Which lodging is better outside Denali National Park--Alaskan Chateau or Denali Park Hotel? Same Price.?

Question

Going to visit Denali National Park in 2 weeks with my husband and 6 year old son. Looking for convenient affordable lodging--we'll have a car so driving 10-15 minutes is okay. Any recommendations? So far we have found availability at the 2 hotels above...both are about $130. Has anyone stayed at these? Also--would love suggestions for activities while we are there...especially pros and cons of booking an organized tour in the park vs. taking the shuttle bus.

Answer 1

I spent 5 months up there last year, but didn't use a hotel, We were in a motorhome. The price you are quoting is in the ball park with what they charge up there. We did stay in the Best Western in Valdez at $185 per night while our motorhome was being repaired.



As for activities, as you drive into the park there will be signs directing you to where you will need to go for tickets for the bus rides into the park. You will be allowed to drive your vehicle only 13 miles into the park. There will be many viewing stops along the way.



Just inside will be a spot for purchasing tickets for bus rides deeper into Denali. We stayed at Teklanika Campground, which is 29 miles into the park. You will want to take the longest trip you think you can do. There is one that takes 11 hours. This is the best tour available. Remember that the buses are Blue Bird school uses. There are no bathrooms on these buses, but there are rest room stops along the way.

You will be treated to some of the most majestic sites you have ever seen.



I would suggest packing a lunch and snacks for along the way. Ask at the ticket counter, while we were up there, no food or was to be found along the trip.



You must be flying into Anchorage or Fairbanks. Spend some time in what ever town you fly into so you won't need to double back. In Fairbanks, take the Riverboat Discovery tour. Everything is preplanned, but the trip is worth it. If you wish you may include the El Durado gold mine tour. Drive up to University of Alaska, visit the museum and the Musk Ox. Just a short drive dowm from Fairbanks is North Pole, Alaska and Santas Workshop. We stayed at the Santaland campground where the work shop is located. Santa lives there also.



In Anchorage is the native american heritage life center. This is just off the Glenn Highway on your way into Anchorage. If you miss the Musk Ox at the University of Alaska, drive into Palmer, where the Parks & The Glenn Highway merge, go to see the Musk Ox Farm & the Reindeer Farm. Drive out to Lake Hood, right across the road from the airport, and watch the more than 1,000 float planes that take off and land there daily. Ride the trolly, downtown, and see all the sights, then take your car and visit the ones you would like to spend more time at.



Between Denali & Anchorage is Talkeetna, a nice visit fora few hours. Without going back to my notes, that's a short wrapup.



I guess I should mention Seward, this is the closest for taking glacier cruises that I can think of. It's quite a drive from Denali. You could drive out the Seward Highway, from Anchorage, to Portage for their glacier tour. On your way to Portage is Gridwood, turning off there to Alyeska, a lodge along with a ariel tram ride to a wonderful view of Turnagain Arm.



Read my blog on Yahoo 360 for photos and more comments on Alaska.



Enjoy and sorry for writing a book.

Answer 2

Guess it depends on the prism one looks through; I saw more of a bumbling Key Stone Cop performance of the Washington Nationals than I did of the Cincinnati Reds "great" performance. If I was a fan of the Reds or a fan at the ballpark I would have loved it and I would have stayed at the park until the end of the game. The 93 year old WW II Veteran I watched the game with begged me to change the game when it was 8-0; I finally did when it was 10-0. Today is a new game and I still say the Nationals take this series 2-1.

Answer 3

I spent a couple of weeks in Alaska in July 2006. It was my second trip to Alaska and I’d like to return again in the future to see more of this beautiful and fascinating state. The major points of interest that I visited are Anchorage, Prince William Sound (tour out of Whittier), Seward, Kenai Fjords National Park, Katmai National Park, Talkeetna, Denali National Park, Fairbanks, Valdez, Wrangell-St Elias National Park and the Glennallen area.



I don’t know where you will be going other than Denali so I’ll try to confine my comments to your questions. While visiting Denali I stayed at the Motel Nord Haven located at mile 249.5 Parks Highway, Healy. The motel is about 10 miles north of the Denali park entrance. I’ve listed the web site below. The Motel Nord Haven is very clean, comfortable, quiet and one of the best motels I’ve stayed in regardless of price. While there, I took the Kantishna Wilderness Trails Tour into the park. See Doyon Tourism web site below. The tour goes 92 miles into the park to Kantishna and the roundtrip took approximately 13 hours from pickup to drop-off. The Motel Nord Haven is not a pickup spot so I parked at McKinley Chalet Resort for the pickup and drop-off. It was a long day but well worth the effort as we saw almost every kind of wildlife in the park except for wolves. This included grizzly bear, moose, caribou, dall sheep, marmot, red fox, lynx, golden eagle, etc. While on the subject of wildlife, do carry mosquito repellent if you expect to spend time outdoors. DEET works best. Check out the Doyon web site for more details. We also took the Denali Grand Tour with K2 Aviation in Talkeetna. It was a fantastic air tour and the scenery is beyond words. You have not seen Denali until you take this tour. The glacier landing in the Ruth amphitheater at the head of the Ruth glacier was an experience of a lifetime. See the K2 web site below.



If you want to do some independent exploring (hiking) in the park, use the park shuttle so you can jump off and get back on again. If you want to see as much of the park as possible in a day, take the tour to Kantishna. If you don’t go all the way to Kantishna, I recommend you go at least to Polychrome Overlook about halfway to Kantishna. If you have the time, go further into the park. The farther you go, the more likely you are to see wildlife.



I must mention our trip to Katmai National Park because while there we watched upwards of 20 brown bears fishing for sockeye salmon at Brooks Falls and in the Brooks River. At times the bears would approach to within 5 yards of where we were. It was an unforgettable experience. We chartered a single engine float plane out of Lake Hood in Anchorage for the 2 hour flight to Katmai. We spent about a half a day there before returning to Anchorage. Current cost to charter a De Havilland Beaver for a day is $3,000 plus and the plane seats 6 or 7 depending on configuration. We used Sportsman’s Air Service in Anchorage but there are a number of other companies that offer charters and tours for small groups or individuals. One of the most popular is Rust’s Flying Service. Rust’s also owns K2 Aviation.



The Prince William Sound and Kenai Fjords are also worth the effort to see. I hope this helps and I know you’ll have a fantastic trip.



One other thing I need to mention. That is to check www.tripadvisor.com for hotel/motel reviews by independent travelers. The Alaskan Chateau B&B has no reviews, just one comment. The Denali Park Hotel has an average rating of 4 on a scale of 5. The Motel Nord Haven has an average rating of 4.5 out of 5. I can't comment on the motels you asked about but I would agree with the 4.5 rating given to the Motel Nord Haven.