Chena Hot Springs Resort, Alaska, United States

3C S 5:00 PM Mar 23, 2022

The good, the bad, and the ugly
The good, even great! Activities and guides were fantastic. Many things to do. In March, sled dog rides or just play with the dogs; aurora viewing; greenhouse/power tour; ice museum; and of course the hot springs. For the resort, the good was that the beds in the rooms were clean and super comfy with lots of pillows. The bad: The restaurant and hotel are severely understaffed. Wait times for the restaurant could be an hour or more unless you eat at off-times (recommend 10 am for breakfast and 5 pm for dinner). If it is too long of a wait, go to the café in the activities center for frozen food they will heat up for you. The understaffing also means that you may not be able to check into your room until late because it has not been cleaned. We finally checked in at 630. The ugly: The rooms are dirty. Ours was filthy, with huge black dust/mold in corners, lots of dirt and bugs in windowsill, food left in fridge, glasses and ice left on balcony. The amount of grime was far more than would be left after just a few weeks; this is not a short term issue. The manager did give us one of our two nights at half price after we took photos to show her.

3Shell 5:00 PM Sep 30, 2022

Visit Chena, avoid the cabins!
For the good, the hot spring “lake” is lovely. It is 18+ and so it’s relaxing and peaceful. It’s a large pool so you shouldn’t feel crowded. The hot tub and pool inside for kids or families with young kids is great, two hot tubs and the pool is at a comfortable temperature. The gift shop is well stocked and the grounds are kept relatively nice. They have gardens behind the hot spring. The ice museum tour was fun and the ice sculptures and architecture were beautiful, the Appletini experience was fun, and if you have the opportunity I definitely recommend it! I haven’t stayed in to hotel portion of the lodge. The bad, we stayed in a cabin not realizing it was a dry cabin, but that wasn’t such a big deal. The outhouse associated with our cabin was really unsanitary by outhouse standards. The foam around the toilet seat was foul and discolored. The stairs into the cabin were in need of repair. The cabin is supposed to have a “rustic” feel, but it just felt neglected. All of this to say, had the price reflected all of this it would’ve been no problem, but even at a discounted rate of almost $300/night we felt it was worth maybe half of what is being charged. The entire area also smelled like dog feces, and it definitely wasn’t the sulfur from the springs because the springs were a breath of fresh air! If you go to Chena Hot Springs I recommend you stay anywhere besides the cabins.