Glacier Bay Lodge

Madeline Mullen

2024-02

Location, location, location! Glacier Bay Lodge is in an amazing location, difficult to get to and worth it.This is a review of the lodge and the boat trips. We spent four nights and took the boat trip twice because we knew the weather could be iffy. I am glad that we booked two boat trips. We also hiked each day of our stay.The main lodge has a nice gift shop and a second floor ranger information center with a small museum. Only the lobby has WiFi, so the lobby was always crowded with people checking their email or talking on their phones. The dining room was attractive.Staff were seasonal, helpful and very pleasant. Staff included a number of international staff and various mostly young people from around the USA.Rooms: This lodge has outdoor boardwalks connecting the units. Our unit had a full size bed and bunks illuminated by three dim light bulbs (aside from the light in the entryway). We needed to use our headlamps to read or look in our suitcases. The heat worked to help dry our gear after a boat trip in soggy weather. I liked the furniture made by Old Hickory, a US furniture manufacturer. The room had not been updated in a while as evidenced by rust and chips on bathroom heating system, but it was so dark in the main room that we couldn't see the details. It seemed clean enough. Our room had a view of greenery, but some rooms have water views.Nearby activities: Boat trip - Aside from the lunch, the boat trip was in all other respects wonderful, and I highly recommend it. We saw all the main glaciers and lots of wildlife. The captain and crew did a wonderful job. Each boat trip has a National Park Service ranger on board for narration. The advantage of these smaller boats over the cruise ships is that these smaller boats can get closer to the glaciers. The captain opens up the top deck when the boat is stopped so that all the passengers can take good photos. Kids and adults took advantage of the Junior Ranger program to get their Junior Ranger badges.Tlingit Longhouse - Beautiful longhouse with hand-carved fascinating totems and programs by Tlingit elder and National Park Service staff. Short films explain the historic relationships of Tlingit people and the US government.Walkability: Hiking - There are several hikes including difficult and easy. We hiked the Bartlett River Trail and it was slow going due to the slippery wet roots, but forest trails had boardwalks or gravel. The Gustavus Point trail was kind of swampy and muddy in places. On our last day, we enjoyed a 1.5 hour nature walk with a ranger.Food & drinks: The food was decent for the middle of nowhere, Alaska, with dinners of Alaska salmon and halibut or burgers or steak plus fresh salads and veggies or fries. The breakfasts were buffet style, either continental for $15 (fruit, yogurt, bagels, oatmeal) or hot for $22 (steam trays of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, biscuits and gravy). Both breakfast choices included hot coffee or tea and juice.The indecent food was served in the form of sandwiches on the boat trips. The sandwiches (turkey, ham, roast beef or peanut butter) were accompanied by a bag of chips, a candy bar and a drink in a plastic cup. I know that Aramark understands what makes a good sandwich because Aramark has concessions at various NBA and NHL stadiums and caters food. However, these sandwiches seemed more like the type Aramark would serve at their contract correctional facilities, despite the fact that the boat trip costs $260. Please see the photo of the opened sandwich with a layer of cheese, a thin layer of meat and one wilted piece of lettuce. Aramark, come on, you can do better!

Roger Rankin

2024-01

Michael Poly is a guide who could care less about the survival of the fish his clients catch. , Encourages clients to hold the fish for a picture which takes the slime barrier fish need and they are out of the water long enough to die when put back in the river.My comment was thisBrian Hodge of TU’s Science team sits down with the facts to give us a not so simple answer. I asked Hodge for a “top 10 list” of findings that we can etch in stone, or sew onto every set of wader suspenders, or at least print on little stickers to be applied to every drift boat and rod tube in the country to help show us the way. He smiled.“We can say with absolute certainty that trout need water to breathe. 10 seconds or more out of the water can kill a fish.”I used to grin and grip a lot for a photo of me holding the fish. I don't do it anymore. If you want to take a picture of a fish leave it in the net, in the water, as I do. Hope you will do the same.Michael messaged me and use many derogatory remareks and called me a pos because of my comments which I believe to beaccurate. I think Glacer Bear Lodge should let a guide like this go. Not good for business!

