Bettles Lodge — Hotel in Bettles

My wife and I stayed at the Bettles in on October 4th - 5th. Our sole purpose for this very expensive trip, was to see the Norther Lights in what we were led to believe was one of the best places in the world: Bettles, Alaska. It was a disaster. ||||The website says that Bettles has the best weather of any town in Alaska, and people come from all over the world to see the northen lights there. What the website doesn't tell you is that October and November are cloudy in Bettles, Alaska. You can't see the Aurora Borealis when it's cloudy. It was cloudy both days we were there and the viewing was horrible. We saw clouds, and a little bit of difused green or red light through the clouds. Despite the fact that there was a tremendous amount of aurora activity all over the world when we were in Bettles, all we saw there was clouds. We could have seen the lights better from Georgia, where we live!||||Then, to make matters worse, there was absolutely nothing to do in Bettles. The summer season ends at the end of September. The winter season begins on December 1st. There is nothing to do in Bettles (population 21) in October and November. No dogsledding. No snowmobiling. No cross-county skiing. No fishing. Nothing. ||||The historic lodge pictured on the website (which we're told is on the registry of historic places was closed, along with all of the amenities containted therein. We stayed in the Aurora Lodge. Think 50's ranch made into a bunk house. We popped for the "Jacuzzi Room", which, of course was more expensive than the other rooms. The "Jacuzzi" was a bath tub, oddly placed in a corner of the room, with jets in it. It appeared o date back to the Eisenhower administration. It was gross and we never used it. And I didn't know until I got there that, even if you spring for the Jacuzzi room, if you want to take a shower, there are community showers in the hallway.||||When we arrived at Bettles, the owner, Eric Fox, explained to us that his wife was in the lower 48, and the staff had been working very hard, so he decided to give them some time off. Therefore, it would only be him, my wife and myself, and 2 other couples. There was no one to wake us up at night to see the Aurora, as promised on the website. Nor was there anyone to drive us to the viewing building by a pond about 3 miles from the lodge as promised in the website. We were relegated to watching the cloudy sky on plastic chairs on the gravel driveway of the lodge. That experience cost us $1,700.00 per night.||||The only only available activities were puzzle making, watching a DVD on a tv in the lobby, or playing on my IPhone (when the wifi was working). My wife and I did not get what we were promised. There were a few old, cheap puzzles, some with pieces missing. One puzzle box had the 500 piece crossed out and 496 written in. The owner appears to make no effort to make the Aurora Lodge nicer. We feel victimized. We feel like suckers. We paid thousands of dollars and flew from one end of North America to the other, just to see the light display in Bettles and we saw clouds. The owner's explanation that mother mother nature didn't cooperate was disingenuous and self-serving. Mother nature did what mother nature does in October in Bettles. The website is misleading. This is epic bait and switch, bordering on theft by taking. ||||If you choose to stay at the Bettles Lodge, notwithstanding this review, I wish you the best of luck. But whatever you do, do NOT stay there in October or November if your purpose is to see the Northern Lights. The owners should be ashamed of themselves. There is no fall season in Bettles, but they take people's money, knowing full-well that their sole purpose is to see the Northern Lights, and knowing full-well that the viewing potential in October and November are extremely limited, at best. And the promises of services and activities t. Shame on turned out to be lies....

