Denali Princess Lodge vs. Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge: how to split up my stay

[elephant98]

Has anyone stayed at BOTH of these Princess lodges? If so, how do they compare?

 

While I've read that the Denali lodge is popular because it is so close to the entrance of the national park and many tour operators, I've also read that the McKinley lodge is a little bit nicer (in terms of rooms and facilities) and more remote. Is this true?

 

I currently have reservations to stay three nights at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, followed up by one night at the McKinley Princess Lodge. I was thinking that I might want to switch my reservations so that I will stay two nights at BOTH places.

 

I would still spend the morning/early afternoon at Denali doing a river rafting excursion on that third day. But, then I could do the 2 1/2 - 3 hour drive to arrive at McKinley in the late afternoon/early evening. (It might also make sense because I have an exursion out of Talkeetna at noon on the fourth day).

 

In my view, its essentially a decision of where I want to spend the evening, eat dinner and sleep on that third night. Does anyone believe that either lodge is that much superior to the other that I should either change my plans or keep them the same?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Budget Queen]

Since it sounds like you are going independent with a car, I would not stay at the Denali Princess. There are better hotels available since it sounds like the lodging is important to you? There is nothing special about the Denali Princess. The McKinley lodge is out in the middle of nowhere- 50 miles one way to Talkeetna. Determine if you want to make that trip too many times??? A similar hotel is the Talkeetna Alaska lodge, much better location for activities. Far more touring options and dining possibilities. What you need to determine first is what you want to do there?? There are endless tours available at the Denali Park entrance, private and park activities. It is a highlight for a lot of people. Also where are you coming from? Would night 1 in Talkeetna, 2 Denali Park, 1 Talkeetna be an option?

[Genessa]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by elephant98:

Has anyone stayed at BOTH of these Princess lodges? If so, how do they compare?

 

While I've read that the Denali lodge is popular because it is so close to the entrance of the national park and many tour operators, I've also read that the McKinley lodge is a little bit nicer (in terms of rooms and facilities) and more remote. Is this true?

 

I currently have reservations to stay three nights at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, followed up by one night at the McKinley Princess Lodge. I was thinking that I might want to switch my reservations so that I will stay two nights at BOTH places.

 

I would still spend the morning/early afternoon at Denali doing a river rafting excursion on that third day. But, then I could do the 2 1/2 - 3 hour drive to arrive at McKinley in the late afternoon/early evening. (It might also make sense because I have an exursion out of Talkeetna at noon on the fourth day).

 

In my view, its essentially a decision of where I want to spend the evening, eat dinner and sleep on that third night. Does anyone believe that either lodge is that much superior to the other that I should either change my plans or keep them the same?

 

Thanks in advance.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

we stayed at both, 1 night Denali, 2 nights McKinley. We found McKinley to be much nicer. It is remote, as BQ says, about 45-50 minutes out of Talkeetna. The property is more appealing - more of a country feel - plenty of trees, very spread out. There are two short trails, both with interesting views. Denali was right off a main road, with lots of traffic noise, construction dust (Alaska Hwy was rebuilding the road when we were there last summer - apparently something that occurs very often all across Alaska), a commercial strip of stores right across the road and also some adjacent.

There were few trees.

 

Both properties are broken down into smaller units - the ones at McKinley are primarily newer, prettier, and further apart. They also "felt" smaller - most were one story in McKinley, two story in Denali - with less rooms in each unit. McKinley provided a shuttle to get around, but we walked.

 

Dining - there are more options at Denali. There are several places on the property, the pizzeria right next door and several fast food places across the street and the sub place on the right. The pizza place was decent, the sandwich place on Denali property left much to be desired and the breakfast in the restaurant was pre-packaged and one step short of inedible - but we didn't have to wait to get into any of them. McKinley had just one restaurant and one bar/cafe/lounge. We never could get into the restaurant with 6 people at a decent hour, but the food in the bar area was good - we especially liked the halibut basket and chicken finger basket. There are some places to eat in Talkeetna, but too much of a distance for us to take the shuttle for.

 

I would base my decision about where you want to stay by what you want to do. Denali is closer to the park entrance for taking one of the tours or the park shuttle. Also the white water rafting.

 

McKinley is closer to Talkeetna, good for air trips. There is also the river there, and many opportunities for jet boat trips, fishing trips.

 

One big plus to McKinley last year was the attitude of the staff. We found them much friendlier and helpful at McKinley than at Denali. For example, we stopped at the tour desk in Denali and asked what the weather was supposed to be for the following day. The two young women and one young man looked at each other, shrugged, and one responded - "how are we supposed to know?". In addition, when we arranged a horseback riding excursion for the morning of the day we were leaving, we were not informed upon registration that since we were leaving that we would be taken by the horse riding van directly to the train station. When we went to the excursion desk that morning after finding out from two women we overheard speaking they said "How are we supposed to know when you are leaving? Everyone who is on the train has to go directly there from their excursions and should have already put their luggage out." This was the only time on our entire land tour that we weren't informed of key information.

 

By contrast, the staff at McKinley went out of their way to be helpful. The young man who ran the excursion desk called one of the tour guides at his home to see if he could take us on a tour at the last minute. He also booked us, then cancelled us, then booked us for another excursion. We should have driven him nuts and he was friendlier than ever.

The bar/lounge waitresses were all great, despite being super busy.

[elephant98]

Budget Queen and Genessa,

 

Thanks so much for your replies. You both have been a great help and are a wonderful asset to this board.

[PharmacyRx]

We just returned and I have to say the Mt McKinley Lodge is more appealing and "Alaska-like". The Denali Lodge rooms are not well-appointed and if you did not know you were in Alaska, you would think you were in a Holiday Inn Express. The Lodge itself is nice but the staff leave much to be desired. The Mt McKinley Lodge, while remote, has very helpful, kind staff and the rooms are great. The large room in the lodge looks directly onto Mt McKinley.

We will not return to the Denali Lodge but will book again at the Mt McKinley property.

 

"

[julie8]

As so many people are complaining about Denali, what are the other good options for hotels around this area. I am staying two days at Mt McKinley and may be changing my reservations at Denali after all the bad press it is getting. Let me know.

Thanks

Julie

[Budget Queen]

Going independent there are better options for lodging than the Denali Princess. The Denali Bluffs and the Grand Denali are top properties, but there are wonderfull B&B's too. I really like the Touch of Wilderness and the Denali Dome is also a well recommended property.