alternatives, an easy switch if dates or hotels are tight.
Austrian Alps
Bavarian Alps
Austrian Alps
Austrian Alps
Resorts with a similar feel, snow record and size.
Swiss Alps
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Austrian Alps