If you peruse my past reviews, you will find that I rarely write negative ones--I am generally moved to write primarily to support deserving establishments. In this case, however, I feel a moral obligation to potential guests to warn them of what lay ahead. I am admittedly an outlier, though not unique, in my very negative view of the place, which largely echoes what "Valerie from Pa" and "Orit C," among others, wrote in past reviews: specifically that the proprietor, Deb, apparently beloved by many, is highly controlling (not to mention, in my view, passive-aggressive). If you want your every move laid out for you, and have little need for privacy, you will enjoy her attention. If you value even a measure of autonomy, avoid this place like the plague. To offer a couple of brief examples, after a long journey to reach Gustavus, Deb picked us up at the ferry, as is the custom in remote parts of Alaska. We hadn't much time to spend and were anxious to get to the park for a day hike, but Deb took us on a one hour tour of Gustavus. She did not ask if we'd like to see the town, she simply set forth. Here it is worth noting that there are basically two streets in Gustavus. To spend an hour seeing the town requires that the guide offer a detailed discussion of pretty much every building and family in town. She then decided that it was best we rent a car to get to the park and took it upon herself to make these arrangements before we could decide whether we wished to do so. The car we ultimately rented for $130 turned out to be barely functional. Not to belabor the point, but by way of further illustration, I offer one more of many possible examples of Deb's "hospitality:" On our third and final day in Gustavus, we had a 5:40 flight to Juneau. We knew that the Glacier Bay Lodge drove their guests to the airport at around 4:30, and that arriving an hour in advance of our flight would be more than sufficient. Deb, however, insisted that we must leave at 2:30 pm and that she would drive us. We said we would rather take a cab to leave later. She was so offended that we foolishly acquiesced. As a result we were literally the first people at the airport where we waited pointlessly for three hours rather than enjoying the day. To add insult to injury, Deb drove another guest to the airport an hour and a half later. Parenthetically, she charged us for the ride, and berated us for wanting to take a cab. As for the inn itself, when we first arrived, Deb cautioned us that the toilet did not work well. And indeed it did not, though we exercised as much caution as possible, short of going into the woods to relieve ourselves. Deb blamed us for the toilet's failure, and clearly believed we had done something wrong. Yet, looking back ay past reviews, we discovered there were problems with the toilet as many as 9 years and she had obviously never really fixed the problem, though were treated to many long lectures about how hard she works and how difficult it is to get supplies, etc. in Gustavus. That may all be true, but I am pretty sure I never forced her to open a b&b. Leaving all this aside, even for those of you who might appreciate her involvement as helpful, please note that Gustavus is 10 miles from the Glacier Bay Lodge from which the tour boat of the park departs, and where all but one of the hiking trails are located. It will cost you between $18 and $23 per person one way to Lodge--and that assumes you can get a cab. Stay...
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