Denali Hotels

[77skidoo]

I'm going to Alaska for the first time and I plan to stay in a hotel right near the entrance to Denali National Park. Any suggestions? There's just two of us.

[wolfie11]

Try looking on the Aramark and Princess websites for specials. Lots of buy one get one free or 50% off specials.

[Budget Queen]

Will you have a car?? What is your price range? Many lodgings to choose from, big hotels to B&B's. :)

[Yukon]

The Alaska Travel Industry Association has some great Denali accommodation offers listed at http://www.travelalaska.com/Specials/Select.aspx?Type=2 In recent years I've usually stayed at the Denali Bluffs but if you have a car, staying in Healy is usually cheaper.

 

Murray

[kenish]

The touristy, vanilla hotels are right around the park entrance in the "Glitter Gulch" area. Once you're inside the hotel you won't know if you're in Denali, Denver, Denmark, or Denpasar. :)

 

More reasonably priced lodging with a lot more character are farther away from the entrance. The area runs 15 miles south and north of the entrance. Healy is at the northern end.

 

Check www.tripadvisor.com for traveler ratings and reviews of the various hotels, motels, and B&Bs.

[77skidoo]

I will have a car...what I want to do is have a place to stay 2 nights while getting on the bus through Denali one solid day. Any advice for that?

[cruiseej]

I will have a car...what I want to do is have a place to stay 2 nights while getting on the bus through Denali one solid day. Any advice for that?

 

That's what we're doing. Based on advice here, as well as review on TripAdvisor, we booked the Denali Lakeview Inn in Healy, north of the park entrance,for two nights in June.

 

http://www.denalilakeviewinn.com/

 

Since we haven't stayed there yet so I can't give you a personal review. We thought we'd be happier out of the hustle and bustle around the entrance, and the rooms and location seemed good. They include food for a continental breakfast in your room -- good for those who are getting up at very early hours to head into the park, and you can also order a bag lunch the night before to take with you on your early-morning park shuttle.

 

-- Eric

[smdawheel]

We decided to do this on are own versus taking the tour the first week in June. It was $1600 more for 2 people for a 4 night direct to the wilderness tour on princess. We switched to a rental car with 2 nights each, in Denali, Anchorhage and Homer. Our rental car plus accomidations is running $1200 for the 6 nights. In Denali we are staying at a Hostil with private cabins http://www.hostelalaska.com/ (cost $85 pwe night), we got our hotel in Anchorage on priceline, and I found a bed and breadfast in Homer -- this is a slight splurge at $155 per night for 2 nights. I figure we will also lower our food costs this way -- as we will be able to stop at a grocery and pick up sandwich stuff for lunches.

[nothriver]

There is a "Statehood Special" right now from the hotels managed by Armark: McKinley Chalet Resort, McKinley Village Lodge, Grande Denali Hotel, and Denali Bluffs Hotel.

 

Full price for the first night, then the second night is only $50.

This is a great deal, we saved almost $300.

 

Or, if you are turing 50 in 2009, the second night is free.

(And if you are turning 50 in 2009, you get a FREE trip on the Alaska railroad - an even better deal - see the Alaska railroad website for more information!)

 

Details here:

http://www.denaliparkresorts.com/specials/index.cfm

[Lanaki]

We also have a rental car and are staying at the Denali Bluffs. We used the TourSaver coupon book and received our 2nd night free. I just wanted to be close to the park entrance for the early shuttle for our full day in Denali.

 

The TourSaver has 2-for-1 for a couple of Denali hotels:

http://www.toursaver.com/index.php/home/

 

The Northern Lights coupon book also has 2-for-1's for Denali and is about 1/2 the cost of the TourSaver:

http://www.alaska-discounts.com/Tours.html

 

(We picked the TourSaver however for other excursions for our trip.)

 

Good luck!

[calliecat]

That's what we're doing. Based on advice here, as well as review on TripAdvisor, we booked the Denali Lakeview Inn in Healy, north of the park entrance,for two nights in June.

