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HOTEL STYLE
Quiet
Family
Languages Spoken
English
Property amenities
Free parking
Free internet
Bar / lounge
Hiking
Free shuttle or taxi services
Business Centre with Internet Access
Meeting rooms
Baggage storage
Internet
Restaurant
Vending machine
Convenience store
Gift shop
Non-smoking hotel
Picnic area
Shops
ATM on site
24-hour front desk
Laundry service
Room features
Wake-up service / alarm clock
Flatscreen TV
Room types
Non-smoking rooms
Family rooms
Location
Mile 238.9, 238.9 Parks Hwy, Denali Park, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK 99755
McKinley Chalet Resort
3.6 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
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Nestled in a scenic location, McKinley Chalet Resort offers travelers the convenience of being close to shops with pleasant views and dining options nearby. While some guests praise the room features and shuttle service, opinions vary with others finding the amenities outdated or inadequate. Cleanliness is generally well-regarded, but there are mentions of spots that could benefit from more attention.
The hotel's atmosphere is noted for its spaciousness, though comfort is an area for improvement. Service experiences range from commendable to disappointing, and the value proposition is often questioned due to high rates and room conditions that don't always meet expectations.
Location
Convenient
Atmosphere
Outdated
Rooms
Dated
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Mixed
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Underwhelming
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McKinley Chalet Resort is rustic and basic lodging with a veneer of quality in most places, but it's pricey and doesn't always deliver a matching level of service.
This is a remote area, just outside Denali National Park, that is only open during the summer tourist season. The two big resorts here (McKinley Chalet Resort and Princess Wilderness Lodge) are both owned by Carnival, and they are the only "nice" places to stay in the area.
As a result, it's expensive, rustic, and rough around the edges. The basic rooms are very basic. They have a nice aesthetic and are decent places to sleep, but that's about it. The upgraded luxury rooms are nicer and have more amenities.
Food is good, but we were slightly disappointed in the quality and quantity of everything for the price. Denali is already an expensive location to get to and stay at, and the food just felt like we were being squeezed for every last dollar.
The breakfast buffet at Karsten's Public House (the on-property "pub") was especially disappointing. For $23 I expect more than powdered eggs and anemic frozen pastries.
The staff are helpful and do their best, but they aren't very organized. Arrival and departure times are a stressful, confusing madhouse trying to figure out what bus you should be on. There is no organization and no attempt by the staff to organize the guests or provide clear information. Twice we were directed by a staff member to a bus that was full.
Compared to the organization and clear information provided on a cruise, this was a frustrating experience.
If you book optional excursions as part of your package, contact the activity vendor directly for more information. Holland America failed to provide us with actual useful information for our activities, such as what to wear and bring, and if we hadn't done extra legwork we would have been underprepared and possibly very uncomfortable.
Transportation to activities is run by the vendor themselves. When they arrive, there is no announcement and no staff assistance, so you have to keep an eye out for the vendors yourself. And hope you don't miss them.
Compared to the polished, efficient experience you get on a cruise ship, this was a mixed and sometimes stressful experience, which is disappointing after paying so much.
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Date of stay: July 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Explore the off-property restaurants across the street for better prices and higher quality food.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We spent 2 nights here as part of a Holland America cruise/land tour. The outside and inside of the main lodge fit the setting amidst Denali Park with high ceilings, wood beams and attractive decor, and lead to high expectations regarding the rest of the facility. There's also a restaurant, coffee shop and gift shop in the main building. The hotel rooms are located in separate buildings on the hill and in the "valley", identified by letters (we stayed in H building). When we walked into our room we were really disappointed. The "rustic"/basic room with a small sitting area (desk, sleeper loveseat, chair) and bedroom (one twin, one double bed) looked like a low budget hotel room with bare amenities. We were on the first floor and we could consistently hear the people moving around above us. The beds were ok, although the mattresses seemed well used. The bathroom had the basics, and we were glad we weren't staying longer. I found spider webs in one corner. The room looked like it could use a thorough cleaning. On the flip side, the setting around the resort is lovely...mountains, river and colorful vegetation. The resort had flower baskets and planters throughout. One evening we watched a gorgeous sunset. There's a "village" area with restaurants and shops just down the hill in the valley, and a free shuttle to get around the area. Plus a strip mall of shops and restaurants across the main road from the resort. With such a great lodge building and the setting, it's too bad Holland America doesn't do some room updating to improve the guest experience.
