Bear Lodge

I stayed at this hotel as part of the land component of a larger land/cruise pack with Princess Cruises. We only stayed one night. It was the very start of our vacation. And the Bear Lodge did its best to start it off on a bad note. We flew 7 hours from Chicago and we got to the Bear Lodge at 8:30am. They were not ready to check us in, which we were totally expecting. But the two women working at the front desk seemed so annoyed by us and were unnecessarily rude about it. They did hold our bags at the front desk so we could explore Fairbanks. We got back to the hotel at 3pm and the front desks tells us that our room is till not ready and that guaranteed check in is at 4pm. So no big deal, we wait in the lobby. Then at 3:50pm, someone from the front desk tells us that there will be a 20 minute delay. What?!? The hotel knew we were waiting since 8:30am and they could not have our room ready by guaranteed check in?!? We spoke to the staff, who could care less about any inconvenience. Then the manager comes out 10 minutes later. Or I assume she was the manager, because she never identified herself. She basically threw us our room keys and made a big deal it was 4pm in the dot. No “sorry for the wait” or “welcome to our hotel”, just nothing. Are you kidding me?!? I paid a good amount to be on this vacation and the hotel staff welcomes us with this unnecessary rudeness??? Looking through reviews here, I am not the first to have this unpleasant experience here. As for the hotel itself, it is adequate. The room is spacious, the balcony is nice, and I liked the layout of the bathroom with duel sinks. What I did not like was the poor water pressure in the shower, a leaky shower head, and lack of outlets to plug things in. There is a restaurant on site that we did not use and a small cafe that was nice to grab coffee and a morning snack. But overall, it is the service that drags this hotel down. Which is surprising since I saw lots of tour buses unloading people here, so they have to work with the cruise companies. Princess, if you read this, please find a nicer hotel to work with that will not treat your cruise customers like trash.

There is service in the rooms just every 4 days. If you want fresh towels or coffee service replenishment, you have to ask the front desk to provide this--even though the sign in the bathroom says that if you want fresh towels to please leave dirty towels on the floor. WE DID--THE HOTEL DIDN'T.

We enjoyed the stay. We hiked at Creamery Field. We visited some interesting attractions like Morris Thompson Cultural and History Center, Pioneer Park, and others. We enjoyed walking around Fairbanks.

3 star hotel at best, super friendly staff but lacked knowledge. They couldn't answer any question about Princess Cruises.

The place was great with excellent service. The beds were very comfortable and their hamburgers were “to-die-for”. I would stay there again in a second

The "front desk manager" jasmin was unfriendly and no customer service. Woke up to bed bug bites on my neck and went to go tell them. They never offered to check until I went back a second time to ask for their name and title. Dining had better customer service.