Larry Heck

2023-08

The location is amazing - serene, views, access to harbor for boat trip, ease of walks along the water. This hotel will satisfy your needs for a 2 day stay. The rooms are dated, but clean and large and work for a short stay. The restaurant (breakfast, dinner) works fine - good selection of meals, good food and service, a little pricey but you are remote. Nice view of the water. Restaurant manager works very hard keeping the restaurant humming. The negatives- everything is dated- they had no heat (needed it in June) and didn't tell anyone when they checked in. So we all tried our controls multiple times thinking we did something wrong. When we complained they did offer a portable heat unit which helped but I wonder how many people were able to get one. I heard complaints on the shuttle out that some people were cold and no offer of a unit.- ice - have to request it from the front desk. As one machine was down they strictly limited ice, basically once it was diner time they stopped providing it.- internet - only available in the lobby, not in the rooms. In 2023 it would be easy and cheap to extend to the rooms. Due to this the limited lobby sitting area is basically always full.- breakfast buffet - one day it opened with serving utensils missing from some of the dishes.- the rooms are terraced on the hill which makes a beautiful setting but you may have issues moving your suitcases up and down numerous staircases.That said I would recommend staying here to see the bay and take the day boat tour.

Gabriella

2023-09

This hotel is really the only show in town when visiting Glacier Bay and it takes advantage of that. I would recommend going to Glacier Bay for 1 day and avoiding spending a night. Although it is difficult to be so remote, certain things are necessary as hotel gust. Our heating was broken for two days, there’s no options for lunch, the bathrooms are small and the showers are cold, and there’s no WiFi in the rooms. Also, while using the hotel shuttle service from the airport to the lodge, the driver made the entire bus stop for 25 minutes for a single woman to go to the liquor store.

Richard w

2023-07

Overall a great place, one of the few options, in Gustavus. They offer a great breakfast buffet and dinner menu. No lunch, but sell basic sandwiches at the gift shop. Rooms were clean and spacious.- If you do the day boat, you should be able to catch the Alaska Airlines flight THAT EVENING. The boat is slated to arrive at 3:30. The shuttle bus WILL NOT wait for you; however, if you plan it out ahead of time you can take a taxi to the airport. There are only two companies and it will cost 20 per person OR 80-100 for the whole shuttle. The lodge told us its safer to spend a second night after the day tour, which I guess is true but I cannot see how you'd miss the flight as it starts TSA screening at 5:15pm.

Ned Soufi

2023-08

* The Operation Manager we met is really a good addition to this facility 👍* The nature around is beautiful. It's a park !* The bout dock "trips to the glacier Bay" is right there 👍* Cute gift shop.- Rooms prices are high for what you get . WIFI only in the reception area won't reach the rooms.- you expect it would at least cover the breakfast but no ! 22 bucks a person for breakfast .- no microwave in the room so try not to miss the dinner time! Food prices are reasonable for Alaska 👍July 2023

Nicole Iannella

2023-08

Upon arrival, our room was disgusting. Several hairs were found on the toilet seat, in the shower, and both on the bed and under the covers. The shower curtain was filthy with hairs and sand. The bedside lamp was covered in dust. The heat in the room didn’t work. We requested our room be cleaned, and it was. However, a few hairs still remained, the shower curtain still covered with hair and sand, AND our new sheets had large yellow stains. Needless to say, we slept in our sleeping bags because we were freezing and the “clean” sheets were visibly soiled. Somehow flies kept getting in our room despite our window being closed. Not sure how this continued. The bathroom had no hand soap, just the small bar in the shower. This barely lasted us our 3 days, but we were too frustrated with our room to even waste our time asking for more.The food at the Lodge restaurant was overpriced and barely edible. We only ate there because we had no other convenient option. Several dishes we tried to order were already sold out on Monday while food delivery occurs on Thursday. Our salmon overcooked, the pasta overcooked and flavorless, brownie so burnt we couldn’t cut through it, and the cobbler was just a bowl of cooked berries. Thank god for our waiter Cade who made the rest of our dining experience enjoyable!!!We generally had pleasant interactions with the staff. In addition to Cade at the restaurant, Deena our bus driver was fabulous. She welcomed us at the airport, gave us a tour of the town on our way to the Lodge, and suggested a whale watching tour for us to do. We likely would not have enjoyed Gustavus without her. The gift shop staff were also very friendly and gave us other great suggestions for our trip, such as visiting the airplane wreck. On the other hand, the desk staff did not seem to know any answers to our questions, namely those related to the laundry machines, and they referred us to the gift shop staff for all of our questions. The desk staff was really only useful for filling our water bottles. Maybe this is why they don’t have water filling stations anywhere besides the dock. Felt very strange having to ask staff to fill our bottles for us. One final experience of note was an evening in the lodge where we were reading and using the wifi on the second floor of the lodge, and it appeared that restaurant staff assumed the lodge was free of guests and started blasting inappropriate music throughout. We merely laughed at this, but imagine other guests would have been upset.The state of the room for the price we paid had us in disbelief. We were so excited to visit Glacier Bay and were SO disappointed in our stay at the Lodge. Nearly ruined our final 3 days in AK. We will never stay here EVER AGAIN and will make sure no one we know ever does either. Horrible and extremely unacceptable experience!!!! We would have been better off sleeping outside in our tent.

