August 4, 2025, 8:44 am | Read time: 4 minutes
When the mountain season reaches its peak, the alpine huts become crowded. Anyone planning an overnight stay at high altitudes should reserve in advance—and behave considerately. One particular behavior is currently causing discontent.
The demand for overnight stays in mountain huts by hikers has been steadily increasing for years. The German Alpine Club (DAV) has observed a growing number of people in the mountains, with consequences: More and more often, the sleeping spaces in the huts are insufficient, which burdens not only the hikers but also the hut staff. According to hiking clubs, recklessness among hikers is on the rise.
The Annoyance of Double Bookings
According to the Austrian Alpine Club (ÖAV), an additional stress factor is so-called double bookings—and these are significantly increasing, according to the association. Hikers reserve sleeping spaces multiple times: either at different huts for the same day or at one hut for several dates. Depending on the weather or personal feelings, they cancel at short notice or simply do not show up—with unpleasant consequences.
The ÖAV strongly criticizes this: Such reservations are not only unfair to other hikers and the hut teams but also complicate the organization within the hut. Therefore, the urgent appeal: Make only serious reservations and communicate changes in plans early.
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Digital Helpers for Better Tour Planning
Reserving a sleeping space is easy—either by phone or email directly with the desired hut. Many huts in the Alpine region are also connected to the online system hut-reservation.org. Those who register there can not only make reservations but also use the tool Bettencheck to check where along their route spaces are still available.
For spontaneous mountain vacationers, the DAV additionally offers the Last-Minute Hut Beds map on its website. It shows available sleeping spaces for the next three nights in huts of the German, Austrian, and South Tyrolean Alpine Clubs.
A Hut Is Not a Hotel
Increased conflicts in mountain huts raise the question of whether the behavior of some guests has changed. The Austrian Alpine Club certainly sees a need for action: “Carelessness and inconsideration on Alpine Club huts are noticeably increasing,” the association stated. Therefore, a so-called Hut Etiquette summarizes the most important rules of conduct—because a hut is not a hotel.
The German Alpine Club assesses the situation differently. They do not see a fundamental increase in inconsiderate behavior. Rather, the majority of guests strive for respectful coexistence on the mountain. “From our experience, it is only a minority of guests who stand out negatively due to ignorance and false expectations,” explains Robert Kolbitsch, head of huts and trails at the DAV.
The most important rule remains: think ahead, plan fairly, and be considerate.