Mt McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge

Christa Jones

2023-08

We stayed for only one night but had a great experience. While the room was dated and had no refrigerator, we were able to do our laundry and go on a few short hikes. Our dinner at the grill was delicious and our servers and waiters were highly attentive. Every staff person we spoke to had an amazing attitude and clearly loved their jobs.The views of Denali were impressive and even better than at the National Park itself.We appreciated the shuttle service to take us to the restaurant. The entire resort was very well maintained and impeccable. We will stay at another property on our Roadtrip through Alaska because of our first experience.

Lynda Tatara

2023-10

What can I say it is a beautiful location!The main lodge is warm & fireplace is welcoming. The staff very pleasant & helpful. The coffee shop downstairs was great. Had all the right stuff for granddaughter's favorite coffee concoction! We did not stay in lodge, we were in an group of rooms on property. You have to find building & then rooms. I was not aware of this when first saw booking. I thought it was one big place. There are restaurants on property and were delicious.

John Osterhage

2024-04

…More

Jessica Burke

2023-10

This was our first stop on a land tour after completing our 7 day cruise. The view is beautiful and properly is well maintained. A great walk to the tree house with a great view and guide giving a talk about moose. The grill was pretty bad… overpriced and just a step up from airplane food. They will only prepare burgers well done, several items were unavailable including the only ones that could be made gluten free. If you have celiac disease, bring your own snacks just in case. Unfortunately it’s so remote there really isn’t a local option. The room was comfortable enough but wasn’t ready until 8pm and we were beat. Pretty disappointing way to start our land tour and hope the next stop is better.

vlp7971

2023-07

You stay here for the view of Denali and the surrounding mountains. You are not here for the food or lodgings. There are few restaurants at the resort and everything is understaffed. The trails are nice and the back deck of the lodge provides stunning views.Rooms are basic and the lodge shows its age. It was built in the 1990s and still has the original furnishings. The beds are not uncomfortable, but they are not entirely comfortable if you want any firmness.Ate at the 20,320 restaurant for dinner and breakfast. Both were slow and expensive. Had cheese curds at dinner that were over cooked and the cheese had run out. For breakfast, I ordered a vegetable skillet and when I asked if I could remove tomatoes, the waiter said it is all premade. In the end, my tomatoes were not a problem as I received the wrong order and could not find my server to make the switch. Also, it took so long to get it that I was unwilling to wait for another to cook.The coffee shop line took 30 minutes to get through 20 people.If you want a nice view of the mountain, this is good. I did it on a cruise tour and was grateful to leave.

Steve Short

2023-10

Been waiting 3 hours for our room and luggage. As sweet as the staff is, this trip was booked a year ago and it should be no surprise of our arrival time and rooms as it was all booked through Princess.Asking the guy cleaning rooms how long it might be, he said about another 20 minutes for the one he was working on, then two others before they get to ours. So about another hour and a half.The front desk uses the excuse they’re short staffed. As I’m sympathetic to the issue, this is not the service we pay for at a high priced vacation option like this.Since they have us over a barrel with no other option we have no choice but to wait. I’ve seen a few others complain to the front desk and walk away with a $5 voucher that has to be used on property.If you want my opinion, skip this lodge and look elsewhere for your needs.—- Update—-It’s now been 6 hours and we still have no room and no luggage. All they say at the front desk is “if you don’t have it in an hour please check back”. So they can say to wait another hour 😑 Ridiculous!

Rachel Jenkins

2023-09

THE GOOD: You cannot beat the views from this lodge! Truly spectacular views of Denali! Beautiful deck to view it from.The rooms were clean.THE BAD: Our family of 6 showed up for the Alaska trivia, and no one from the staff showed up to run it. Bummer. My 13-year-old daughter had even studied for it. They gave us vouchers for free drinks at the coffee shop as an apology. Later that same day, we went to the "tree house" (it sounds cooler than it actually is) for the Flora and Fauna Talk, and again, no one showed up to do the talk. Super lame! More drink vouchers and a not-too-sincere apology. I understand that the events are subject to change, but when they change them at 11:00 a.m.--after you'd consulted the days's schedule and planned your day at breakfast just an hour before--it's plain annoying. (And they didn't change all of the signs either.)We went to Base Camp Bar for breakfast at 10 and thought we'd be safe (breakfast is served until 10:15), but they wouldn't seat us so we went to the coffee shop instead. Unfortunately, they had run out of quite a few items.Do not recommend their restaurant, 20,320 Alaskan Grill. We went for dinner two nights. The first was okay. The food was decent and our server was good, but the food took a long time to come out. The second night was terrible. Our server was nice enough but she took our order and didn't come back until our appetizer came out about 25 minutes later and it had obviously been sitting under a heat lamp for some time as the gravy was crusty. She said the kitchen was crazy (but the restaurant wasn't even that busy). A manager came around to check on the tables. We told him how long we had been waiting and he said he would check on the food. He never came back. After another half hour, the table next to us (who arrived awhile after us) got their food, and we decided to leave.Noteworthy details: Location, location, location! It feels secluded and the views are incredible!

