German Alpine Club warns no-shows and multiple bookings are leaving mountain hut beds empty and food wasted

A growing problem on popular trails

On the 325 mountain and shelter huts run by the German Alpine Club (DAV), roughly 20,000 beds are available. In 2024, the huts recorded around 930,000 overnight stays. Demand is especially high on summer weekends and along well-trodden routes, where beds are often fully booked weeks in advance. Yet a rising number of reserved places go unused because hikers either fail to show up or cancel at the last minute.

The cost for hut keepers

Innkeepers must plan meals and supplies based on expected guest numbers, from shopping in the valley to transporting goods up the mountain. When groups reserve and then do not appear, food can end up being thrown away. Carolin Kalkbrenner, head of Huts and Trails at the DAV section Munich, said reliable planning is essential for stocking drinks and meals.

Anyone who reserves hut places and does not show up without cancelling is behaving inconsiderately towards other mountaineers and disregarding solidarity in the mountains.

Hikers turned away or sleeping on floors

Walkers who arrive without a reservation can be sent back down if the hut is full and the descent is reasonable. When that is not possible, they sometimes have to spend the night on the floor of the common room, an uncomfortable situation for them, the hut team, and other guests.

A call for fairness

Robert Kolbitsch, DAV head of Huts and Trails, stressed that sleeping places are a limited resource. He urged anyone who reserves a spot to use it or cancel in good time, helping innkeepers plan and freeing up beds for other hikers. Kalkbrenner added that booking several huts simultaneously and deciding at the last minute is "absolutely not acceptable".

Sleeping places on Alpine club huts are a limited good. Whoever reserves a place should also use it, and if that is not possible, cancel in time.

Cancellation fees become the norm

About ten years ago, the DAV, the Austrian Alpine Club (ÖAV), and the South Tyrol Alpine Club (AVS) agreed on a joint recommendation to introduce cancellation fees. The practice has since become widespread. The DAV estimates that roughly three-quarters of its huts now charge a cancellation fee, though the final decision rests with each innkeeper. No reservation fee is levied on DAV huts.