My wife and I stayed at the Bettles in on October 4th - 5th. Our sole purpose for this very expensive trip, was to see the Norther Lights in what we were led to believe was one of the best places in the world: Bettles, Alaska. It was a disaster. ||||The website says that Bettles has the best weather of any town in Alaska, and people come from all over the world to see the northen lights there. What the website doesn't tell you is that October and November are cloudy in Bettles, Alaska. You can't see the Aurora Borealis when it's cloudy. It was cloudy both days we were there and the viewing was horrible. We saw clouds, and a little bit of difused green or red light through the clouds. Despite the fact that there was a tremendous amount of aurora activity all over the world when we were in Bettles, all we saw there was clouds. We could have seen the lights better from Georgia, where we live!||||Then, to make matters worse, there was absolutely nothing to do in Bettles. The summer season ends at the end of September. The winter season begins on December 1st. There is nothing to do in Bettles (population 21) in October and November. No dogsledding. No snowmobiling. No cross-county skiing. No fishing. Nothing. ||||The historic lodge pictured on the website (which we're told is on the registry of historic places was closed, along with all of the amenities containted therein. We stayed in the Aurora Lodge. Think 50's ranch made into a bunk house. We popped for the "Jacuzzi Room", which, of course was more expensive than the other rooms. The "Jacuzzi" was a bath tub, oddly placed in a corner of the room, with jets in it. It appeared o date back to the Eisenhower administration. It was gross and we never used it. And I didn't know until I got there that, even if you spring for the Jacuzzi room, if you want to take a shower, there are community showers in the hallway.||||When we arrived at Bettles, the owner, Eric Fox, explained to us that his wife was in the lower 48, and the staff had been working very hard, so he decided to give them some time off. Therefore, it would only be him, my wife and myself, and 2 other couples. There was no one to wake us up at night to see the Aurora, as promised on the website. Nor was there anyone to drive us to the viewing building by a pond about 3 miles from the lodge as promised in the website. We were relegated to watching the cloudy sky on plastic chairs on the gravel driveway of the lodge. That experience cost us $1,700.00 per night.||||The only only available activities were puzzle making, watching a DVD on a tv in the lobby, or playing on my IPhone (when the wifi was working). My wife and I did not get what we were promised. There were a few old, cheap puzzles, some with pieces missing. One puzzle box had the 500 piece crossed out and 496 written in. The owner appears to make no effort to make the Aurora Lodge nicer. We feel victimized. We feel like suckers. We paid thousands of dollars and flew from one end of North America to the other, just to see the light display in Bettles and we saw clouds. The owner's explanation that mother mother nature didn't cooperate was disingenuous and self-serving. Mother nature did what mother nature does in October in Bettles. The website is misleading. This is epic bait and switch, bordering on theft by taking. ||||If you choose to stay at the Bettles Lodge, notwithstanding this review, I wish you the best of luck. But whatever you do, do NOT stay there in October or November if your purpose is to see the Northern Lights. The owners should be ashamed of themselves. There is no fall season in Bettles, but they take people's money, knowing full-well that their sole purpose is to see the Northern Lights, and knowing full-well that the viewing potential in October and November are extremely limited, at best. And the promises of services and activities t. Shame on turned out to be lies....

Bettles Lodge is a gem hidden in the snow, and you absolutely must find your way here.

Eric and Heather are an absolute delight and made us feel so at home for our entire trip. They were welcoming, and the entire team was so warm. Connie, Chris, Shawn, Gigi, Jane, Katsu, and Mary were all warm and accommodating. They took care of everything while we were there and made sure we had a great time.

The rooms are spacious and can fit quite a few people if you don’t mind sharing. The deluxe rooms have a tub (not a shower), a sink, and a private water closet (toilet with a door). The regular rooms had a queen and a twin bed each, though you rent the room so you have full control over who’s in there (for instance, my husband and I were in a regular room by ourselves, even though there were two beds). The beds were a little hard for my taste but that’s all personal preference, and not much can be done about that. We were given robes, towels, chocolates, even slippers. The lodge was kept warm and comfortable even as it got into the negatives outside.

Bundle up because it gets COLD. It snowed a good portion of our trip, but we still saw the Northern Lights. A staff member stays up until 2am and will wake you if she sees them, which was much appreciated and let us get some sleep.

During the day, there’s a lot you can do. Cross-country skiing, snow mobiles, games in the lodge, and (my favorite) the dog sled! Shawn takes you out with the dogs, and it’s such a cool experience. Make sure you bundle up—it got so cold that my phone shut off. It’s a fantastic experience, though, and by far one of the highlights of the trip. Well worth the money (make sure to tip him, too!)

The whole team bends over backward to make you feel comfortable, so I definitely recommend bringing cash to tip them as a thank you. That’s personal preference, of course, but they deserved every dollar our group gave them.

The Northern Lights photos turned out really well. To the naked eye, you see mostly a white cloud moving across the sky, but when you take long-exposure photos, they’re incredible.

The food was great! I liked everything I ate. Chris is an incredibly talented chef and made everything taste incredible. Connie is a baking queen and had cookies and muffins for us pretty much every day. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I think it’s a toss up between the filet mignon and the beef stew. YUM.

I most enjoyed the flights with Karl and Bettles Air, so if you can get on a flight with him, take it! He talks to you through most of the trip, explaining about the world beneath you and telling you interesting facts about Alaska. He’s friendly and quite frankly one of the best pilots in Alaska. Super nice man and an incredibly talented flyer. We had some really nasty snow on our last day and would have missed our flights home out of Fairbanks if Karl hadn’t come to the rescue! I felt so safe in that tiny plane, primarily because I knew he had us covered no matter the weather.

All in all, I definitely recommend you go here. The team is amazing and the trip is fun—it’s something everyone should do at least once. Eric, Heather, and the team do everything they can to make it truly amazing, and you’ll leave with memories you cherish...