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HOTEL STYLE
Budget
Great View
Location
Tf-21, Km 40, 2, 38300, Teide National Park, Tenerife Spain
All about the refuge is said precisely on their webpage. I would only recommend they add earplugs to the list of compulsory equipment. Perhaps something could be done about those squeeky bunkbeds? Otherwise very luxurious for this type of accomodation, having running water and toilets that flush, considering they have to bring the water there through a cable car... (Only soap was missing at the day of our visit) The disposable paper sheets were actually great for us, as we decided to climb up through montana blanca and climb down through pico viejo and narices the next day, we were very happy not to have to carry anything extra. If I was going with a cablecar both ways, id consider taking my own sleeping bag liner or duvet cover. As for the water, Id recommend a water filter rather than boiling, because there is just one kettle to use for everybody.
Another luxury that have electric plugs to charge your phone.
Staff was very friendly and all was according to the description. Great experience for me and my son, we highly recommend this!
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The facilities are more than adequate. We received a very warm welcome. Our dorm lights went off at 9 pm (and on again at 5 am) and everyone respected the fact that we needed to sleep. The bunk beds were comfortable enough but the paper sheets quickly displaced themselves from the matresses. The sunset views were pretty magnificent from outside the lodge. The only issue was that it didn't open until 5 pm (which we were aware of) and we really needed to use the toilets when we arrived. It's not luxury but it is exactly what it's meant to be and good value for money.
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Date of stay: February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed the night at the refuge on the way up to Mount Teide. It is a basic, clean cabin, as it clearly states on its website. If you’re looking for a 5 star hotel here, you’ve missed the point.
We were greeted by Nelson who was very friendly and helpful. Just go with the flow and enjoy. We went to bed early and slept reasonably well until 5 o’clock, when most people get up to leave around 6 to continue to the top of Teide.
You’ll probably need to rest if you’ve walked up to the refuge, both because of the walk and getting used to the altitude. A good idea to bring your own water & dehydrated food or food that is light to carry. Head torch. Warm clothes. A great experience. Teide is beautiful. Thank you to the Altavista staff for being a part of making our trip so enjoyable.
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
It's a great opportunity to meet lots of like minded people and to do something unique in the process. It's basic but as long as you understand that you will enjoy it and it's not as bad as some of the reviews make out.
Biggest issue I had was the altitude but you just stop often on the ascent.
Freezing cold at the top (January) and very windy so wrap up warm.
We walked back via Pico Viejo which is quite a hard walk due to the terrain but amazing scenery.
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Traveled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
1) You do not need to stay at this place to go to the top of the Teide unless you are: Buy a permit (from the website) and take the cable car (3 months in advance). 2) Pay absolutely nothing and have a good night sleep in your hotel and plan to walk up to the cable car platform before 9am as the staff are there at 9am to stop you if you do not have a permit (which needs to be bought months in advance). This requires some planning and waking up early, but at least you get some sleep (unlike in the refuge)
Now, If you do plan to stay in the refuge, make sure that you understand the following: If you take the cable car (this goes to the 3/4 from the base to the top (last one at 3:50pm), then you have to walk down for 45 mins (at least) to the refuge (there are no clear directions to it, just one sign half way through). You arrive around 5pm or so. You hang around the refuge until 7pm when the bedrooms are officially open. It's cold outside, but the noise inside from constant loud talking is challenging the levels of your patience. The people who work there do not ask you to check in when you arrive but do ask you in surprise if you have not yet checked in after watching you sitting there for two hours and catching your eyes a few times. This, apparently important task, is not even mentioned in the two pages of instructions on what you should or should not do there. At 7pm your bed allocations are revealed to you by calling your name, how this is done is a mystery (my suspicion is that non Spanish speakers are put into the big room with 16 beds). You put the mesh bed sheets (that look like the fake Halloween spider webs) on plastic wrapped mattresses and you finally think that you can rest then, but wait. There are lots of