Carolyn Bellacera

2023-09

…More

Shawn Strange

2023-08

Fantastic location to view Denali. There are trails here and a cool tree house that has an even better view of Denali. Staff was prompt and helpful. No fridge, and the room was a little musty but not bad as the buildings themselves are still relatively new. Plan ahead as we made the mistake of waiting to get an adventure and didn't have enough time.Rooms: Rooms are like typical hotel rooms but with no mini fridge.Nearby activities: Trails and tree house are nice.Walkability: Trails are good for a day's adventure.

Eric Brunner

2023-10

This was our last stop on the land portion of our trip. We were told they were short staffed so service may be slow. Slow, we could've dealt with. This was one of the worst places I've stayed. The few little trails were okay. There is nothing else to do here though which stinks. You can take a shuttle to town, but it only runs for a certain part of the day. The grill was okay for dinner. Service was fast and friendly. The people doing the luggage were definitely working their tails off and that was appreciated.I don't expect 5 star accommodations, but I do expect cleanliness. This was so far from what anyone should expect in a stay.1. There was both black and pink mold in the shower/ceiling. That is disgusting and unsafe especially for someone that has asthma2. There was an outlet with no cover on it right out in the open (not in a corner, behind a bed, etc). Thankfully we had no children or that would've been a big problem3. There were used towels left in the bathroom. One was nice and hard from whenever it was used last4. The floor had clearly not been vacuumed. Crumbs, hair, bobby pins, etc5. Cobwebs on the walls, in the corners, on the ceilings by the door, in the bathroom, by the bed6. The most uncomfortable bed and pillows I have ever had the misfortune of using. I had no issue with this the rest of the trip and have even stayed at HoJo's with more comfortable sleeping accommodations than this. Both our backs and necks hurt. Horrible night of attempted sleep7. No Wifi in the room. Yes, I saw on the map we were given that it only had wifi in the main lodge and one other building. My complaint is how on earth is that possible? The Denali lodge had wifi everywhere, the ship had it, everywhere else has no issue, so why here? When you also have no cell service, that is a very frustrating issue to need to leave your room to use your phone to contact anyone8. Nitpick I wouldn't have mentioned if this was the only thing, but the TV was hilariously old to the point you had black bars on the screen because it doesn't match the modern aspect ratio. How tough is it to have a cheap but up to date TV?For the price paid to do this cruise, we expected so much better than what this place was. Seriously disappointed.

Kirstin Horn

2023-08

We paid $1000 per person for a five day land tour after a cruise. This was our first place to stay and we were all very disappointed. They told us we would have to wait an hour to sit down and eat dinner, which is pretty sad since we paid $$$ for this, and they have a captive audience. The prices are a little expensive but everything is now. The food was not impressive. $6 for a cup of dry oats that you pour hot water in. $12 for a "bowl of lobster chowder that was maybe a cups worth of soup. My mom spent a half hour standing around waiting to get a coffee. It seems like most of our time here was spent waiting to eat. Also, we didn't get our back back until the evening, and we had to put them outside of our doors by 7am the next morning. Hopefully, the next stop and the rest of the tour will be better.Some good things: the view was beautiful, and the tree house on the trail was pretty neat. We also attended a naturalist presentation on moose that everyone young and old found entertaining and educational.

Aaron Olson

2023-09

…More

William Goss

2023-09

Part of the Holland America Princess Cruise Lines tourism network that spans Alaska, this Lodge is charming and nestled in a remote location with a stellar view of Denali. It also offers wonderful excursions, various restaurants, gifts, and top notch coffee. A great place for a great stay!Nearby activities: Excursions such as glacier landing flights, Zip-lining over lakes, hiking, rafting, wildlife viewing and more.

Art Katen

2023-09

Service is slow. Base Camp Bar and grill Food was meh, staff was sorry for all the bad service. Fish and chips were awful, the burger was over cooked. One persons meal was completely wrong. Rooms don’t have wifi, and they absolutely will not let you check in early. Even if the room is ready and there is no line. The resort is really nice though. Really nice layout, and great views. Feels a bit like a nursing home.