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Date of stay: September 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
A lot to digest? Read an AI-generated summary of recent traveller reviews.
My sister and I stayed here as part of our Holland American cruise tour. (Be sure you know this resort is very spread out and on a hillside. There is a shuttle but it can be full at busy times.) We had two beds booked on the ship and in other land accommodations. This hotel considers a sofa bed a second bed. We don’t! Others had two beds and a large group had been moved to a building that had lots of amenities as well and were given vouchers to spend at the resort. We went to the front desk to talk to Brooke, the front desk manager. We were told she would get with us later. After 3 hours of not hearing anything we went to the front desk. She had another king room but were told we would have to pay an additional $299.99/night and the two of us wouldn’t be in the same area of the resort. We had booked a Neptune Suite on the ship so we felt we should get a nice room with two real beds like others had told us they had gotten. We were there three nights! We received 2-$25 vouchers and a few soda vouchers for our inconvenience, but we weren’t moved.
I’m not sure I would stay here again. The room we were in was not close to anything and there is not an ice machine close by and no refrigerator in the room. They told us we could text and request ice! There are some large buildings with inside corridors, but mostly buildings with 8 hotel rooms, 4 up and 4 down with stairs. There are two restaurants at the top of the hill and a coffee bar in the main lobby. There is a shopping/restaurant area across the highway that we walked to.
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Date of stay: May 2024Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Ask to be in Canyon Lodge or in the area adjacent to the lobby.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Great overall experience the two nights we spent here. The staff were very friendly and always extremely helpful. We stayed in a Signature Creekside Cabin duplex which was perfect for two people. The cabin was very clean and spacious and right on the creek. Love the sound of the creek especially sitting on the porch having coffee in the morning or a drink at night. Room was equipped with a coffee maker, refrigerator, microwave and a full bathroom with tub and shower. You can tell a lot of thought went into rooms to make you comfortable including nice little touches like fresh ground coffee, paper plates and utensils, can opener / cork screw and if you needed anything you just had to ask.
The cafe onsite was as good or better than any restaurant in Denali. We ate dinner there both nights, ordered breakfast to go one morning to eat at the cabin and had a piece of rhubarb coffee cake one day. The salmon dinner my wife had one day was the best we had in Alaska and the halibut fish & chips and turkey pot pie were both good as well. For dessert the rhubarb pie was good but our favorite was the homemade apple pie. For breakfast in the cabin we split the blue berry pancakes which were awesome and enough for two.
Overall this place tries to do everything to make your stay perfect and a special shout out to our server one night (Megan) and everyone who worked at the front counter for the great service they provided.
I would suggest making dinner reservations for parties of 4 or more during your stay since the wait can be long. Unfortunately they do not make reservations for parties of two which is something I hope they reconsider in the future for people staying in their cabins.
We will definitely stay here again since Denali National Park is so big and beautiful it needs to be visited multiple times.
