Wow! What an amazing experience. My wife and I booked the transfer tour from Anchorage to Whittier…read more Our tour guide, Michelle, was incredible. She was a wealth of knowledge and such a fun person to spend the day with. Everywhere we went, she seemed to know everything. She interspersed personal anecdotes allowing us to get to know her better and to understand more about the area. Everything was included in the price of the tour. Lunch (of your choice - not just preset options), a beer at the brewery, and admission to the nature center were all taken care of. There were also snacks and water available in the van. We got lucky with a small group (4 people including us!), but the van only holds 13 people - much better than the giant coach busses! I cannot recommend Salmon Berry, and Michelle in particular, highly enough

Just finished the Whittier to anchorage transfer today - a wonderful small group experience. I…read morethink the drive name is Keith? Highly recommend

I was here for two stays in August of 2019 of four nights and two nights. It's a good hotel in an…read moreout of the way location. Bring earplugs for the noise in the halls and planes overhead. The first stay I was in 301, the second in 248. 301 overlooks the parking lot so no great view and parking lot noise. It was at the end of the hall, so limited hallway noise. This is a long hotel, so it can be quite a walk to the elevator from either end. 248 faces the lake and is about half way down the hall from the elevator. Across the hall is a service closet that emits a loud noise - likely the air conditioning/heating system. If you're sensitive to noise, avoid rooms 241, 244, and 246 and note that it may be the same on the 3rd floor. Also the elevator bell is quite loud, so avoid any room with 6- 8 rooms of the elevator if you're sensitive to noise. Breakfast is standard free, carb-heavy hotel breakfast plus eggs and some form of meat each day. Coffee isn't great, so plan to get some out if you like good coffee. Nothing available in the afternoon, not even hot water for tea, to force you to buy something in their snack bar. The good: It's a nice property, looks recently updated. Makes a good first impression. Service was almost uniformly great from the front desk staff and manager. Bed was comfortable and the room was generally clean. Pretty good sound proofing of ceilings, some of walls, not so much of doors and hallways - lots of hallway noise, especially from idiots with a gaggle of children who think the hall is a playground. Proximity to Lake - its' great to walk out the back door and walk around a lake. You'd better love dogs, because there are a lot of them in and around the lake. They have soy milk available at breakfast. The location is far enough from the main airport to get a minimum of noise from there, but there are other noise sources (see below). Not so great: There is nothing nearby to walk to, no services, no stores, just the university and two hospitals. You need a car or ride service if you plan to do anything. They have a snack area with insane prices since you are a captive audience. You'd be better off spending $5 on an Uber to go to the Walgreens which is 5 minutes drive away and stock up on snacks there. All of the doors to the rooms and hallways shut very loudly, like outside doors. Could be easily fixed. Sometimes the staff speak in Tagalog to each other, which can feel rude to guests, even though they don't mean to be rude. When helping a customer in English, the good service rule is to use English with everyone involved in the interaction, don't switch languages. If you do, explain that "I'm asking housekeeping if any other rooms are available" or something like that. As others have mentioned, there is an airport to the north of the hotel that gets traffic, occasionally very loud Army cargo planes, and sometimes helicopters connected to the hospitals. Between that and the noise in the hallways, this is definitely a place to use earplugs unless you can sleep through a racket. I will say it is less noisy than many of the hotels south of downtown, where the planes takeoff and land overhead all day, that is one of the reasons to choose this more out of the way location. A surprising number of folks with children who use the pool don't bother to dry their feet, so there is constantly water on the first floor from the pool door to the elevator and inside the elevator. It makes for a big hazard, easy to slip on. Maintenance tries hard to keep up with it, putting down rugs and mopping, but they can't mop 24 hours a day. If you leave a pool without drying off your feet before going to an elevator, you're an inconsiderate idiot in my book. I wish they could put a metal plate at the pool door and shock folks who don't dry their feet. This is the hotel for the two large nearby hospitals, so you see a good amount of sick people and their families. Some use canes or walkers, some are going for hip replacements, making the water hazard even more concerning. The university is also nearby, so come late August through the school holidays there can be a lot of school related traffic. June - September there is a constant stream of the usual tourists. I saw buses pull up so it maybe part of either cruise or tour traffic. My bill did not agree with the rate quoted when I made my reservation, for some reason central reservations changed the rate, not anyone at the hotel. Be sure to check your bill against your original reservation receipt, you may get overcharged. Manager was very helpful and corrected the errors. Overall a very pleasant stay, rates are high as is the norm in Alaska in summer and earplugs are a must.

