Denali Hotels

[chev29]

Does any one know which hotels HAL uses for land tour in Anchorage, Denali and Fairbanks. We are on Westerdam in Sept. 2020. Thanks .

[terrydtx]

We did this itinerary in July on HAL. All 3 of the following hotels are owned by HAL.

 

Anchorage was the Westmark Hotel and it was a total dump. Very old and in need of updating a 3 star hotel on its best day. I would never book this hotel on my own. Our room smelled terribly of cigarette smoke when we checked in and we couldn't get moved since no other rooms were available. The hotel is supposed to be 100% non smoking. The restaurant sucked too and we couldn't even buy some AA batteries in the gift shop I had to walk down three blocks to the Captain Cook Hotel for batteries.. The best hotel in Anchorage is the Captain Cook Hotel which is used by Celebrity and Princess. It is located in the middle of downtown so we could walk to a couple of great restaurants.

 

Denali was the McKinley Chalets and we had a room in the new addition that opened last April. This hotel is a 4 or 5 star hotel with a great food court.  This is a true resort hotel with a lot of activities,  I would stay here anytime.

 

Fairbanks was the Fairbanks Westmark and we were in the new (North) tower. It was 10 times better than the Anchorage Westmark with decent restaurant. It is also located in the middle of downtown.

Edited December 30, 2019 by terrydtx

[skylane182]

consider upgrading to the junior suites at Denali - rooms are modern and have AC. 

[Crew News]

Here is a link to my photo review of the McKinley Resort that includes a resort map, typical room, bus stops, menus, and an incredible dessert at the Canyon Inn Steak House:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/place/alaska-2/denali/mckinley-resort

[terrydtx]

2 hours ago, skylane182 said:

consider upgrading to the junior suites at Denali - rooms are modern and have AC. 

We got the new addition which are the Junior suites without having to upgrade. The upgrade costs $99 per day pp and is not worth the cost. We might have been assigned to this room because of my complaints on our room in Anchorage that went all the way to Seattle when HAL couldn't move us to a room that  had no previous smokers in a non smoking hotel. I have no idea if that was why we got the great new Denali room but we took it.  The room had AC and heated floors in the bathroom and the room was first class all the way. The Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage had some HAL people from our cruise and if we ever do another Alaska cruise with HAL, I would make sure we got the Captain Cook or not book with HAL. The Westmark in Anchorage needs to be torn down and rebuilt, it is that bad, even my 10 year old grandson who was with us said it was a dump.

Edited January 1, 2020 by terrydtx

[Tom O.]

On 12/30/2019 at 4:02 PM, terrydtx said:

We did this itinerary in July on HAL. All 3 of the following hotels are owned by HAL.

 

Anchorage was the Westmark Hotel and it was a total dump. Very old and in need of updating a 3 star hotel on its best day. I would never book this hotel on my own. Our room smelled terribly of cigarette smoke when we checked in and we couldn't get moved since no other rooms were available. The hotel is supposed to be 100% non smoking. The restaurant sucked too and we couldn't even buy some AA batteries in the gift shop I had to walk down three blocks to the Captain Cook Hotel for batteries.. The best hotel in Anchorage is the Captain Cook Hotel which is used by Celebrity and Princess. It is located in the middle of downtown so we could walk to a couple of great restaurants.

 

Denali was the McKinley Chalets and we had a room in the new addition that opened last April. This hotel is a 4 or 5 star hotel with a great food court.  This is a true resort hotel with a lot of activities,  I would stay here anytime.

 

 

 

Completely agree with terrydtx about the Westmark in Anchorage. It was my definition of a flea bag hotel.

 

The McKinley Chalet at Denali was nice, but it is so spread out that you have to take a shuttle to go anywhere. This insures that you won't be doing business with any shops or restaurants not owned by HAL, because it is so difficult to get off the property.  The on-property restaurants were good, but pricey, and at times very crowded. I would have preferred a hotel where I could easily walk to independent restaurants and shops.

 

We were not in Fairbanks, so I have not opinion there.

[oaktreerb]

2 hours ago, Tom O. said:

 

 

The McKinley Chalet at Denali was nice, but it is so spread out that you have to take a shuttle to go anywhere. This insures that you won't be doing business with any shops or restaurants not owned by HAL, because it is so difficult to get off the property.  The on-property restaurants were good, but pricey, and at times very crowded. I would have preferred a hotel where I could easily walk to independent restaurants and shops.

 

 

 

The shuttles run their routes consistently throughout the Chalets and on up to the lobby area.  “Glitter gulch” is an easy walk just across the highway and the Princess Lodge is just next door.  There are plenty of places to eat if you don’t want to eat at the various eateries on site at the Chalets.  The Chalet Resort is a large and very nice national park lodge type facility.  Thankfully HAL provides transport throughout the scenic property and the drivers keep an eye out for occasional wildlife on-site...like moose and bears.  

