Aurora Villa — Hotel in Alaska

Our travel agent had booked two nights here at $ 835 per night.|I had a look at the website to find out if this was a justified rate and read that the breakfast service had been stopped, the room service disabled and a long policy list with unacceptable conditions - have a look yourself I only quote one here :  »if you check out after 11:00 am a $ 100 fine will be charged per 30 minutes » have you ever seen something like this elsewhere ?|You are even not allowed remain in the lobby after 11:00 am (!!!)|We could still cancel until 15 days before arrival so I asked my travel agent to cancel but they insisted we should keep the booking and that the rate was justified because the place is unique, fantastic, a once in a lifetime experience etc etc worth such a very expensive rate.|We believed it and were looking forward to this unique expensive experience.|None of it was true.|On arrival we found a sign in the entrance hall informing us to call a number. The person on the other end asked to scan our passport and to mail it to him.|After about 20 minutes back and forth we recieved a 6 digit code for the door and another one for our room by e-mail.|On the second floor, no elevator.|The place is placated with signs do not this or do that, no exceptions, etc. Shoes must be left in the entrance hall, serve yourself with towels because no housekeeping.for a $ 1670 2 days stay.|The room seemed correct but not better than an upgraded youth hostel room. It had 2 beds, 1 chair and very small desk, a small fridge, 1 very uncomfortable lounge chair, a tv.|When we called again if we could obtain the room next door, the answer was no.|No one else was in the building, the owner or manager invisible somewhere else…in Fairbanks or Tokyo ? No idea.|We haven’t seen a living soul during our stay, it looked like a ghost house.|For breakfast there was a plastic cup with japanese noodles in the room and downstairs was a coffeemaker and a fridge were you could store your own food. Further only plastic cutlery and paper plates, some water bottles and coke cans.|No laundry in the house, no iron board in the room.|Everywhere in the house were cameras. The invisible owner or manager probably sits in front of his computer and observes every move you make.|No idea if the cameras are equipped with microphones as well.|For breakfast it’s a 25 minutes drive to Fairbanks. For dinner the same.|Remember that the rate for this stay that offers nothing else than a clean double room and bathroom is $ 835 per night.|It wasn’t even worth one third of it.|Don’t let you be convinced by the polar light you eventually can observe from your room. We haven’t seen any and one can surely observe it from other places for free or at a normal room rate.|So far, this was the absolute all time low of our...

Our travel agent had booked two nights here at $ 835 per night.|I had a look at the website to find out if this was a justified rate and read that the breakfast service had been stopped, the room service disabled and a long policy list with unacceptable conditions - have a look yourself I only quote one here :  »if you check out after 11:00 am a $ 100 fine will be charged per 30 minutes » have you ever seen something like this elsewhere ?|You are even not allowed remain in the lobby after 11:00 am (!!!)|We could still cancel until 15 days before arrival so I asked my travel agent to cancel but they insisted we should keep the booking and that the rate was justified because the place is unique, fantastic, a once in a lifetime experience etc etc worth such a very expensive rate.|We believed it and were looking forward to this unique expensive experience.|None of it was true.|On arrival we found a sign in the entrance hall informing us to call a number. The person on the other end asked to scan our passport and to mail it to him.|After about 20 minutes back and forth we recieved a 6 digit code for the door and another one for our room by e-mail.|On the second floor, no elevator.|The place is placated with signs do not this or do that, no exceptions, etc. Shoes must be left in the entrance hall, serve yourself with towels because no housekeeping.for a $ 1670 2 days stay.|The room seemed correct but not better than an upgraded youth hostel room. It had 2 beds, 1 chair and very small desk, a small fridge, 1 very uncomfortable lounge chair, a tv.|When we called again if we could obtain the room next door, the answer was no.|No one else was in the building, the owner or manager invisible somewhere else…in Fairbanks or Tokyo ? No idea.|We haven’t seen a living soul during our stay, it looked like a ghost house.|For breakfast there was a plastic cup with japanese noodles in the room and downstairs was a coffeemaker and a fridge were you could store your own food. Further only plastic cutlery and paper plates, some water bottles and coke cans.|No laundry in the house, no iron board in the room.|Everywhere in the house were cameras. The invisible owner or manager probably sits in front of his computer and observes every move you make.|No idea if the cameras are equipped with microphones as well.|For breakfast it’s a 25 minutes drive to Fairbanks. For dinner the same.|Remember that the rate for this stay that offers nothing else than a clean double room and bathroom is $ 835 per night.|It wasn’t even worth one third of it.|Don’t let you be convinced by the polar light you eventually can observe from your room. We haven’t seen any and one can surely observe it from other places for free or at a normal room rate.|So far, this was the absolute all time low of our...

This is a hostel, not a hotel. Worth about $250/night. I would describe this place as remote, beautiful, but "cold". Not homey, not comfy, not very welcoming. But pretty.

Pros: Easy check in & out remote process. Fabulous views, possibly great Aurora viewing but it snowed on us every night so we just had wonderful forest & valley views. Remote location means very little light pollution from Fairbanks or other neighbors. Huge bathroom with sooo many towels and toiletries Hot water was very hot and always available. TV easy to operate for Netflix & Hulu (best early morning, late evening or mid-day when fewer guests were on wifi). Kitchenette area was always stocked with coffee, hot cocoa & hot cider. Bed comforter was very warm and cozy.

Cons: Guests helping each other with parking issues, key code questions, etc. since there was no staff around at all. Water was turned off completely on our last day without any notification, so no showers or toilet flushing for over an hour. We finally left rather than wait for issue to be resolved. Lobby was not a nice place to be. Couches look trendy, but are really not comfortable. There are no blankets provided for cozy night aurora watching. The wood benches again look fun, but really not welcoming. The whole room is meant to look good in a photo, but is not a very usable space. WiFi was not strong enough for multiple guest usage, which is odd considering there are only 7 rooms in the entire place. No staff on-site at all. Check in & out are all done by email, text and phone. No food provided, even though pics on their website are labeled "restaurant". It does not exist. Small microwave & toaster for heating food, but no ability to "cook" food. Remote location makes it a 25-min drive from Fairbanks. It is located in a suburban cabin area, the only business around for 10 miles. You definitely need an all-wheel drive vehicle to get here in winter as roads & parking lot are only lightly plowed. Parking is difficult when all rooms are occupied, one parking space per room but no one on-site to help with this. There are also no electrical plugs in parking lot area. We were very lucky that temperatures were a bit warmer in early April and our car engine didn't freeze overnight. We would have been stuck all day!! Beds are futons. Very firm. No extra bedding or blankets...