Mike Badey

2023-07

Poor customer service. All flights to Gustavus were literally cancelled. We could not get there for the one day we were supposed to go. Dozens of people in the same boat. No refunds, no future credit. Nothing. Just SOLIf you want to leave a ton of your hard earned money up to chance on the weather, with no shot of recouping it, or using it at a later date, this is your place!

Essie Bu

2023-05

Amazing remote lodge! The best way possible to incorporate a lodge into a remote wilderness! They stayed true to that by keeping the ‘cabin-like’ feel of the stay where the rooms are spread out and the way to get to your room is through the boardwalk. So you can feel the hint of how remote this place is yet maintained in a safe space for nonbackcountry venturers. I am well impressed how they kept a really nice restaurant with decent selections out here. Views are fantastic, i like to stay out the restaurant area til sunset as its right on their patio overlooking the boats and water.

logan lindeman

2023-05

So this place is really cool, the lodge is really nice and the boat tour is really awesome, saw tons of wild life! The room was a little cabin with a window to the forest. There are some cool trails to hike and the coast is fun to explore. I would suggest coming in on your first day and doing some hiking, and only staying one night, do the boat tour and fly out right after. There is not much else to do and you have to check out at 12, since there was only one flight out at about 5 we ended up sitting in the lobby for a few hours. They also do not serve lunch which is really strange, and there is no where else to get food. The food is ok and very expensive, about $200 for 2 breakfasts and 2 dinners.

Dnrothx

2023-05

It's hard to beat up on an NPS Lodge. Of course, the day tour up Glacier Bay is unmatched. The restaurant is pricey, especially for the breakfast buffet (wish you could order a la carte when you just want a bowl of oatmeal). We still thought the food was good, though.The weird thing is that we found our rooms at the Lodge to be...depressing. Beds were middling. The rooms are kind of dark and the wifi does not extend to the rooms beyond the Lodge itself. Say what you want about needing to be disconnected in nature, but this situation causes the Lodge itself to feel like a bus station as people crowd onto the few couches to utilize the wifi.So, sure, the staff, shuttle service and rangers are great. You're in Alaska, for crying out loud. But, we just came away with a feeling that perhaps we should check out other lodging if we decide to return to Glacier Bay.

Quick Sixx

2023-08

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Kyle Davis

2022-05

We had an absolutely amazing time in Glacier Bay. The hotel rooms were great. The evening dinners had great sunset views. The hiking trails were eerily quiet which was an experience for us as we are used to various noises while in the woods. And the boat tour through the bay was spectacular.

brendan brady

2020-05

We always prefer to stay in National Parks. This lodge met our expectations: Grand and beautiful main Lodge. Units were spacious, well cared for. We paid more for a view of the Bay, but since we were rarely in our room, it is unnecessary. Food service was very good. International staff awesome and helpful.

Harold Gabriel

2023-05

The Lodge does an admirable job to provide clean and comfortable rooms and appetizing meals at the edge of the wilderness. The star here is the day trip by boat to the upper reaches of Glacier Bay. Truly a spectacular experience!