 

http://www.denalilakeviewinn.com/

 

Since we haven't stayed there yet so I can't give you a personal review. We thought we'd be happier out of the hustle and bustle around the entrance, and the rooms and location seemed good. They include food for a continental breakfast in your room -- good for those who are getting up at very early hours to head into the park, and you can also order a bag lunch the night before to take with you on your early-morning park shuttle.

 

-- Eric

 

We too have book Lake View Inn for two nights because of good reviews here and elsewhere. My husband turned 50 this year so I asked them if they would give us a discount since Alaska turns 50 this year as well (some of the hotels are offering 50% off or 1 night free with a paid night). They (Lake View Inn) gave us 5%!!!!! The reviews are good so I'm going to stay with them.

[crusinwen]

We recently returned from our Alaska cruise/land tour and I wanted to recommend the hotel that we stayed at in the Denali area. We heard about the Denali Park Hotel from Budget Queen so if she recommended it, we felt quite comfortable staying there. We were staying in the Denali area for 3 nights so we did not want to spend alot of $$$. This hotel is NOT fancy but it IS very clean and also the "D" building has a great view of the mountains. I believe our rate was $89.00 per night (this does vary slightly) We were very happy with this hotel - we feel bad for them because after talking with the manager, we learned that they are struggling some because of the economy and also it is difficult to compete with all the cruise lodges in the area. If you have not completed your hotel reservations you might consider staying here (Denali Park Hotel- its nice to support the little guy for a change.

 

Wendy

Groveland, FL

[JerseyJaguar]

I have a recommendation for the cheapest place in Glitter Gulch and it's locally owned: The Salmon Bake. They have 12 cabins behind the restaurant, 4 have private baths. I stayed in one of the private bath cabins and it was great!!! They have a van and will take you to the WAC anytime you need to get there, and will pick you up (but I found it just as easy to take the Princess Shuttle back). Plus they do wonderful Box Breakfasts and Lunches to take on the bus, and they have a great restaurant.

[deepwater]

We stayed at the Denali Lakeview Inn in Healy several weeks ago. We really liked that place. Breakfast put in the room for guest to fix when they wanted. The view of the lake was beautiful. Rooms spacious and all very nice. I would definitely stay there again.

[travelnsee]

We recently returned from our Alaska cruise/land tour and I wanted to recommend the hotel that we stayed at in the Denali area. We heard about the Denali Park Hotel from Budget Queen so if she recommended it, we felt quite comfortable staying there. We were staying in the Denali area for 3 nights so we did not want to spend alot of $$$. This hotel is NOT fancy but it IS very clean and also the "D" building has a great view of the mountains. I believe our rate was $89.00 per night (this does vary slightly) We were very happy with this hotel - we feel bad for them because after talking with the manager, we learned that they are struggling some because of the economy and also it is difficult to compete with all the cruise lodges in the area. If you have not completed your hotel reservations you might consider staying here (Denali Park Hotel- its nice to support the little guy for a change.

 

Wendy

Groveland, FL

 

I am also planning to stay there , but the dont pack lunches for the shuttle tours. What did you do about the lunches for the tour in Denali park.

[Teknofauz]

I am also planning to stay there , but the dont pack lunches for the shuttle tours. What did you do about the lunches for the tour in Denali park.

 

Even though you asked someone else this question - I'll tell you what we did. We went to the park store and bought muffins and had our water for breakfast and then for lunch we got something at a grocery store (so called grocery store) in town. We made P&J sandwiches and fruit when we got to the last stop and had a little picnic lunch. It was perfect.

 

The people at Denali Park Hotel are very friendly and helpful. There's also free internet available.

 

Nancy:)

[Podie]

I highly recommend Denali Lakeview Inn if you want to relax after your long day on the Denali shuttle bus. We watched snowshoe hares all over the property, a moose swimming across the lake, had a wonderful meal at the nearby Black Diamond Grill, and RELAXED.

[crusinwen]

I am also planning to stay there , but the dont pack lunches for the shuttle tours. What did you do about the lunches for the tour in Denali park.

