Michael O.
Yelp
Since I can't sleep, I'll write a review.
The good: the cabins are cute, staff generally friendly, rooms were clean, very accommodating to a last minute change of dates with no added charges. Food trucks on site are very good (May 2018 has Mexican and Thai. Mexican serves breakfast through dinner).
The bad: noise, noise, noise! The mountain view cabins face the highway. The noise from cars all night is not what you want when you book a cabin in Alaska! Worse, the folks staying in trailers near the Mexican food truck partied all night with the radio blasting until 2am and loud talking until after 4am. I addressed this with the front desk - asking for ear plugs - and they responded "so sorry that was a one time event, it will be quiet tonight." Well, it's nearly 11pm and the radio is on, adults and kids talking very loud (over the radio) - I guess it drowns out the car noise?
I was looking for a peaceful relaxing stay in Denali. I got two nearly sleepless nights. As the front desk closed at 9pm, there is nobody to contact about the noise and they didn't seem to care when I addressed it in the morning.
If you purchase from their store, check expiration dates. I found food that expired 9 months ago.
Paid wifi is ridiculous in 2018 especially at $20 per day. Since cell service was lacking, I paid for it anyway. Jokes on you, using it to post this review!
If you're going to run a resort just feet from the highway, you need to build with better sound proofing. Also, don't let the trailer trash party all night.
A mini fridge with microwave would be a nice touch - especially since they sell frozen foods in their store! Updated TVs with cable would be nice too - the old school CRTs with blurry antenna channels just collect dust. On the plus side, leaving the TV on helps drown out the noise from the trailer party.
To reiterate, the staff have generally been great, good food from the food trucks, and really appreciate the last minute change request. The noise is the killer - it ruins it all. I cannot recommend anyone stay here unless they open the office 24/7 and enforce a reasonable quiet hours (10pm-6am as an example). I should never have to listen to other guests for extended periods of time, even outside of quiet hours. I booked a cabin in Alaska, not a room in a frat party downtown. I would have left early but could not find any rooms nearby and I was too exhausted to travel to Talkeetna at 11pm where I found rooms.