The Adak/Aleutian Experience — Hotel in Adak

I have stayed with three different businesses on Adak Island and my experience with Adak Aluetian adventures is by far the worst I’ve ever had. The house that we rented was by far the worst that we had stayed in. There were holes in the walls, some patched some not and there was a hole as you came into the front door that was starting to give way through the floor. The first day that we were there, we had to advise them of things that were broken or not working and they appeared a little annoyed. On the fifth day that we were there, two of the people in our party had the vehicle when it broke down as they were trying to turn around on a flat surface. The ball joint busted and left them stranded and left the vehicle partially in the road. I contacted the owner‘s assistant, and he said that he would go pick them up. He then contacted me and said that he was unable to find them on the only road going to that location. I told him to come back and I would go with him, and I took him to the stranded parties. I saw the location where the vehicle had broken down and it should’ve been a very simple turnaround. We had told the assistant that two of the individuals in our party would go and help them pull the truck off to the side of the road safely and so a few minutes later Steve the owner of Adak Aleutian adventures and his assistant arrived at the house that we were staying in. Steve was yelling at everyone and was extremely hostile. I told him that the driver was already beating himself up for putting us in a situation where we lost a day of hunting and he turned and yelled at me and said that it wasn’t done yet He continued yelling at everyone, even though we were all trying to de-escalate the situation. The two men in our party went out to help him and spent four hours Getting the vehicle safely off the road. When they returned, they explained how Steve had hooked onto the vehicle and jerked it off to the side of the road and in doing so damage the vehicle. On the way back, he told the two men in our party that we were not allowed to hunt the next day, which meant that we would’ve lost two of our days of hunting. At some point during this time, Steve had told the two men in our party that that same vehicle had been driven into a lake and submerged, and later on admitted that the vehicle was already making noise.He also told them that he expected us to pay for the maintenance and damage on the vehicle.On Saturday. as we were driving over to put fuel in the vehicle, we saw Steve and his assistant driving out from the housing area. Steve literally accelerated his vehicle and headed straight for the side of the truck that we were all in. My son swerved the truck and we all braced for impact. Steve turned his vehicle at the last second and pulled right up next to the vehicle that we were in and told us to come to his house so that we could discuss the bill. He was again very hostile in nature and we were not going to do that. We told him that we would meet him at the airport. When we arrived at the airport Steve approached us demanding that we pay for the maintenance of the vehicle and also for the damage that he had done while jerking the vehicle to the side of the road. He was again very hostile and I again had to tell him to calm down. We told him we would be happy to look at the bill once he had emailed all of the details to us, and we would do our own comparisons in order to make sure that we were not being taken advantage of. At this point, Steve told us that we would not be leaving the island and that he had already talked to the airline and that they were not going to let us on the plane. I went to the customer service counter and told them that we needed the assistance of the air marshal at this point once the Marshall join the conversation Steve obviously calm down and took a whole different tone. Needless to say, This was by far our worst experience on...

“Worst Experience in Adak – Unsafe and Unprofessional”

While I understand the challenges of running accommodations in such a remote location, this stay crossed the line into unacceptable territory.

The House The condition of the property was a serious letdown. The entryway had a gaping hole in the floor, which felt like an accident waiting to happen. If you weren’t careful, you could easily injure yourself. The showers were mostly cold.

The Vehicle Rental The truck we rented from this business was a disaster waiting to happen. A few days into the trip, we were simply turning around on flat ground when the tire completely came off. The lower ball joint had failed due to years of neglect and rough use on Adak’s roads. It was clear this vehicle hadn’t been properly maintained in a long time.

The Host’s Behavior Dealing with Steve, the owner, made an already bad situation far worse. Instead of addressing the issue calmly or professionally, he barged into the house and began yelling, blaming us for the truck’s mechanical failure. Despite his aggression, we tried to stay reasonable and even offered to help sort things out.

On the way to inspect the truck, Steve admitted that the same vehicle had been submerged in a lake a few years ago, which explained a lot about its condition. When we got to the truck, he ignored our warnings about removing the tire before towing it. As expected, towing the truck caused even more damage, including to the bumper and quarter panel. To make matters worse, he dragged the truck further off the road, worsening the situation.

Dangerous and Unprofessional What really made this experience unbearable was Steve’s hostility. He tried to hold us accountable for the truck’s obvious pre-existing issues and became so reckless at one point that he nearly hit us with his vehicle while we were on our way to refuel. His behavior was unprofessional and alarming, to say the least.

Final Thoughts Between the unsafe condition of the house, the unreliable rental vehicle, and the aggressive attitude of the owner, this business is not worth your time or money. Adak is a wonderful place to visit, but I strongly recommend looking elsewhere for accommodations and rentals to avoid the...

I've stayed with 3 different business on Adak and the Adak/Aleutian experience was by far the worst. I totally understand Adak is remote and you aren't staying at a 5 star hotel. The house we stayed at was the worst I've stayed in. There was a hole in the floor of the entryway that if you weren't careful you would easily break through. Also I hope you like cold showers because that's all we had the whole trip. On our 5th day while trying to turn the truck we rented around on a flat surface, the tire came off. The lower ball joint and cv axle had broke. It was obviously wore out from years of running on the rough roads in Adak. Steve(the owner) who obviously is not a mechanic came into our house and was yelling how we wrecked his truck. Even with his terrible attitude we offered to help in any way we could. On the way to the truck he had told us how a couple years ago that same truck had been drove into a lake and submerged to the top of the cab. When we arrived at the truck Steve would not listen to us saying we needed to remove the tire or it would cause more damage when he towed it. He then pulled the truck into the middle of the road and the tire damaged the front bumped and quarter panel. But he wasn't done there. He then drug the truck back off of the road. He blew up on us again when we told him it wasn't right to try to get us to pay for all the damage, to the point he almost crashed into us when we were headed to fuel up the truck. Steve is a hot head and his vehicles are not maintained at all. He will blame you for anything that goes wrong. Even if it's...