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Date of stay: September 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Make reservations at cafe if you can
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We shouldn't have been here, but were moved by our tour organiser because the hotel we should have been in was full. Not a great start, then they couldn’t find our reservation at the desk, but eventually worked out that we had already been checked in (?) so gave us the keys to A106. "A" block is the closest to the main lobby, which was about the only good thing about it. The room was old fashioned with several maintenance and quality issues such as the smoke detector hanging off the wall, unbranded toiletries, a window which couldn’t be locked (on the ground floor), a leaky tap which sprayed water randomly, a blown light bulb above the sink, thin walls and sticky doors. The décor was dated as well. We had two queen beds in separate rooms with a small bathroom between and a washbasin in the second bedroom. The bathroom had a plastic bath and shower unit stuck to the wall, although the shower itself was not too bad. There was no air conditioning, just small kick plate heaters which made the rooms very warm. No refrigerator. We had to unplug lamps, fans etc to plug in phone chargers. We were told at reception that WiFi doesn’t work in the bedrooms, only in the central lobby! No housekeeping services. The location is ok, within walking distance to shops and restaurants, which was good as we vowed on arrival not to spend a dollar extra in the hotel!
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Date of stay: September 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The people at the front desk were friendly and helpful, the rooms were clean. One star for meeting those standards. The goal of this hotel is to herd people in and out, it is not about quality at all. Timing and logistics are completely uncoordinated. First, the Alaska train offered to check bags at our starting destination and deliver them to the hotel. The train arrived Denali at Noon and has a shuttle to McKinley Chalet but you are not allowed to check into the hotel until 3pm, so you have to kill 3 hours. The checked bags are not waiting for you when you arrive, they did not get delivered to the hotel until after 7pm. So, if you need medication or something from your bag, do not let them check it. Check out is at 11am but cleaning service knocked on our door at 8am and walked into our other group's room at 8am while we were still sleeping. We were told breakfast ended at 11am, then later we were told it ended at 10:30 so the group rushed to get to breakfast. When we tried to sit a group of 5 together they said they could only do tables of 2 or 4 and we couldn't hold a table next to each other to sit as a family. I understand having structure and organization to seating but they were extremely unhelpful and unaccommodating. We ended up leaving and not eating at the overpriced restaurant and finding a locally owned restaurant where we could sit as a family. There are also shuttles to take you from different buildings in the Chalet compound. They are not on a schedule and are not coordinated with any of the other time schedules that the hotel has imposed. In fact, the logistics of this entire place failed and seemingly no thought was given to planned timing. If you are logistically minded and like a quality, not kitchy experience this place would drive you absolutely crazy.
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Date of stay: September 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This place is disgusting and has mold. My husband and I checked in and the king room in the Canyon Lodge there were stains on the floor and furniture and the bathroom had mold. We complained to the front desk and the manager acted like this was normal. The cleaning crew should have notified management on how bad the mold is and the room should not have been rented. The restaurant food is only meh! We ordered Ceaser salad with anchovies which we were told it comes with and cod dish...the salad was soggy and wilted and no anchovies! The cod dish was there special, and it was tasteless and dry. For this being a Holland affiliated Hotel They should do much much better.
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Date of stay: September 2024Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This was our accomodations through Holland America for the land portion of our cruise tour. The property appeared very nice, however in the first 2 hours there we came across all kinds of issues. Maybe since it is so far from sea, Holland America doesn't keep track of the conditions here, or since it was only 2 or 3 weeks until the end of the season, they just didn't care. We needed to wash a load of laundry since my wife spilled on her clothes on the way up and you don't bring much extra here (our other luggage went to Anchorage to our final hotel). In the brochure, it says coin operated guest laundry, but when we went to do a load, you needed to download and add money to an app. So we did that. Next we needed some soap, that actually took quarters, however even with 2 change machines, both were out of order. Ok, now you have to scan the QR code on the machine you want to use. The machine said $4.25, so we added that to the app, the machine only took $4 and showed it still needed another quarter. It would not start, so we had to add another $4.25 to the app to start the machine. Then we wanted a pop from the vending machine at another building (several detached buildings here, not all have vending machines). It was out of order. Fireplace in ridge view building was out of order. Ok, so now shower time, shower curtain does not keep water inside shower area and comes out to toilet area. Curtain didn't appear to be long enough. Then when going to Denali square, the railing down to the fire pits was very loose and a safety hazard. This all occured in 2 or 3 hours after arriving here. Again, the property looked very nice, but not kept up.
