Sanitary towels on the wall Hut staff are fed up with rude tourists

The hut wardens have had enough of the tourists. Many of them behave badly. That's why more and more huts are closing.

Edith Lehner (58) from Zermatt VS is fed up. She has been running the Hörnli hut at the foot of the Matterhorn for six years together with her husband and a team of 14 people. Although she loves her job, she complains about the lack of respect shown by some guests. "The disrespect is sometimes unbelievable," she tells Blick.

Lehner is not the only one who is having more and more bad experiences with guests. Claudia Freitag, hut warden at the Muttseehütte above Linthal GL, was also fed up and quit at the end of the season after four years. She told the Glarner Nachrichten newspaper that guests didn't know the difference between a pub in the valley and a hut.

The huts in Switzerland try to offer guests as much comfort as possible. For example, the Hörnlihütte (3260 m above sea level) is equipped with WLAN, showers and cozy rooms. The hut can accommodate 150 visitors. "We love our guests, do everything we can to make them feel as comfortable as possible and, if necessary, reach the summit of the Matterhorn," says Lehner. She even helps guests with special food requests such as vegan or gluten-free meals. Up to 400 meals are served per day, which means a heavy workload.

Poor conditions in Swiss mountain huts

Despite these efforts, there are always guests who do not appreciate the effort. "Every day there are guests who leave without paying," says the hut warden. Others leave toilets in an unsightly state. The hut team repeatedly has to clean excrement next to the toilets or remove sanitary towels that are stuck to the wall. "Of course cleaning is part of the job, but deliberately making a mess is simply not necessary," says Lehner.

The rooms are also a mess after a stay. Waste is not disposed of in the garbage cans, even though it is compulsory, and some guests don't use their sleeping bags. "They lie to our faces when we ask." The hut sleeping bag has good reasons: On the one hand, it helps with hygiene and on the other, it protects the bedding, as there are no washing facilities in the huts.

Swiss hut tradition is under threat

Lehner is also annoyed by some guests and their habits after meals. Guests should clear their tables themselves. "In many cases, however, the dishes are left behind as a matter of course. That makes life very difficult for the staff. We are a mountain hut and not a hotel," says the hut warden. The job is challenging even without disrespectful guests.

Lehner fears that this negative trend will increase and, in the long term, lead to more and more hut wardens closing down - like Claudia Freitag in the canton of Glarus. "Others will throw in the towel or no successors can be found," says Lehner. This could jeopardize a long tradition of Swiss mountain huts.