Denali Fireside Cabins & Suites — Hotel in Alaska

We drove up to Denali Fireside Cabins & Suites office on Wednesday, 12 May 2021. The office had an “Open” sign outside, but a “Closed” card sign in the window. Unsure of what was what, we donned our facemasks, exited our rental car, and rang the doorbell. After a few minutes Don Devore entered the office through a side doorway, then opened the main entrance to Ursula and me. I’m assuming the facemasks may have been the initial trigger here, but who knows? It might have been Ursula’s Swiss accent that set off this individual. At any rate . . .

The conversation among the three of us went something along the lines of:

● Me: We were wondering if you had anything available for one night? ● Devore: I’ll check. ● Ursula, looking at some craftwork in the lobby: Those are some lovely things. Who did these? ● Devore: My wife. ● Devore, eyeing us suspiciously (again, accent?): Where are you from? ● Ursula: El Paso, Texas ● Devore, with undisguised disgust: Oh. Beto O’Rourke. What do you think of him? ● Ursula: He wasn’t a bad congressman. Devore, now glaring at me: You a liberal? ● Me: I wouldn’t call myself that. (Because I’m not; I’m a political independent who until recently was a lifelong conservative Republican) ● Devore: We don’t have anything for you.

Okay. So now you get the gist of what sets off this immature snowflake who still hasn’t gotten over the presidential election some 6+ months after the fact. Mr. Devore had no idea who I was or for whom I voted. All he knew for certain by this point was:

● Ursula (a Republican by the way) didn’t think Beto O’Rourke was a bad congressman, ● I don’t consider myself a liberal, and ● He sure as heck wasn’t going to rent us a cabin because we didn’t pass muster during his silly, obnoxious third-degree. That’s it. That’s all it takes to fail Don Devore’s personal litmus test for cabin rentals.

You may enjoy staying at Mr. Devore’s establishment if you are of a likeminded political persuasion and can pass his childish, boorish, and totally inappropriate questioning.

If, on the other hand, you’re on vacation and looking to relax rather than “discuss” politics, you’ll find much more serene and inviting accommodations at the cabin lodgings located .37 miles/.6 kilometers south of this location. Not only are the staff friendly — a HUGE improvement over this place — that alternative lodging sits adjacent to the picturesque Susitna River. And walking along the Susitna provided us spectacular views of the Alaska Range to the north.

As for Ursula and me, we wouldn’t go back to Denali Fireside Cabins & Suites even if Mr. Devore were to offer us a free stay via a QApon, if you...

I made a reservation online on their web site well in advance and received a booking confirmation. When we arrived he (probably the owner) said they are full and couldn't find our reservation. He said he never received my reservation request from the agency they were using. I doubt it was the case, because about a week before arrival I sent them an email asking about their check out time. They said it depended on the accommodation type: "we need to know the date and the accommodation (cabin or suite)" I responded: "it's Hunter / Hunter Standard arriving on 9/1 for one night" with my name as well and got a reply from them with the check-out time. ||It's clear to me it was double booking. Since we arrived very late, it was labor weekend, and Talkeetna is a small town, it was hard to find another place to stay. Very...

We had to pay 3 nights due to the negligence of the reservation system. Think twice before you reserve! We tried to make reservations for 3 nights in August 2024. As my husband entered our information it seemed like the 3rd party reservation system they use, didn't process. We never received any notification that they had a room available on the dates we wanted. We did not receive any email or phone call to say "yes, we have availability" or to tell us a confirmation number. There was zero communication from Denali Fireside Cabins! Until 10pm the night we arrived in Talkeetna, staying at a different place, because we never heard back from Fireside to say they had a room. Denali Fireside Cabins charged us the full 3 days we didn't stay there. The on-site couple say they don't have anything to do with the third party...