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Date of stay: September 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Free shuttle goes around property to all building areas. All down hill from lodge.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
At $400 per night, I expected our room to be better. Two bedroom areas separated by a bathroom would have been ok had there been no other issues.
We stayed in building A. It was the closest to the lodge, which was its best quality. A second floor room with only steps to access it was a bit much with large suitcases in tow. Only a fan to cool it in nearly 90 degree heat - no air conditioning. Walls were so thin we could hear our neighbors’ conversations, as well as any anyone walking outside. Unfortunately, that happened often and early as people left their rooms as early as 5 am to catch shuttles to activities. Something, I’m assuming pipes in the walls, banged any time someone used water. Noise and aroma from the restaurant vents flowed through our window as we tried to cool the room. The bathroom was a shower and toilet - the sink was in one of the bedrooms. The shower also had dirt or mold in a seam. My best comparison would be to the cabins I’ve rented in northern Minnesota. Except the price, that is well above those cabins.
The food was acceptable, albeit pricy. The employees were friendly and helpful. They got that part right. Shuttle service was pretty good, but took a bit to understand as there are a lot of buses and shuttles running.
The lodge was nice. Money seems to be put into common areas, not rooms. There aren’t that many places to stay in Denali, so you take what you can get. But for the money, they can do much better.
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Date of stay: July 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This was our first family (4 people for two nights) trip from US East Coast to Alaska. We selected McKinley Chalet Resort based in all the amenities and conveniences they advertised but as it turned out, it was one of the worst bait-and-switch travel experiences of decades. Here are some of the specifics:
>> Rude Reception Desk Staff — Me and my son walked to Tyrone with happy faces and smiles to check-in, and right out the bat Tyrone was condescending and outright rude. In response to my question about if the rooms have view of the mountain, Tyrone’s response was “don’t talk until I am done, and Nothing is Free here.” This made no sense considering we paid close to $600 for two nights and I booed it directly from them and not third party to help them make more money. We were surprised at his response and we shut up. Overall, the entire time we were at the reception Tyrone made us feel unwelcome and annoyed by our presence. Having read other reviews on this board about Tyrone, he should not be in the hospitality business. >> No WiFi in the Room — My son had important zoom calls to do in the early morning and had to go sit in freezing cold weather next to their secondary restaurant area because there was no shuttle to take him to main building to use WiFi. He fell sick for the whole week and it literally ruined our entire holiday. >> No Cleaning Service — Despite leaving a nice tip on the pillow for the room cleaning crew, our room was not cleaned. They just pulled the same sheets over (not even neatly) replaced some of the towels and nothing else. The room as as it was for the second day.
The overall property is very dated and the rooms have a no better feeling than a cheap $50 Motel. The tour busses bring the people from cruise ships in loads (we were stuck behind a bus for unloading for 30 minutes and no where to go around and the hotel staff didn’t care). And off course, if you are there on a hot and humid day, the rooms have no air conditioning or fans.
We don’t know if all hotels in Denali are like this, but based on our experience, we will highly advise not to stay here unless this is the last available hotel in 100 mile radius, and this is after you exhaust camp grounds.
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Date of stay: August 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Don’t stay here unless you are part of a group tour or a passenger of a cruise line (in that case...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
If you're with Holland. They will give you a schedule when you hook up with them at the start of your land tour. If you're not with them, you can eat at any restaurant on your own at any time. We had the breakfast only meal plan.
There are more places to choose from in the Denali Park area.
PRICE RANGE
$467 - $934 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
mckinley chalet hotel denali national park and preserve, mckinley chalet resort, hotel mckinley chalet
LOCATION
United StatesAlaskaDenali National Park and PreserveDenali Park
NUMBER OF ROOMS
345
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect total costs of the stay, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
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