If you are doing a multi-day hike in the Pyrenees mountains of Andorra then you likely won't be staying in hotels but rather in refuges. These are hostels or huts that are located up high on the mountain. They generally come in two different varieties: guarded like the ones that we stayed in during our trip, and unguarded. The unguarded ones are unmanned and more akin to a simple shelter, possibly with bed racks, wifi, an outdoor toilet and a water source. They may just be a stone hut though, with some wooden slats to get you off the ground. The guarded version are basically a hostel that has a skeleton crew of a staff that serves meals and takes care of the place. They are a lot cheaper than hotels but can be very nice in a rustic sort of way. Here's a looks at the first refuge that we stayed in Andorra, Refugi Borda de Sorteny.
The common room was a dining hall that could seat around 20 people comfortably.
It was decorated in a rustic cabin or chalet fashion, which felt very fitting considering given its location on the mountain.
Off to one side was a seating area set up like a living room with large leather couches and board games for entertainment.
There was also a small bar that served simple drinks like beer, wine and some spirits, as well as coffee and an assortment of teas.
The selection was a little sparse but realistically, I doubt that many hikers drink too much on the mountain.
Heading downstairs you come to a large wall of Crocs slippers of various sizes. You aren't supposed to wear shoes inside the refuge so they provide a pair of Crocs for all guests that stay there. It's a pretty standard thing for any refuge.
There was one large bathroom that is co-ed (both for males and females). It contained two private toilets and two showers and two large washing sinks. This particular refuge actually had hot warm water, which is pretty uncommon for most refuges.
I felt too nauseous to shower that day and then the next place that we stayed at only had freezing cold water, so I ended up not showering for the 3 days that we were hiking 🙃. I probably reaked by the time we went home. It's a good thing that we slept in the train in a tiny couchette with 4 other people 🤦♂️. I bet that they were thrilled by me.
The bedrooms were shared much like a youth hostel. There were 4 bunk beds and each room slept 8 people. The beds are meant to be slept in your own sleeping bag but they did come with very basic linens, a blanket and a pillow.
We shared the room with another Irish couple that was hiking across the country. As you can see in the photo, all of our stuff was soaked so we were all trying to hang dry it overnight.
Oh and lights out is at 10pm for everyone at most refuges, so no talking or partying late into the evening. Everyone is generally tired from hiking and generally wakes up very early to go back out though, so it typically isn't an issue. Okay let's head back upstairs now for dinner.
We got half-board with our stay, which included dinner that night and breakfast in the morning.
The price of the entire stay including both meals was only 60 euro and given the quality and quantity of food that they served, I thought that that was a tremendous deal, especially since the dinner included a large glass of wine and re-fills at no charge, if you asked for them.
Dinner started with a large clay pot filled with a thick squash soup. I was still nauseous and generally feeling like crap by that point but I forced myself to eat anyway.
I was surprised at how delicious the food was so I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't fully enjoy it. I ate probably about 1/2 to 2/3rds of what I normally would eat.
Something interesting that not everyone realizes is that food has a lot less taste the higher you go in elevation. Taste buds become less sensitive in the dryer air and reduced pressure of higher altitudes Source. It was very impressive to me that the cook was able to make the food taste so good up there on the mountain. I would easily have paid a regular restaurant fee for that dinner.
For dessert we had a simple slice of almond cake, which was quite good as well.
Breakfast the next day was served up until 8am at the latest - quite early, so sleeping in wasn't an option. I slept like crap anyway though, so I was awake long before. I didn't feel nauseous anymore though so that was a plus.
Breakfast was a simple meal but also very good and not much different than what you would get at a standard hotel in France, a croissant, some bread, yogurt and cheese and some cold cuts.
It had rained all night but the next day it was sunny when we were leaving for our hike.
As you can see the refuge was set in a very picturesque location in the Sorteny National Park.
Around back was a large deck with a seating area that looked like a nice spot to hang out in the afternoon and evenings if you finished hiking a little early.
We didn't linger too long because we had a big day ahead of us, but that's a story for another day.
