Meandering Moose Lodging — Hotel in Alaska

Our big Alaska trip this summer took six of us across three generations into the heart of Alaska. Talkeetna served as our home base for several days and the Meandering Moose Lodge served our group pretty well.

We picked the largest of the cabins that they had available as it was capable of sleeping eight (two double and four twin beds) My wife and I took one double, my parent the other, with each of our two kids getting their own twin.

The beds are were all located upstairs in a loft area that had plenty of space. One struggle is that, with the way the cabin is laid out, the stairs are very steep. My wife and parents tried to limit going up and down as it was hard on their knees - which left a good bit of running up and down for me to get things.

Downstairs, the cabin featured a fully equipped kitchen, which served us well. If you're coming from Anchorage, I highly recommend stopping at the Walmart in Wasilla on the way up to get all your foods and drinks. There is a small grocery store where the main highway splits to go to Talkeetna. It is expensive, even by Alaska standards. A full size refrigerator gave us plenty of room for food from which to prepare meals for the several days we were in the area. We took advantage of the kitchen during this leg of our trip to cut down on our food expenses by cooking for ourselves.

The location is about a mile or so out of "downtown" Talkeetna. It was reasonably remote enough that it was quiet, but not so far as to make going into town a chore. the road from Talkeetna out to the lodge area is pretty rough, though.

The serve yourself breakfast in the main lodge building was simple, but effective.

As promised, there is wifi available, though, as warned, it's about DSL speed limited by the hardline out to the propery. So, while no streaming video was possible, general web searching (pulling up menus, searching for attraction hours, email) was possible. Which is good as, even with Verizon's coverage, network data was pretty spotty out there.

One other recommendation for staying at this property - bring eye covers for sleeping. The upper level windows are exposed and let a lot of light into the cabin. With it not getting dark in the summer until after 11pm and starting to get light again around 4am, sleeping effectively could be difficult if you're used to being in the dark.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay and I can recommend it, though I would not go for the big cabin if you have folks in your party with...

The cozy moose cabin was cute and spacious for a 1 room cabin. The grounds are nicely landscaped. A personalized welcome sign greeeted us upon arrival at the cabin. The staff/owner were friendly. There were several items that led to my lower rating. We were informed during checking in that the deadbolt lock won't latch because of new weatherstripping around the door. We were assured not to worry about anyone taking our belongings. However, I do like privacy and safety, especially when staying in a strange place around others I don't know. The door did latch shut and had a lock in the door handle, but it was broke. I am not sure why the weatherstripping was important for a cabin with no air conditioning. If it was my business, I would fix it so at least one of the locks worked for my guest's peace of mind. The screen door gets stuck on the deck so it doesn't fully open. There was a thick full-sized memory foam on top of a queen-size mattress. The memory foam is nice, but it's no longer a queen size bed for sleeping space, because of the significant slope between the two (can be seen in photo). The vinyl flooring was ripped up quite a bit. My biggest dislike is that guests are not informed, when booking, that the neighbors own sledding dogs who frequently bark. Thankfully, I didn't hear them after 11pm. If you are looking for a quiet stay and wish to sleep in past 7am, I don't recommend staying here. A sign in the bathroom of the bathhouse asks you to use the "fart fan." However, the fan doesn't work. The toilet seat lid was missing. The Wi-Fi never worked during our stay. You can connect to the network but there was absolutely no internet signal. In my opinion, a little extra effort to maintenance and attention to guest's comfort, The Meandering Moose could be a 5...

Family owned & operated, Meandering Moose Lodge is located in the quaint, yet quite unique little town of Talkeetna, comprised of a small downtown area with a few bars/restaurants/gift shops (lax open alcohol container laws!), gorgeous scenery around the three intersecting rivers, many lakes and streams, plus of course, nearby access to Denali. The owner, Kathy, and her daughter were extremely accommodating regarding our very early arrival of 9am after flying into Fairbanks on a red eye and driving the 4 hours to Talkeetna. Upon the previous guest's check out, they had our room (the suite upstairs in main house) ready to go by 10am! A quick complimentary offering of basic breakfast and we were in bed shortly after catching up on zzz's. Having worked in hotels/hospitality, this extra attention to us and our particular situation went a LONG way, setting the pace for an unforgettable experience wonderfully catered to by the Meandering Moose family. The property consists of winding trails looping through the cabin-dotted property, with the main office building having a few single rooms such as our own. Community style kitchen, living, and bathrooms (except our suite upstairs with its own private bathroom and soaking tub!) Laundry facilities on site. Local recommendations and literature to point you in the right direction. Great conversation and people to encounter! This could be a quiet retreat to yourselves or an engaging community style getaway stay...whatever you want to make of it! Will gladly return someday when back in Alaska! Thanks so...