Mt Aurora Fairbanks Creek Lodge — Hotel in Alaska

I just came back from a 2 night stay at Mount Aurora. It was my very first experience at a bed n breakfast style lodging, and I must say that I was very pleased with my experience! ||No it is not a luxury resort, but what you gain in the sense of homey-ness (is that even a word? Haha) and other comforts cannot be paralleled. A kitchenette style dining area is available 24/7 for all guests, and your hosts cook up a mean breakfast! 😋||Some other highlights I’d like to point out:||* Kate, one of the owners, is a total doll. She’s eager to make your stay pleasant ( and even provides brief education about the northern lights and history of the lodge!) She even texted me before I got there to ensure she would be well prepared I totally appreciated this, and also once we departed to wish us a merry Christmas. ||If you’re particular about having your own facilities, make sure you book the right accommodations. Some rooms share bathrooms. I requested for a private bathroom, and with the layout of the house, I ended up with a 2 bedroom 6 twin bed suite lol. No complaints here! There was only two of us and we liked the ample space 😁||please be mindful that this is an old gold miner’s bunker. Be realistic about your expectations. This means no elevator and very thin walls. It is definitely a classically beautiful, historic place to stay if you want a slice of old America. But again, be realistic. The one thing that matters in the dead of winter—heat—is well taken care of, however! You will not freeze! The lodge is a comfortable temperature and hot water is never in short supply.||*the most important thing that I gravitated to in booking Mount Aurora was the “Aurora alerts.” When you travel to any region of the world in search of northern lights, your options are basically to freeze outdoors for several hours in the middle of the night while waiting for this finicky, ephemeral force of nature to appear. However, at Aurora Lodge, you can stay inside in warm comfort doing whatever you want, and you’ll be alerted by gentle knocks on your door to let you know the lights are making an appearance every time. So convenient to just be able to sleep, work on my laptop, etc, and NOT worry about missing anything! The light forecast was not too strong during my visit, but I still managed to see them! I wish my DSLR camera didn’t die the day before. The pic below was what I was able to capture with my iPhone. Anyways, Bucket list...

Aurora Lodge is north of Fairbanks but not so far that you couldn’t drive into town for lunch or dinner. We stayed 4 nights after our cruise ended with hopes of seeing the Northern lights. Externally it is an old miner’s lodge. Internally it is quaint and charming and the hosts are friendly and helpful from providing information on the history of the building and area, to providing tips on things to do and see while in the area, to waking you up and making sure that you see the northern lights if they are out. A made to order breakfast comes with the room and the food was excellent. Pancakes or waffles or French toast (depending on the day), eggs made to order and the yummiest bacon! There is also coffee, juice, yogurt, bagels and toast. At night you can fix a coffee or hot cocoa to warm you up. There is a refrigerator available for you to bring your own snacks. You have access to a microwave, but no stove.||While the decor was rustic and in many cases “original” the lodge is clean and neat and the bathrooms sparkle. The lodge rooms are small but very functional and quite clean. Ours had a double bed and a single bed. I believe they have other configurations as well. The common area downstairs is large and friendly with board games, comfortable seating, tables and chairs. WiFi is available and fast (for Alaska). ||Each two bedrooms shared a connecting bathroom. There is a latch on the outside of the bathroom door to give you privacy and a lock on the inside of the door to give the person in the bathroom privacy. For those of you from the “lower 48” (and we are from Georgia) this may seem strange, but I can assure you it works in Alaska and was not the most unusual thing we saw while traveling there. ||We arrived in early September and were in luck and got to see the aurora on two of our four nights. Bring a camera and tripod for the 8-15 sec exposures required - the colors in the pictures are far more vivid than you can see with your eyes. You really have to stay outside of the city to see them on many nights because the city lights will wash them out. ||Peak aurora season occurs during the winter, but be aware that many of the typical tourist activities and some restaurants, particularly out of the main cities, shut down in mid...

Went here for Aurora viewing. Paid $25 pp plus cab ride $75pp. The place is old and smell- hard to breath. I was told it used to be a cabin for gold miners- decades ago or who knows when. The rug was as ancient and dusty as the place. The owner, Kate, was rude and disrespectful. It was -38 degrees outside. When the aurora just started to show up faintly in the sky, she told us all to get out. We got out and stayed outside for few minutes and went back inside as the Aurora light was very low and was freezing cold. Kate was like "why are you back? You need to stay out". She said it with a smirk smile. After 5-10 min we went out to check if the light got bigger. Unfortunately, it was still very low. So we went back in. She tried to kick us out again. Few of the upset guests went out again and few of us stayed. At this time my ears was on fire, frustrated on being harassed to get out. The next time she told us to get out, I had enough and said something to her to keep her mouth shut for good. I can justify what I said to her because if you think about it, I paid $25 to keep me warm for few minutes while waiting for the Aurora and I will decide when I want to get out. Not one guest smiled during our 2-3 hrs stay.||Later she offered us cookies as hard as a rock. No one touched it.||If you want to see ancient bugs, then this is your place. ||I know TA gave this place good reviews. But I am speaking based on my experience. If I paid to stay in your place, It...