 

We each picked out a few items in the little grocery store right there where all the shops are in Denali. I had a bagel and cheese and a piece of fruit. My sister posted right before me and they made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The little grocery store had little tiny peanut butter and jelly containers and also some other items to pick from that would be appropriate to bring with. You could also go to Subway and have a sandwich made (the Subway is right there where the other shops are at also) One more idea is that where the shuttle buses leave from in Denali, they sell sandwiches already made up right there. Whichever you choose you just bring with you and we had a nice picnic lunch at the Visitor Center - beautiful view!!!!!

 

Enjoy your stay!! Enjoy the money you will be saving from staying at Denali Park Hotel instead of $$$ at one of the lodges!!!!

 

Wendy

Groveland, FL:D

[PennyAgain]

Thanks for the tips about the Denali Park Hotel. I've put it on my list.

[cindep]

Since you have a car, you might consider doing what we did ... first, I brought a collapsible cooler that I packed in my luggage (weighed next to nothing). We stopped at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Wasilla on our way from Anchorage to Denali. There are also several grocery stores you will pass on the road through Wasilla. We bought "lunchables" which were perfect for "the road". We had no trouble getting ice (I brought zip locks with me) and keeping everything cool. We also picked up some soft drinks that we kept cold and used the rest of the trip. This turned out to be very economical for us. In fact, the checker at the Wal-Mart commended me for "shopping smart".

[Tarheel72]

We stayed at the McKinley Village Lodge, part of the Armark managed properties but about 7 miles south of Glitter Gulch, at mile marker 231. Very nice property on the Nanna River. It has a brand new HQ buliding that just opened in May with main lobby, resturant and gift shop and all of the rooms were remodeled with new bathrooms and flat screen TV's. Free wi fi also. Free shuttles to all of the park activities. TWT picks you up at the hotel, as does Cabin Nite Dinner Theater bus. Beautiful scenery on the river, it was about 15 feet from our window. We enjoyed walking the banks at night. With the statehood discount it cost us $160 a night for a two night stay. We bought a boxed lunch from them to take on the TWT and it was more than enough.

[agabbymama]

The touristy, vanilla hotels are right around the park entrance in the "Glitter Gulch" area. Once you're inside the hotel you won't know if you're in Denali, Denver, Denmark, or Denpasar. :)

 

More reasonably priced lodging with a lot more character are farther away from the entrance. The area runs 15 miles south and north of the entrance. Healy is at the northern end.

 

Check www.tripadvisor.com for traveler ratings and reviews of the various hotels, motels, and B&Bs.

 

Well kenish, I have to disagree with you on this one. We stayed at the McKinley Chalet Resort and how you can call that a vanilla hotel is beyond me. It looks like an exclusive lodge in the mountains (which is what it is). We had a cabin in the woods (actually like a duplex), but once inside with our kitchen/living room area, bathroom and bedroom, with pine wood furniture & paneling, it sure looked like our own rustic cabin in the woods, I wouldn't want to be any more rustic than this.

 

http://www.denaliparkresorts.com/lodging-food/mckinley-chalet-resort.cfm

 

And I don't mind Glitter Gulch either. I think it's rather nice to have a base camp to explore from. I'm not into the hiking and camping thing and was pleasantly surprised that the area was so "civilized".

 

We were on a HAL cruisetour, but I would definitely stay here again even if we were traveling indepedently.

[COJOMAY]

I, too, stayed at the McKinley Village Lodge and it was very nice. Loved the location on the river and the people and rooms were very nice. I had a coupon that allowed me to pay full price for one night and the next night free. And, yes, they do have free shuttle buses running every half-hour.

But if I was to do it again, I would not hesitate at all to rent a car in Anchorage and drive to Denali. I hated depending on the buses and not being able to stop or go exactly where I wanted to when I wanted to. The train trip or bus trip to Denali is nice, but there's nothing like having your own vehicle. And if I did have my own vehicle, I would not have stayed at the McKinley Village but would have opted for more "remote" lodging like Denali Lakeview Inn.