Thanks for writing about the many interesting restaurants, cafes and hotels/lodges on summits and in the AZs. I particularly like L’hotel Ermitage, a bold project to build a hotel/lodge/ermitage at 2000m over Grenoble, with only a cable car to get up there, and the fact that is fell to ruin amplifies the mystique.
Come to think of it, we have an alpine lodge in the English / European tradition right here in VK3. Mt Buffalo Chalet, Australia’s largest timber building, sits on the Mt Buffalo plateau, about 4 hours north east of Melbourne.
It is not in an AZ but the 10km north-south plateau has no fewer than four 10-point summits, the popular Hump (VE-019) and The Horn (VE-014), Mt Macleod VE-034 (a full day’s hike to the northern end) and the rarely activated Ulrich Peak VE-034 (activated only 7 times and not since 2017, reportedly it’s a rough and uninviting bush-bash).
Built in 1910s by Victorian Railways as a weekend and skiing destination from Melbourne, the Chalet was also something quite special in its day. It was shabby by the time I went there in my high school years, subsequently closed, and was very nearly burned down in several bushfires. I’m pleased to see that the current owners in conjunction with Parks Victoria have restored it and are intending to reopen it this year. The Chalet would make a fine base for a 40-point weekend sometime.
Its not a restaurant (you can buy “simple hiking food” next to it at the “Bergstübchen” anyway) but its the only hut I know on top of a SOTA-Summit (Gebaberg; dm/th-082) you can rent with up to 12 sleeping in one room:
Starting tomorrow there Is a summercamp organized by two franconian darc-chapters:
