What an Alpine hut gives you, and what you carry
A staffed hut is neither a hotel nor a tent. Part of the answer below is counted from our table and part of it is advice, and the page says which is which.
What our table actually knows
2,925 shelters publish how much space they have. A staffed hut averages 43 beds, and the largest reach 341.
243 shelters state that they have drinking water and 87 state that they do not. 100 state toilets. 115 state a winter room left open.
Those numbers are low because most shelters simply do not publish these details, not because they lack them. Where a shelter's page says nothing, it means nothing was published, and that is worth a phone call.
What a staffed hut usually provides
This section is our advice, not a count from the shelter table. Everything else on this page states a number we hold.
A bed or a bunk with a blanket or a duvet. No sheets and no towels. Dinner and breakfast are served for a price, and most huts will sell you a packed lunch too.
Hot water for a shower is not a given, and where it exists it often costs money and runs on a timer. Power for charging is sometimes there and sometimes not.
Many mountain huts take no cards and have no signal. Cash in the local currency is not a backup, it is part of the kit.
What to bring
This section is our advice, not a count from the shelter table. Everything else on this page states a number we hold.
A sleeping bag liner. Nearly every club hut requires one, and it packs down to the size of a pair of socks.
Indoor shoes or slippers. Boots come off at the door, and that is a rule rather than a request.
A head torch, earplugs, a small towel and cash. A dormitory shared with twenty people explains the first two without further comment.
A winter room is not a closed hut with service
115 shelters state that a winter room is left open out of season. It is a room, not a service: no warden, no meals, usually no heating, and you carry what you need.
Membership of any Alpine Club roughly halves the price of a night in every club hut, whichever club you joined, and usually includes mountain rescue cover. Over a week of hut nights it pays for itself.