Cons- The beds are Stiff and uncomfortable and you can hear everything going on outside most of the…read moreplug-in ports are loose and don't work none of the hand sanitizer dispensers have anything in them most of the staff don't speak any Are foreign and cant speak English. Pros-they have some pretty good breakfast and The front desk was helpful when asking questions

The best way to travel from Anchorage to Denali…read more Check-in and boarding is pretty straight forward and efficient. We were there off-season, so we got to exclusively enjoy the dining car ... Which, in my opinion, has better views than the observation car. They had a bar with decent options, and the prices were reasonable. Overall, it was a good time, and I highly recommend taking the train if you're going to Denali or Fairbanks.

(Review Cross-Posted to Trip Advisor)…read more We booked with Alaska Railroad specifically because they advertised a military discount. Unfortunately, they don't extend that discount to 100% disabled veterans. When we arrived, we were unexpectedly charged an additional $50. The depot was overcrowded with far too few seats, and passengers were expected to tag their own luggage outside before boarding. For the price they charge, the experience felt disorganized and underwhelming. Paying $240 for two one-way tickets was already excessive, especially after learning from our Uber driver that the same trip would have cost about $150. To top it off, the staff was neither understanding nor accommodating. We won't be using Alaska Railroad again, and I can't recommend it to others.

Friendly staff right off the bat. Greeting and welcome would come to expect from a Courtyard…read moreproperty. Great check in, welcome gift and upgrade...kudos to management for training on Bonvoy elite levels. I know I cite this repeatedly in my (positive) hotel reviews, but my room was clean, safe and comfortable. They have a bistro and bar, both were excellent service and solid products. I tilt to the bar staff, because my only experience with the bistro was for coffee. Didn't love the breakfast Buffett options, and in a cramped service space. When I come back to Anchorage, I will definitely stay here when fling in/out. Really good Courtyard property.

We still enjoy our stays at this Courtyard Marriott near the Ted Stevens International Airport. It…read moreis a convenient place to stay on our trips out of Alaska. The rooms and public access areas are regularly updated and maintained and we appreciate the general cleanliness. Rates during High Tourist Season can be pricey; but the easy access from the airport makes it worthwhile to us.

I live in Anchorage so I'm reviewing this place purely as a place to host business events…read more For that purpose, it's outstanding! The rooms are big, the sound is good, and they have great on-site IT assitance. The breakfast and lunch that came with the event was above-average for feeding-trough-style hotel food. But most of these 5-stars are for the staff, they were super-friendly, and super-efficient, give 'em all raises!

Stayed here twice on our trip to Alaska. Check in was very quickly and we got to our room fast…read moreafter a long day of travel. Room was very nice and furnished well. We had both a microwave and a small fridge. They also had a kuerig coffee maker with coffee pods. The bed was comfortable and the shower had plenty of towels for two people. The hotel also had a bar and a good restaurant that we ate breakfast.

We had a great time on our northern lights tour. Laurent was a great tour guide and we loved our…read moretrip. We were able to experience seeing the beautiful northern lights, loved the dog mushing through the forest and across the snow covered fields, and enjoyed the hikes on the frozen river and surrounding areas. The cabins in Wiseman were comfortable and clean. We enjoyed our time with new friends. We would definitely recommend this tour. FMG.

Wild Alaska Tours ROCKs!! What an amazing week viewing the Northern Lights and traveling up the…read moreDalton Highway! I have done multiple tours over the years but none compare to Wild Alaska Tours!! Laurent is an amazing tour guide! I felt like I was traveling with one of my close friends!! Thank you for showing us Wild Alaska with such heart and inspiration!! I will be back!!!

This is my second time with Princess to Alaska, the first time on the Island Princess. (I'm most…read moreloyal to Princess but I have taken many others like RC, Celebrity, & Disney) The Alaska itinerary is a must for everyone's bucket list. It can and most likely will rain every day so just plan on it. If you are vulnerable to motion sickness this itinerary has potential to be mostly calm but a cruise may not be for you. Pluses: -Lots of wildlife IF you pay attention. Saw three bears, moose, porpoises that look like small orcas, puffins, otters, porcupine, eagles, etc - Dinner or lunch in the dining room is top notch . Excellent beef entrees like Wellington,, prime, and tenderloin. halibut and salmon were also excellent. Fun appetizers like escargot challenged a few guests - casino was smoke free and had lower minimums than Vegas - theater shows were ok... illusionists was five stars and I also enjoyed the two opera trained performers . - pool depth was 6'+ in parts which was perfect for exercising and turned into quite the wave pool in high sea days that made all the kids have a blast. One pool is covered from rain. - medical on board was excellent - exceptionally clean - movies in cabin continue where you left off - library has plenty of games and books to borrow but only a few tables to play on - guest service is quick and does not argue with you if there is an incorrect charge CONS - only one pickle ball court that is shared with basketball - fitness center is big but NO windows. Everyone wants to use a treadmill watching the ocean!!! - pizza station closes at 10:00 -ice cream closes at 8:00 and never changes the flavors... it's mostly "ice"... we didn't have more than one. - shower space is tiny and water gets on the floor -buffet is a bit tired so use the dining rooms - if you have a large party their app doesn't let you manage excursions or meals for entire party which was my only serious headache with Princess. -laundry is everywhere but rooms only have a few machines so you wander the boat looking for an open one.