Spanish youths talking very loudly and laughing in the hall until midnight. Banging pans in the kitchen next to the bedroom and drinking wine until midnight is the norm, the people who work there seem to enjoy this themselves and take part in the noisy discussions. The idea of an early night before an ascent for the sunrise slowly becomes an unimaginable dream. Finally, the light in the bedroom is switched off at 10pm, the very loud noise of people talking and laughing stops around midnight. Bedrooms doors remain opened until then as nobody understands what the rules are. That's 5 hours of laying there, wishing you were asleep. Now, you wish you had those heavy duty ear plugs, as well as a thick eye mask. The altitude seems to heightened your senses, so the whole experience seems 10 times worse than it should be. Then the heaters are switched on full blast before 10pm, making it unbearable to sleep after an hour or so, so the bedrooms doors are open again as everyone is awake and unable to sleep from the heat. Then, the loud bunk beds squeaking starts and people's phones go off as nobody can sleep (unless you are the lucky one with heavy duty earplugs, snoring very loudly and grew up at high altitude). Why is it so hard to tightened the beds or add some oil to stop them squeaking? Some people here have also mentioned it before. At 4am the coffee machine in the hall (the bedrooms doors are open, remember?) starts off as people realise that spending 2 euros on a crap coffee is the best thing you could do at that time. (And I'm glad I followed them later on to make this hell hole more bearable). 4:50 the bedroom light is switched on. Don't bother setting your alarm! You are lucky if you slept for 5 minutes, so now it's the the time to climb the big mountain, 1,5-2 hours to catch the sunrise, it is definitely worth it and surprisingly not as bad as you think it would be. In the morning (5am or so) you walk back up to the cable car platform (one hour) and then to the top (another 30-45 mins). You have to do this in the dark in the winter, so make sure it's done in full moon (the best) or you have a torch that lasts for two hours. I don't know if this is different for the local Spanish speaking hikers but for me, the idea of a friendly refuge where you can talk to people (we speak 5 languages between me and my partner) and make friends and have a good rest, was in reality a badly managed, very noisy youth hostel with overpriced water, coffee and indifferent stuff who can't follow the basic rules they made up themselves. Even the toilet seats were broken off the hinges. The whole place feels like a complete rip off. A prison is probably the closest that it can be compared to. On a positive note, the 4G reception on top of the mountain was better than what you would get in 95% of the UK.
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Date of stay: February 2019
Value
Rooms
Service
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:Do not stay here, I'm not joking.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from VolcanoLife, Director de Relaciones con Clientes at Refugio de Altavista
Responded Mar 3, 2019
Hi, thanks for your extensive comment. All information about the activity is described on our website. It is not possible to climb to the peak without permission unless you spend the night in the shelter, this is an important recommendation. We try to improve our services and our installation has good 4G coverage and free WIFI at 3260m. Regards.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
The Refuge is an oasis in a barren landscape!. Seriously, the duty manager went out of her way to help unprepared climbers and to allocate accommodation to meet the needs of families (two family groups of 5 and 7), a group of happy millenials, a female group, couples and us odd bods that travel solo.Pretty good management if you ask me. The refuge has everything you need to create a substantial supper and yes, if you don't bring your own water, 3 euros is nothing if it keeps you hydrated. The beds are clean and the rooms are warm, sleeping can be difficult at altitude and people forget that they are at 3,500m. Value for money? Of course, especially if you imagine the alternative. Where else can you get to the top of the world and see fabulous sunsets and sunrises for less than the price of a good meal?
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Date of stay: August 2017Trip type: Traveled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Second time we stayed at the hut, both times we stayed in the small hut, near the main building.First time we stayed in the 4 beds room and was ok. This time we stayed in the 6 beds room and the middle bunk bed made horrible noise all night, was a terrible creak noise and the bed was moving so much, they could have just tighten the screws,but opt not too, because next morning I told the stuff about the problem and seems they were aware of the situation and said soon they will replace the beds, but in the mean time you pay for a place to sleep and you can't get any sleep.