 

The Salmon Bake is across the street and the Princess Lodge has a very nice steakhouse type restaurant.  There are lots of options across the highway and a traffic light and crosswalk to make the crossing easy.

 

 

Edited January 1, 2020 by oaktreerb

[Tom O.]

51 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

 

The shuttles run their routes consistently throughout the Chalets and on up to the lobby area.  “Glitter gulch” is an easy walk just across the highway and the Princess Lodge is just next door.  There are plenty of places to eat if you don’t want to eat at the various eateries on site at the Chalets.  The Chalet Resort is a large and very nice national park lodge type facility.  Thankfully HAL provides transport throughout the scenic property and the drivers keep an eye out for occasional wildlife on-site...like moose and bears.  

 

The Salmon Bake is across the street and the Princess Lodge has a very nice steakhouse type restaurant.  There are lots of options across the highway and a traffic light and crosswalk to make the crossing easy.

 

 

I was just thinking it would have been nice, if as soon as I walked out the door of our chalet, we would be greeted with a choice of several restaurants. Instead you have to wait for the next shuttle, take it to the lobby, then cross a busy highway to find some competition. It might be easy for you, but with my old knees, it was a little daunting. So we never left the Chalet grounds, except for our excursions.

[oaktreerb]

35 minutes ago, Tom O. said:

I was just thinking it would have been nice, if as soon as I walked out the door of our chalet, we would be greeted with a choice of several restaurants. Instead you have to wait for the next shuttle, take it to the lobby, then cross a busy highway to find some competition. It might be easy for you, but with my old knees, it was a little daunting. So we never left the Chalet grounds, except for our excursions.

 

I have watched this resort develop over the last 15 years and the growth after it was purchased by HAL.  Agreed, it is no longer easy to get from one place to another.  Last year we actually got lost trying to get to Karstens for breakfast and had to wait for the shuttle!  Thankfully for those of us who can no longer hike the road up to the top of the property, there are shuttles!  

 

 

[terrydtx]

14 hours ago, oaktreerb said:

 

The shuttles run their routes consistently throughout the Chalets and on up to the lobby area.  “Glitter gulch” is an easy walk just across the highway and the Princess Lodge is just next door.  There are plenty of places to eat if you don’t want to eat at the various eateries on site at the Chalets.  The Chalet Resort is a large and very nice national park lodge type facility.  Thankfully HAL provides transport throughout the scenic property and the drivers keep an eye out for occasional wildlife on-site...like moose and bears.  

 

The Salmon Bake is across the street and the Princess Lodge has a very nice steakhouse type restaurant.  There are lots of options across the highway and a traffic light and crosswalk to make the crossing easy.

 

 

We found Karstens to be excellent food and for Alaska not over priced. Also there is an excellent Pizza and beer place across the street along with several other types of restaurants.. The shuttles run every few minutes and stop at every lodge.  We loved the McKinley Chalets and the whole resort.

[Crew News]

8 hours ago, terrydtx said:

We found Karstens to be excellent food and for Alaska not over priced. Also there is an excellent Pizza and beer place across the street along with several other types of restaurants.. The shuttles run every few minutes and stop at every lodge.  We loved the McKinley Chalets and the whole resort.

 

And their dinner portions are huge.  If you are on the Meal Plan (i would not recommend) you need to go to the Canyon Inn Steak House at the top of the hill and order the most expensive items on the menu to get the value of the plan.

[chev29]

Thanks to everyone who responded, It looks like the Anchorage hotel will be a bit of a problem. It is only for one night, so we will see. We got some bad reviews for hotel in Copenhagen, and it turned out to be very nice and comfortable. Close to Tivoli Gardens. 

[Tom O.]

We arrived at the Anchorage Westmark late in the day, exhausted from flying all day with two layovers. We ate dinner in the hotel and went to bed. We left the next morning for our train ride to Denali. We thought our dinner and breakfast at the hotel were fine. But the hotel itself is a dumpy place. But we spent very little time there.

[Cruising-along]

We actually had more problems with our room in Fairbanks than in Anchorage.  The heat wouldn't stop blasting out (even the hotel mechanic couldn't get it to stop).  It made for a very bad night, even with the fan going full blast to try to counteract it. I wish now we had put in a complaint to HAL, but we didn't.   On the other hand I don't remember any problem in Anchorage, I don't expect the hotels to be luxury hotels.  And as others have said, you're there for such a short time.

[Cruising-along]

Sorry double post.

Edited January 3, 2020 by Cruising-along