Is it possible to upgrade hotel rooms on land portion of Land & Sea Alaska?

Hello,

Not sure if I should re-post in the Alaska forum, but our Land & Sea vacation is with HAL, so I'll try here. We'll be doing land first in June, and I've gotten no specific reply from our PCC on this topic. Is it possible ahead of time to pay for upgraded hotel rooms in the land portion? I'm gathering by reviews that there may be better rooms in some parts of the Westmark Fairbanks, and perhaps in McKinley Chalet and the Windsong in Seward. Not sure about the Westmark Fairbanks. But I wouldn't mind spending a little more for a 1-bedroom suite vs a studio style room. Thanks!

No, and that is one of the problems I had with the Land & Sea package. I wish I had done it all myself. The only upgrade we got was when we were assigned to the Sheraton in Anchorage and since I am SPG platinum we got lounge access.

Would you recommend buying some kind of mattress topper?

I would LOVE an upgrade to the Sheraton in Anchorage, but would regret switching to La Quinta for our 2nd night in Anchorage, on our own. That's much better than the guy I sat next to on the airplane in 2014, who got put in a 2 star hotel or motel, inferior to Westmark.

We were on the Y2L Alaska-Yukon trip last May and June, and thought that, for the most part, the hotel rooms were satisfactory, but not luxurious. We only stayed in Westmark properties (owned by HAL). The one in Fairbanks was the nicest (but it's the city convention center hotel), and rest were clean, well-kept, and snug. The hotels in Anchorage and Fairbanks are both towers. Except for Whitehorse's three floors, all the rest were two stories.

The room in Denali had a separate sitting room, but not much of a view (because of the old-style windows that were relatively small and were high enough that you could only see treetops and sky when sitting down). However, the bathroom had been redone and had a large walk-in shower.

The room in Dawson was probably the largest (with a very high ceiling, too), but only a couple of smallish but tall windows.

Overall, the rooms were comfortable, and the onsite restaurants were generally good (but in Dawson you may want to try The Aurora Inn restaurant, about a block south of the HAL Westmark Hotel on 5th Street -- it was very good: and you may want to try the ice cream with maple whisky on it).

Enjoy your trip!

(but in Dawson you may want to try The Aurora Inn restaurant, about a block south of the HAL Westmark Hotel on 5th Street -- it was very good: and you may want to try the ice cream with maple whisky on it).

 

Enjoy your trip!

Now that, is good advice! I've got it written down.

We're doing the Y3C. If it works out, I would also love to do the D4L, and maybe even one of the Princess cruise tours.

We took our first trip to Alaska in 2005, a land/sea trip. Ours started in Fairbanks, and since we had never been there decided to spend three days prior to start of trip. HAL set us up in a one-bedroom suite, and we truly enjoyed it. We didn't especially ask for this, but were delighted to have it. I don't recall the cost, but it was all within a certain price arranged with our TA. It didn't seem excessive to me. And BTW we truly enjoyed exploring Fairbanks on our own, riding the public transportation and/or walking.

Marianne:cool:

Thank you all for sharing your experiences! I appreciate your details, kwb101. We won't be in Yukon hotels--we're doing D3L. I'm hoping we love cruising and maybe do a tour that includes the Yukon portion next time, with that ice cream. I may be able to sample similar flavors during our 1-night post-cruise in Vancouver! :-) Our tour includes Fairbanks (2), Denali (2), Anchorage (1), and Seward (1), then southbound to Vancouver.

I don't mind old, plain hotels, as long as they're clean. Maybe I'll call the hotels directly ahead of time or ask at check-in for a suite upgrade. With our 8yo son with us, I do like to get 1-bedroom suites on vacation so my husband and I have a place to hang out after bedtime. But it's okay if we can't do that everywhere. Just excited to be taking our son to such an awesome place! And we are splurging on a Pinnacle Suite this trip, so we'll have a living room after bedtime. Hope it won't be too painful for us to book other categories next time ;-)

Thank you all for sharing your experiences! I appreciate your details' date=' kwb101. We won't be in Yukon hotels--we're doing D3L ... ;-)[/quote']

When we were in Denali, we went to Prospector's Pizza (across the highway from the McKinley Chalet Resort main building) when we got off the Tundra Wilderness Tour bus. It has an interesting menu, and we ended up with a pizza with reindeer sausage and elk meatballs. It seemed to be a place where the locals went, a very different vibe (and menu) than the two restaurants at the Chalet, and we thought the food was pretty good.

 

Happy travels!

When we were in Denali, we went to Prospector's Pizza (across the highway from the McKinley Chalet Resort main building) when we got off the Tundra Wilderness Tour bus. It has an interesting menu, and we ended up with a pizza with reindeer sausage and elk meatballs. It seemed to be a place where the locals went, a very different vibe (and menu) than the two restaurants at the Chalet, and we thought the food was pretty good.

 

Happy travels!

I just took a quick look at their menu--we'll all find something yummy there! My husband is more adventurous than me with "game" meats so I'm sure he'll enjoy a beer or two with the reindeer/elk pizza...I'm too chicken LOL. We'll have 2 dinners at Denali, one will definitely be at Propector's Pizza. Is it easy/safe to walk to?

I just took a quick look at their menu--we'll all find something yummy there! My husband is more adventurous than me with "game" meats so I'm sure he'll enjoy a beer or two with the reindeer/elk pizza...I'm too chicken LOL. We'll have 2 dinners at Denali' date=' one will definitely be at Propector's Pizza. Is it easy/safe to walk to?[/quote']

It's about 150 yards, directly across the highway from the McKinley main building. It's slightly uphill, but an easy walk. We found that the reindeer and elk didn't taste very different from "regular" meats, although the reindeer was reddish. Enjoy!

Just fyi, I called Westmark and Windsong, both said I'd have to try and ask for room upgrade availability when we check in. Oh well, I know we'll have a great time no matter what! Hoping we get over jet lag quickly during the land portion so we can enjoy exploring on our own when we're not on a HAL scheduled tour. 4 hours back for us from NJ, will be toughest on my 8yo son I think.

I just took a quick look at their menu--we'll all find something yummy there! My husband is more adventurous than me with "game" meats so I'm sure he'll enjoy a beer or two with the reindeer/elk pizza...I'm too chicken LOL. We'll have 2 dinners at Denali' date=' one will definitely be at Propector's Pizza. Is it easy/safe to walk to?[/quote']

Be sure to have your driver's license. I am not kidding. I am a 50 something who looks it....they would not allow me to get wine without my license. In AK if you have 3(or 4?) alcohol convictions they mark your license with an red mark and you are not allowed to buy in a store or a restaurant. I had laughed the night before when my husband got carded buying a bottle of wine at the little market in that strip mall. Imagine my surprise when I'd just gotten off a tour and could not have a drink at dinner.

 

There is a cross walk with a light to cross the highway right in front of the hotel that takes you into the parking lot of the strip mall.

Be sure to have your driver's license. I am not kidding. I am a 50 something who looks it....they would not allow me to get wine without my license. In AK if you have 3(or 4?) alcohol convictions they mark your license with an red mark and you are not allowed to buy in a store or a restaurant. I had laughed the night before when my husband got carded buying a bottle of wine at the little market in that strip mall. Imagine my surprise when I'd just gotten off a tour and could not have a drink at dinner.

 

There is a cross walk with a light to cross the highway right in front of the hotel that takes you into the parking lot of the strip mall.

Wow, good tips! We'll be sure to keep our ID with us. And if/when we're carded I'll pretend it's because I must look <21 ;p