Jan Newsome

2023-06

Very nice lodge. The service was great. The weather was gorgeous while we were there. We actually got to see part of Denali. The clouds finally cleared out a little and we were able to see the fantastic mountain. It is huge.We also walked up to the Treehouse. The views from there are beautiful, so make sure you also go up there.

Tawny Valdez

2023-11

Late Post Aug 23’Mt. McKinley princess wilderness lodge was pretty but the weather wasn’t cooperating so it was hard to do anything. Clearly, if you are staying here one would like to enjoy the outdoors and sadly, we only stayed less than 24 hours since it was part of our Alaskan cruise and land tour. We did the cruise then land, BIG NO, NO if you plan this do the land then cruise tour.Land is not all inclusive, when you are on the cruise everything is taken care of assuming you got the highest package (drink)After our Princess Cruise (Itinerary – Vancouver, Ketchikan, Juneau, Glacier Bay, Skagway and Whittier LAND – Mckinley Lodge, Denali Lodge, Fairbanks River lodge) we were scheduled for a land tour which included an Alaskan 3-hour train tour to Talkeetna and 1 hour bus ride to the Lodge. The tour pressed us to stop in Talkeetna because the influx of other passengers, it was a better choice, (if we decided to go straight to the lodge our room probably wouldn’t be ready) it was a cute little town but I could’ve done without because it was a very long commute!We were up at a up at 5am to disembark by 630am (Whitter, Alaska), of all the days we were on our cruise this was the only day it rained, so I guess we were unlucky in a sense… It was hard to sleep on the train even though it was moving fairly slowly. We didn’t get to the lodge till after 4pm, with our keys in hand we headed straight to our room and took well needed nap, went to dinner at 20,320 (Check out my review). This particular lodge has 3 onside restaurants 20,320 Alaskan Grill, North Fork Restaurant and Base camp barAs for the lodge itself, it was ok the room was dated, plain…. if you’re from California the lodge is reminiscent of those near the Redwoods, or Yosemite somewhat if you get my drift. The customer service was good and it was very convenient that we were able to text. Not sure why they make everyone check out at 11am and have them wait around till 2pm for the next bus and another 2-hour drive. Ughhhh! Bring cards to play with!Would I come back? Yeah, I would like to see Mt McKinley on a clear day or the Aura lights. I would suggest a minimum stay of 3 days and 2 nights to get to be able to see and do things only if the weather cooperates!FYI – The lodge is seasonal check dates when booking. No Gym =(

Timothy Comstock

2023-10

Dirty facilities. Loud rooms, every movement outside or above room is heard loudly in room. Walls, ceilings and floors seem very low quality. Rooms not ready at check in. End of season results in lack of availability of many offerings. One of the worse hotels I have experienced. Restaurant staff friendly and apologetic but can’t make up for low quality facilities.

tpclady 1

2023-06

Great view, room was ok, nothing special. But, the service was absolutely awful. No complimentary coffee in the lobby which is something even a Motel 6 has. Then the line to buy a cup of coffee at any time of day is 30+ min long.Service in the sit down restaurants was a smidge better but not much. Next time do just a cruise and save yourself the aggravation.

Ryan Albaugh

2023-09

The main lodge was well designed for a lot of visitors and had gorgeous views. The actual rooms were just adequate, and the services in the actual lodge (drink machine, laundry detergent machine) were out or order. No Wi-Fi in the rooms. TV service went in and out due to clouds (satellite), and very limited channels. I know this is a getaway location, but it's also 2023 and we stay connected globally via technology.

Dan Albertson

2023-06

Famous for a stunning view of Denali (covered by clouds while we were there), this is a decent hotel. The staff does a great job. Our room is large and has a couch, table and chairs and a coffee maker, though it is a bit dated. King-size bed was comfortable. There are only three restaurants and we had good food (one was closed during our visit). There is nothing else walking distance close. The gift shop has a few snacks but we could have benefitted from some healthier options. There is an espresso coffee bar which opens at 5:30AM and closed at 6:30PM and has some food options. If you're like us, in transit to or from a Princess cruise you are a captive audience so maybe take the $10.00 round trip hourly shuttle down to Takeetna for more food options.Rooms: Spacious with amenities but a bit dated.