J Pryor

2023-05

It’s Alaska. So, there’s that. Pros: The view & wildlife opportunities are amazing. There did seem to be reasonable ADA access - required, of course, but nice to see in such a remote location. There are a couple of nice little hikes from the lodge + kayak rentals & all-day boat tours, which are highly recommended. Great for a catching a boat ride in to glaciers-edge kayak camping or pitching a tent at the neighboring riverside campground. Beautiful space in the wilderness. Cons: Be aware it’s true wilderness and both camp options are honestly a lateral step to the “rustic” part-time amenities of the Glacier Bay Lodge itself. The nature display, 2 little trails and boating are easily “accomplished” in 2 days, so of there are ambitious/restless types in your group, they are easily & quickly ready to move on. There is no recreation/lounge common areas or even comfortable deck chairs for reading/game playing slow time. And there are actually bears, so have noise-makers and a buddy system on the trails.;)We’re ok with camp-style medium-low clean rooms with poor bedding, no wifi, no amenities and industrial food, it would just be better if we were paying appropriate prices. (And/or be aware if the considerable overcharge is going to Ntl Park Services?) No phones in the room, even for contacting the main lodge, seems a safety risk - we noted people of all ages and abilities that might have some peace of mind w better communication. TIP: Make dinner reservations in advance of arrival, if possible, or you may not get a meal and there are no other options. BYO groceries/snacks, especially if traveling with kids, maybe grab some extra muffins, yogurt or cereal at breakfast. There are zero food & beverage options literally from 9-5. The staff eats lunch in the dining room, but no lunch is available to guests. Nor are any coffee, bar, snacks or takeout options available. (Food truck opportunity!) Highly touted everywhere, for some reason, is that the property is entirely run by Aramark - of the cafeteria prison-food notoriety - and it shows. Despite being in the heart of the world’s salmon fishery, we were served previously frozen pale farmed salmon. (Aramark requires that all food come through their group, which prevents any local catch from reaching the table at the lodge.) “Buffet breakfast” of diner-esque scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuits & French toast didn’t vary in our 3-day stay and is $21 pp to serve one’s self.Local Access FYI:The lodge shuttle that runs to the village/airport charges $15pp for the ~20m ride despite the fact that they need to go in anyway to pick up guests. We were told they were required to charge soas not to compete with local taxis with the same fee. There are 2 local restaurants to support, and one is dinner-only, run by the local school. There is one market & hardware store.

Jaclyn Berkley

2020-05

Well worth a quick trip to Glacier Bay Lodge! Very smooth arrival and departure - definitely a well oiled machine with the bus pick ups and the quick check in. Clean rooms with amazing views. Surprised by how good the food was too (dinner + breakfast buffet). Amazing surrounding trails and walk down to the water. Very peaceful, very beautiful!Note: Beware no WiFi in the rooms but available in the main lodge / visitor center (nice to detox!). Also beware of very thin walls (could hear snoring through ours).

John Brakes

2022-05

I was there in 1991. I stayed in the campground, but dined and drank in the lodge. The hotel was (is) the only place in the area since the Gustavus area is dry. Beautiful views of the Fairweather range with both the Northern Lights and a meteor shower above them. The employees were very accommodating.

Jennifer Dellacroce

2019-05

Stayed here for 3 nights. They pick you up at the airport. Awesome. The rooms are very cozy and clean. Ours had a view of the cove. The food at dinner was excellent. The fish was cooked so nicely, much better than any meal we had in Juneau. Oh, and you get to visit the glaciers! What more could you ask for?

Hannah Lonsdale

2023-05

Note that if you're not a guest you cannot eat in the restaurant without reservations, even if they have tables and even though there is nothing about this when I carefully checked their website before arriving. You can get takeout and sit outside on the deck while hoping it doesn't rain too hard. 😒I literally sat on the deck in the rain looking at an empty table the other side of the window for my entire meal.

Jim Cairns

2020-05

For breakfast, some of the a la carte items are much better than the buffet. Dinner food is fine. Sunsets in July are outstanding.Rooms are clean but not posh or soundproof.My family enjoyed the hike to Bartlett River through the forest.

Aaron Pressel

2020-05

I didn't actually stay here, but the lodge is the only building in the area of the park where I was, so I spent a while in the lodge building and at the restaurant. The staff were great. The food was not very good and of course, because of the location, very expensive. The bathroom in the main building was also gross. I went in twice and decided to not go in again after that. There were people cleaning it regularly, it was just not clean. I ended up going to the campground because the toilets there were so much nicer. There isn't much to the lodge building itself, but I am glad I didn't stay there because the camping experience in the park was so excellent. The lodge is fairly pricey.

