Refuge du Portillon

Despite the great location, I'd have preferred camping in my own tent instead of the refuge du Portillon. I don't really understand why it has such great rating, because the staff was overall not very friendly. There is no hot water and they fail to mention this when booking a stay over the phone. And the food is lacking greatly when compared to what they serve in the refuge d'Espingo. For dinner you get soup and rice with some poorly made, very watery Bolognese sauce. For breakfast you don't even get plates to eat on. For the the hefty price paid it's quite lacking unfortunately and we felt a bit robbed to be honest.

Comfortable place: warm, good food, clean, warm shower (3 eur for 6 minutes). Hospitable guardian. The refuge is relatively big and guardianis not trying to pack everybody in the same room. So, there is chance of privacy if your are out of season and lucky (place is quite popular)

A beautiful refuge in an ideal location for climbing several peaks. The food was very good and the dormitories were very nice. However, the welcome from Mr. Régis was rather lukewarm; he seemed blasé about receiving guests. I initially thought it was just an off day, but I stayed for three days and nothing changed, which was a shame.