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Date of stay: June 2018
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Okay, I have used mountain refuges all over the world so this is a standard good quality refuge with 54 beds and it is very clean. It costs 21E for a solo stay which includes a permit for the summit. We walked up from the Montana Blanca car park which takes less than 4 hours. There are however restraints to the refuge: 1. You cannot have access to the kitchen until 5pm. 2. You cannot have access to your beds until 7pm. 3. There is no fresh water available for free unless you boil the tap water for drinking purposes. 4. There is no food available unless you buy what is sold in the vending machines.* *vending machines-the standard chocolate etc. Some prices... coke 4E, water in 500ml bottles 3E and coffee (small) at 2E. So the machines are expensive. 5. If you buy anything...coke, coffees, water or cook your own stuff you have to take this rubbish out with you or deposit it at the trash cans at the cable car station on your way up to the summit. You can cook in the refuge as long as you bring your own food and all utensils are supplied. There are also charging plugs available for your electrics. In addition you do not need a sleeping bag as duvets are supplied. The staff are friendly and accommodating and our stay was very pleasant with great views and it was very comfortable. We got up at 4.15am for the 1hr 45min hike to the summit (2.4km and 500m of ascent). All in all this was a great mountain experience and the stay at the refuge was excellent if not expensive if you used the vending machines. Personally I think they should supply other goods - bigger bottles of fresh water and other food stuffs. However it was a great experience to stay here.
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Date of stay: June 2017
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Traveled with friends
Room Tip:Downstairs rooms are best.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
they refused us to stay because of weather, and resisted to give our money back. only after 1hour of speaking with personnel they agreed to give back money. So that day we had no place to sleep, so we had to sleep on the street
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: March 2016Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from judithdordas, Community Manager at Refugio de Altavista
Responded Mar 23, 2016
Thanks for your review. We are sorry that you could not get to the Refuge because of the last snow storm. Bookings are non-refundable in such cases but they are valid for a 12 month period.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
This is mountain hut. If you are not familiar with such places the booking procedure and some information on the website might create the impression that this is a normal hostel-type accommodation. It is not.
There is no restaurant and no showers. You will get no towels there. There is only non-drinking water in the bathrooms and the kitchen. The kitchen can not accommodate all people that stay in the hut at once so you might have to wait. There is a warden that is going to check you in and assign a bed to you in a room with maybe 15 other people. If the hut is full (which it was when I was there) do not expect a good night of sleep. You are at a significant altitude and if you are not accustomed to it sleeping will be difficult. Plus the beds are low quality, you have no privacy, someone is going to snore loudly, and people are going to start getting up at 4:15 am to start the ascend to Teide.
All this is absolutely normal for a mountain hut.
The hut provides a number of above average services. Bed linen are provided so you do not need to bring a sleeping bag. There is some type of heating in the hut so it will be relatively warm. You can use the kitchen which offers stoves, pots, cooking utensils, silverware and plates. There is a water cooker as well.
You can get drinking water from a vending machine that sells soft drinks and drinking water in 0.5 l plastic bottles (3€ for a bottle of water, 4€ for soft drinks, you need to bring coins). There are vending machines for coffee and snacks as well. There is some pay-for WIFI but I did not try it.
From the hut it is a one-hour hike to the cable car station and another 30 min to the peak of Teide. If you sleep in the hut you do not need a permit to ascend the peak if you return to the cable car station before 9 am.
If you are like me there is no other legal and practical way to experience the unforgettable sunrise in the peak of Teide. And for a mountain hut this place is above average. Therefore I can recommend it. But don't have false expectations about the place. It is primarily there to shelter you for the night and with some luck you might even catch an hour or two of sleep.
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Date of stay: March 2015
Rooms
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi,
The Refuge closes at 10pm and after 10.30pm no noises are allowed so that all can have a rest before waking up early in the morning to ascend to the peak.
Regards,
Hi
Please bear in mind that the Refuge may not have the facilities you need for attending a 4 year old child. Plus, s/he could feel sick due to altitude and the lack of oxigen.
Yes, you can leave a car in the parking. It is free. The parking is closed in the night so you can not move a car in any case. It is also a posiblity to leave a car outside closed area. The paring is quite big - what is rather an exception in popular places in Tenerife.
I am not sure about a cable tickets. If I remeber the regulations (check it in the cable webpage) the tickets are valid on specified date and time period (2 hours) and may be used next day if the cable is not working due to bad weather.
I you buy ticket for return morning trip after the night in the Alatavista Refuge it is rather no other possibility than go down on foot.
There are more places to choose from in the Teide National Park area.
LOCATION
SpainCanary IslandsTenerifeTeide National Park
NUMBER OF ROOMS
3
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