Melody Moore

2023-08

Very basic rooms with no TV, wifi or fridge. Very overpriced dining with basic food. Breakfast buffet was lame and cost $25 per person. Ridiculous

Rachel Stephens

2022-05

This is a 3.5 for me. Stayed one night on 7/31/2021. For a lodge in the middle of nowhere, it's fine. This is also the Glacier Bay National Park Visitor Center on the second floor, where you can get your National Park passport stamp.The hotel picks you up from Gustavus airport in an old school bus, and drops you off at the lodge. From the bus, hotel staff come on the bus to tell everyone the facts about the hotel and where to get your luggage. Afterwards they separate you by last name and you get your keys. Much faster than checking in individually at the front desk.You pick up your luggage and go to your room. It smells like the summer camp that I went to. They do have ramps and an elevator for people who are in a wheelchair.Our room (31) was fine. There's no TV and no internet reception in the rooms, so you better like who you're staying with, because the lodge closes at 9 PM. We had to go to the front desk because we didn't have any soap or shampoo, but they're really understaffed after the past year.Room comes with a bed, a table, two chairs and nightstands. There is no mini fridge or microwave so don't bother bringing stuff that would need those two appliances to be edible. There is one restaurant on site that requires reservations, and all diners must be hotel guests. It's a little old, and the walls are a bit thin, but the room was comfortable and I fell asleep immediately.When we got to the hotel, the National Park Visitor Center portion was closed for the day so we were worried about not getting our National Park passport stamp after coming all this way.We walked a trail around the lodge and ended up catching the tail end of a presentation of the park rangers in the traditional house just past the Snow the Whale skeleton. The presentation began about 7 PM.In the morning, we dropped off our luggage at the front desk and had it tagged with the airline that we were flying back with. This is because checkout is before we'd be back from the official 8 hour boat tour through Glacier Bay with the actual park ranger (and the National Park passport stamp and Junior Ranger program.)After dropping off the luggage, we walked from the lodge down a trail to Bartlett Cove dock to visit Glacier Bay National Park.After the boat tour, it was a mad dash to get to the bus on time, as it leaves for Gustavus at 3:45 PM. All of our luggage was waiting for us on the bus.I would strongly discourage bringing anyone under 21 here. There were so many teens and tweens on ipads in the communal sitting area in the lodge. You could tell they were bored and not interested in the beautiful nature, so save your money and let them come when they're adults who can appreciate the scenery.

Mike Ardington

2023-05

So how do you get a 2-star review when service and location are both 5 stars?It happens when a corporation like Aramark deceives you by spinning money-saving policies as environmental altruism.Rooms, BTW, are about $360/night.The rooms are said to "... include a full bath/shower... "BUT... they have removed drain plugs In ALL remodelled rooms. So in reality a bath is only an option if you fashion your own drainplug (which we did) This in an area with about 80" of rain a year and a population density under one/square mile.The spin claims that water is "a dwindling resource". Globally true, locally false. But really this is about environmental virtue signaling while at the same time saving money.Towel service? Uh, no. Help us save the planet by using your one towel set for four nights. Kind of hard to do when the shower curtain is difficult to arrange just right so you dont have to mop up the floor with.... a towel.Aramark is darned lucky to get the quality of employees we saw here. And if you want to pay $360/night to feel like you're saving the planet... great.But in your logical mind, you know it's about the $$. Nothing else.

Miranda Olsen

2020-05

The lodge has great food and a relaxing atmosphere. Perfect after a long day of sea kayaking or hiking. We didn't stay at the lodge, but we ate many meals here and enjoying relaxing by the fire.

Connie Bentley

2019-05

We didn't stay at the lodge, but as boaters in Glacier Bay, we enjoyed the restaurant and lodge open spaces. Good food and gracious staff. Rangers were very helpful and offered great insights into Glacier Bay. All in all, a top notch experience.

D B

2023-06

Excellent ranger center. Interesting museum upstairs in lodge. Lovely trails. Good hotel with reasonable prices for Alaska.

Ed Durica

2023-05

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Kevin Mengarelli

2019-05

We stayed 1 night and did the Glacier tour. The hotel was nice and the food was good. The tour was amazing. Tons of wildlife to be seen and the glaciers were beautiful.