Hello everyone, This is a review for a recent Cruise to Alaska aboard the Emerald Princess, Jen & I…read moreplanned this trip with a couple friends of ours Sharon & Zane, this is our first cruise so yes we where excited, we were about 6 months out so did quite a bit of research on what to expect and not and things to bring & not, everything was helpful and a few experienced cruisers we talked with. Well our sail off got 4-5 hours delayed due to a crane that damaged a life boat while loading supplies, so roughly 9pm we were off and I mean full Power ahead, guessing to make up some time due to life boat damage. With full speed ahead and some bad weather on the ocean and some pretty good sea waves that wasn't expected it turned out SEVERAL passengers got motion sickness including Jen, we had a Awesome cabin steward that helped me get some remedies together for Jen, OK folks this combination of thinly sliced Ginger and a Green Apple was amazing, Jen was feeling better within 2 hours. One issue we had and I would advise everyone to check their account DAILY, we didn't buy the alcohol package but noticed on the second day Jen had 7 alcohol charges and me 2 charges, we headed to guest services to dispute the charges while there the CS rep ( we felt ) didn't believe us and even asking Jen if I was buying, here's the best part as we were standing there and the rep had our account up on the screen another charge came through while standing there, the look on the lady's face was shocking, no more question asked and account was credited, my question is why this keep happening when we are all assigned a Medallion to use for purchases on the cruise, I did go and order a coke and noticed the bartenders never asked for the medallion which verifies you with a picture and room number??? I don't understand all the hype on the food ( buffet ) as it got old by the 4th day, our formal dinner nights were much better, the entertainment was pretty good for the most part. Our excursions were fun regardless of the cold weather and rain, it was nice to be off the ship walking around seeing all the shops ( tourists traps lol ). Finally, will we do another cruise? Probably but not soon, we both really enjoy driving on our vacation more freedom to stop & go & see things on your time not on a schedule.

We booked a 3 day winter excursion with Montana Hiking Gal for Fairbanks, AK this last March and it…read morewas everything we wanted in a winter wonderland Alaskan experience! As two city slickers, we generally knew what types of activities we wanted to experience in Alaska, but had no idea where to start: How to book events, where to go and where to avoid, the logistics of driving in winter in Alaska, and how to do this all safely. Heather is a one stop shop! Prior to our trip, she consulted us on what we were interested in experiencing, made sure she knew what "experience level" we had for things like hiking/ climbing, and made a full itinerary for each day we were there. This was truly a 5 star roll out in customer service. Once our evening flight touched down in Fairbanks, Heather picked up our rental car and brought us to our Air BnB, which was a dry cabin still within Fairbanks city limits. Day 1 kicked off riding with a dogsled team at Chena Hot Springs, followed by soaking in the hot spring and touring the Ice Museum with an apple martini (in a glass made of ice). We were planning on going out to dinner, but our Air BnB host left us a Copper River Salmon fillet that we cooked up instead. Yum! Day 2 we took a long, but gorgeous, drive out to Castner Glacier. Heather had any and all extra warm, hiking/climbing, and safety gear that we needed for our 3-mile hike to the glacier. Since the glacier was frozen over, forming a cave, (this doesn't happen every year), Heather was sure to make our day hike as safe and memorable as possible. After returning back into Fairbanks, we ate dinner and went Aurora hunting at night. Unfortunately, the Aurora was not going off that night, but I don't think Heather controls the magnetic field, so I can't ding her on that one haha. Day 3 we took a quick trip to the North Pole! We met 2 elves working their off-season jobs at Safeway and McDonalds, but also got to see Santa at his workshop. Before our flight we rounded off the day at the World Ice Art Championship exhibit. We didn't have time to see this at night, but the sculptures were still very impressive nonetheless. Overall, this trip was 5/5 stars and there is no one better to book and experience Alaska with than Montana Hiking Gal! Ease of booking, itinerary, customer service, value for your dollar, and overall experience was amazing and I could not recommend enough booking your next adventure to Alaska with Montana Hiking Gal!

From the owner: We are dedicated to providing our customers with the best possible experience. Whether you're a…read morebeginner or seasoned traveler, our team is here to help you find the right destination and plan the experience of a lifetime! We offer customized trips and itineraries, small group guide services as well as gear rentals that won’t break the bank.