Denali Cabins - Denali National Park — Hotel in Alaska

My family and I were guests here July 2021 and the property is just beautiful. The curb appeal of everything is just stunning. It’s also a great location when wanting to be close to the park entrance and other areas of town.

When we checked in, we were given our keys and as we were trying to enter our cabin, a couple walked up (looking quite disturbed) and turns out that was their cabin. We headed back up front and told them what happened. Turns out someone didn’t check that couple in in the computer which I find weird as they had said they’d been there for a couple of days.

We finally received keys to another cabin and upon entering, it’s very cute and cozy. There was a very strong odor in there though that wasn’t present in the other cabin my family was in. Ours had a very strong rotten fruit smell. I didn’t see any sort of air fresheners in there so it wasn’t coming from that. But it lasted the entire 3 nights of our stay. The beds were very comfortable and the cabin was very clean. The shower is a very very large problem. It is tiny. Very very tiny. And the shower head is directly above you and is immobile. So in order to shower, you turn it on to get wet, turn it off to wash, turn it back on to rinse. It was awful. When the water is on, there’s literally nowhere to put your head so you feel like you’re drowning. I know this sounds dramatic but I’ve never had a shower experience like this one. It’s awful. My dad never complains and he was very vocal about the ridiculousness of this shower.

The on-site coffee shop is really good. Their food is very fresh and the coffee is delicious. I just wish they were open later than 1pm each day but they do open at 5am so that’s nice. The on-site restaurant PREY was really delicious too. Their salad & burgers were top-notch and wait staff were kind and welcoming.

The shuttle staff were extremely friendly. Mel K. was wonderful! She was so kind, knowledgeable, and accommodating to my brother who has mobility issues. There was another gentleman driver & I cannot remember his name but he was wonderful as well!

The actual Cabins staff were not as friendly. All but one gentleman seemed less than enthused about their job. In fact, as we were checking out, there were 2 staff members in the office complaining about their work and just had a bad attitude. They didn’t attempt to quiet their conversation around us. The woman in the coffee shop was very sweet...

If you want to listen to a deafening roar of a power washer EVERY night between 8-10 pm, by all means, stay here. These cabins are part of a Denali bus tour company and they power wash many buses on their property for 1-1/2 to 2 hours each evening when you're back in your room trying to settle in after a long day of hiking. And I do mean deafening. If you are trying to enjoy some time at the gazebo or fire pit or hot tub, think again because you won't even be able to think, let alone carry on a conversation. Even in our room it was astoundingly loud. Aside from this, I don't feel that these cabins warrant a $300/night price tag at all. Below is my list of positives and negatives, but believe me, the power washing for close to two hours each night we were there, should be more than enough to have you book elsewhere (I did speak to the manager and while he was sympathetic, he had the power to do nothing. I suggested that the buses be power washed off site so that guests could relax...thank goodness I wasn't trying to put a child to sleep!) POSITIVES • Ceiling fan • Black out curtains • Cabins cute • King bed comfortable • Screens on room windows and nice cross breeze • Coffee maker in room • Large towels • Ice machine outside office and ice bucket in room NEGATIVES • Broken holder for shower head • No where to put soap etc in shower. Am I supposed to hold shampoo and soap or put them on the floor????? • Small sink and nowhere to put anything • Phones in rooms but they don’t work • Bed is against wall so you have to climb over the other person. We managed to move it out a bit, but then the headboard stays put. • No screens in bathroom so you can't open window to air out • Locked both door and deadbolt since we had laptops in the room. Housekeeping left deadbolt undone. Should have been left the same way it was found. • Small table is anchored to wall. You can't sit at it with both chairs because the second chair is right in front of the furnace which sticks out in to the room about 6". And if the propane furnace is on, you will definitely burn yourself and possibly the chair by sitting...

Pros: convenient shuttle service, location close to park, cute cabins, on site restaurant

Cons: no access to filtered water, wasps in cabin, service not great

I stayed 3 nights at Denali Cabins with my family of 4. When we arrived and checked in we were at first quite pleased with the cabins. They are small, but comfortable which is what I expected.

Our first night there we ate at the on site restaurant, Prey, and the food and service there were very good. I really liked our server and found the restaurant to be efficient and the food delicious.

I used the shuttles multiple times throughout our stay, and the shuttle drivers were very nice and knowledgeable about the area which was super helpful.

However, our stay had quite a few hiccups. For one thing, there seems to be no access to filtered water on the property. Our cabin sink had an extra spout that looked like it was meant to dispense filtered water, but it did not work. The taste of the tap water was not great so it would have been nice if there was a water bottle filling station somewhere on the property.

Furthermore, our cabin had a huge issue with yellow jacket wasps. The first two days of our stay we removed 8 wasps from the cabin. On the 3rd day, upon waking up to 2 more wasps in the cabin we complained to the front desk. We were told that unfortunately there was nothing they could do except spray around the windows. I was hoping they would move us to a different cabin because clearly there was an issue with wasps getting in (perhaps a nest in the roof or walls??) but they did not. Thankfully none of my family was stung but it was still very unpleasant to live with and I felt the response was not good.

Finally, the service left something to be desired. Not everyone was friendly, which seems a little silly to put in a review but it left me with a bad taste in my mouth about the overall experience.

I would question the value of the services and accommodations provided weighed against the price paid for...