Bert Sletten

2023-09

The favorite thing about this resort is a hugh deck facing Mt. Denali /McKinley. The drinks and food were good, but the evening view of the mountains was covered by clouds. Even so, people were taking hundreds of photos, saying "I think I might have got a pretty good photo."The next morning, not a cloud in the sky. Magnificent views, and you could not take a bad picture.

alex monsrud

2023-07

I'd give this place 1 star but the view was amazing. First they put us in a single room instead of a double room. Then they "fixed" it and gave us a new room. When we went to the new room, we walked in on someone else. They finally found us a room and all we got from the manager was a "sorry" and a free soda. Oh yeah a free soda makes it all better that you could be sending people into my room and invade my privacy. I normally would've have walked out and found another hotel but we had been driving all day and there's no other hotels near by. Needless to say, I won't ever stay at a princess lodge again and I feel sorry for the cruise folks that are forced into this tourist trap. No wifi in the rooms but they have it in the lodge where you'll be tempted to give them more money. No AC and about 10 channels on the TV. I know this is AK and in the boondocks but if I pay a luxury price I expect at least a little bit of normalcy in a hotel.

Katlyn B

2023-08

Overall, a mediocre resort. The main perk to this resort is the view. First, we had to wait two and a half hours for our room to be ready. The options were sit in a steaming hot main room or in the mosquito ridden "patio" outside of our building. The fact that there isn't even an option for air conditioning in the rooms is awful. We had temps in the 70s which is unusual for Alaska, but regardless we were sweltering in our subpar hotel room. The service on the resort was hit or miss. Kat at the 2320 restaurant was great. Otherwise the staff could care less about anything going on. They are not very accommodating and it's extremely difficult to make reservations work. The experience at the other Denali lodge was so much better.Rooms: No air conditioning

Rick Nesselhauf

2023-10

This was the final stop on our 10 day Princess vacation. Up until we came here our vacation was amazing.The customer service here is abysmal. I can’t believe this place is associated with Princess.We also had the unfortunate experience of dining at the restaurant. Awful service, and mediocre food. If this restaurant was anywhere else it wouldn’t make it.Good luck getting your luggage. It’s been 5 hours and we are still missing ours.If you don’t have to come here, don’t. It will ruin your trip.

Judy George

2023-10

I have been waiting for over 4 hours since check in time (over 7 hours since Princess transport delivered me to this site) to have my room cleaned and prepared for occupancy. My bags were delivered to the unsecured room. I have been told that the site is short staffed due to limited visas for foreign workers. Frankly, that is not my problem and one that could easily be solved by Princess limiting reservations to guests that can be reasonably accommodated. Corporate greed at the expense of "guests" rules...true guests would not be treated as rudely. I will never book with Princess again...the once in a lifetime dream trip to Alaska, the retirement bucket list adventure has been gutted. Now have waited a full 8 hours for entry into my room.Noteworthy details: SAY NO TO PRINCESS

Erika Morgan

2023-10

…More

Catherine

2023-08

absolutely stunning location with a wonderful view of Denali if the clouds allow it. The rooms are very rustic, the building kind of smelled and do not offer any wifi outside of the lodge and bar, but all rooms had usb port clocks which was a nice touch. There are lots of different hikes around the resort and the treehouse which is a very serene and lovely touch.

Sonya R

2023-07

Such an amazing location but the rooms are run down with paint peeling off the walls. If you need anything, a 24/7 text can be sent but it will not be answered. The restaurants close before all guests can get in. The gym and hot tub was closed. The fire pit with smores and popcorn was adult only which was a disappointment for our family. Location has stunning views but you can find other better places with the complete package.

Vignesh Kannan

2023-09

The worst hotel booking experience of my life. The property overbooked and made us travel 1 Hr away(around 48 miles) away from the property. The last minute cancellation with no previous communication and leaving us with no other choice for people traveling from afar for Denali. We were told this night at 09:30 PM and told to travel wasting our time and fuel to another places farther from Denali. The assistant manager was of no help in even getting some kind of complaint lodged or any food coupons or compensation for all the discomfort caused. I do not understand how you can overbook a hotel and not communicate it to the people and not even care about the consequences. All the assistant manager did was gave us the contact email and phone which we can get in Google pointing to the corporate. The worst part is he gave it after working hours knowing we can’t find a solution. We were told about this on Sat night and they are open only from Monday 9 AM to Saturday 5 PM. Never recommending or booking this place again.

Paula Rush

2023-10

No amenities except in the lodge. Room had 1 cup for coffee. No vending machine in my building. No way to control heat. Not that clean. Staff are friendly and helpful. I wouldn't stay here again.Noteworthy details: Beautiful setting.