Rifugio Pian de Fontana — Local services in Longarone

This rifugio has a number of rooms in dormitory only style accommodation. One of the sleeping huts has a mezzanine type area above the other beds. Beds here are fold out cots instead of proper beds/mattresses. Although it wasn't very comfortable we thought the trade off with more privacy was worth it. Food was fairly good. Internet connection can be patchy.|What stood out for us was the friendly staff. They went above and beyond in helping us out in arranging transportation back to civilisation. It turns out that the bus from La Pissa to Belluno has been cancelled on Sundays during school term times. So if you're finishing your hike on a Sunday in Sept/Oct or late Spring you'll be out of luck unless things change. |Other people at the hut were planning on hiking down to the road and calling a taxi, but the owner advised against this as mobile signal is very weak in the area and there's no guarantee you could call anyone. Furthermore, many taxi companies close or have limited hours on Sunday so even if you do get a signal you may not be able to get through to anyone. The hut owner advised prebooking on Saturday night so we could be guaranteed a ride. And she graciously called up a number of taxi companies for us until she found one that would agree to pick us up. (Some are short staffed and others didn't seem to be interested(!) We were also advised of taking a different route down the mountain which brought us closer to where a taxi would be willing to collect us. |Without her help we might have had to walk another 15km to get to a decent sized town where we could have sorted out transport.|Many many thanks to the Fontana staff who were so helpful and ensured we finished our AV1 holiday...

This rifugio was our final night in the AV1. We had some wild weather getting down to the hut, which made for slow going on a steep descent (hail, rain, thunder/lightning) and a soggy evening.

We stayed here in July, just after their outbuilding was struck by lightning and burned down (which made the hike in the storm a little scarier). I think this interrupted their service a bit (no hot showers, for example) but the staff was very nice. Overall a decent stay, and I was glad to have a place to hole up out of the rain.

Wifi: no (and no service)

Food: Food was ok. I'm not sure if their supply chain was partially interrupted here, so our experience might be slightly off the norm. They did have my favorite polenta of the hike, and a really tasty dessert (I ate it before I could get a pic).

Rooms: The rooms weren't the greatest. They are in outbuildings, and going from the main hut to another place for bed wasn't the best with the inclement weather. Our dorm was really crowded and there weren't enough outlets for the number of people (maybe 3 for the whole room). No drying racks, but they did have cubbies for bags. It was a bit chilly as well, so you may need to bundle up.

Bathrooms: Pretty bare bones, but not as bare bones as Biella. No hot water so we didn't use the...

This was our first stay at Pian de Fontana. We decided to stay here after the last two trips starting at Pramparet, making the summit of Cima Sud, then the descent to Pian de Fontana and farther on to Bianchet in one day - hell on the old knees! So we added a stop here at Pian de Fontana. Good idea! The food is excellent (which we knew from lunches before - Pasta with Funghi! Mmm-mm), and the comunity room is very cozy. Staff are nice (Elena, thanks for telling us where to get the good chocolate bars in Belluno!), and the accomodations are fine. Cold showers were only for the hearty, though! We will stay here again on...