McKinley Chalet Resort

Resort

Excellent views of the mountains and river…!

This place is the biggest dump! The rooms are filthy and some of the staff is rude. They lost my luggage, you couldn’t eat on the property unless you had a reservation. The pizza place ran out of dough. You should be ashamed taking money from people to stay in this place. I’m going to contact HAL and complain.

From the moment we checked in, the desk staff treated me with disrespect, demanding my driver’s license and taking it away from my sight while they ‘verified’ it, charging a $50 incidental even after accepting a major credit card, asking me if I could afford to stay there without even quoting a price. The hotel advertised guest Wi-Fi which only worked at the main office and Denali Square. Then the manager suggested that I check out when I complained about not being able to stay connected (I was at times locked out of access when I repeatedly logged in after losing connection. ) The desk clerks ran two separate room charges on my card, one for the night’s stay plus $50 incidentals charge, and then a second full nights stay when I checked out. The other staff were friendly and helpful and I would have enjoyed my stay except for your front staff personnel. I have screenshots of the complete conversation I had with Mary and desk manager Lexi so you can judge the tenor of my interaction. Also, you should not advertise Wi-Fi if you can’t deliver. Unacceptable for this price point.

Everything is amazing. Good food and great customer service. It's like your own little private get away.

Beautiful creek behind the property. Great square with shopping, dining and entertainment. Karstans Public House had great food and a fun atmosphere.
The outdoor space was beautifully decorated with flowers and the view of the mountains was outstanding. Great place to stay while visiting Denali!

Great place to be and seasonal job.

Good accommodations, reasonable dining prices, laundry facilities and so much more…

Very nice, comfortable rooms.

Very busy in season but all staff extremely helpful and obligating … great amenities, lovely architectures and well maintained.

The staff were pleasant and helpful but their was no room on the vanity to put much out to use. The mattresses were. Just horrible. Insulted us to have to sleep on them.

The people are friendly and the resort is very nice.

Lovely views & very peaceful. Fantastic restaurant!

Great location, loved the nature trail and trails throughout the property. Live music by warm fire was relaxing. Enjoyed the dinner theater, all were great performers.

The staff and property is amazing. Worth the trip and stay.

Beautiful resort with great rooms, friendly staff, and good restaurants.

Loved it. All the staff are great beautiful rooms and scenery. I didn’t want to leave.

It is beautiful here.
Going to sleep listening to the river is wonderful!
Great food in the square!

Worst hotel I stayed at in Alaska don’t bother requesting any room specifics because you’ll get the total opposite. Staff is not helpful to correct. Other staff says I’m not the only one encountering problems and the hotel need to work.

This place is very nice but rustic, very spread out over 60 acres.

We stayed in the Cottonwoods building of the resort. It's located in Denali National Park in an area near a small strip mall and a Square that features two restaurants, some small shops, and live music. The rooms were cozy, but roomy. I highly recommend visiting the square for a pint. You get a great view of the mountains, which are spectacular in the fall. The staff were helpful and sweet. There is also a service that calls you when the northern lights are visible.

Great place to stay in Denali, very close to Denali national park (1 mile from the park entrance). The shuttle and tours have pick up and drop at this hotel. Room was really good. Though no Wi-Fi in hotel rooms, you can access Internet at the main lobby. No free breakfast included with the room but there are lot of restaurants across from the hotel within walking distance.

Room was well appointed and clean. View from the cottonwoods was breathtaking and facing the Nenana River. Every evening the campfires give guests a place to gather and warm up while relaxing out doors One suggestion if you are staying, plan on some serious uphill hiking to get to the lodge. There is no front desk at any of the lodges except for the main chalet lodge making things a little challenging. Beautiful stay in the most breathtaking of places on Earth.

Just wow. Probably the nicest place I stayed during my 12 day trip in Alaska. It was so cozy and scenic. When you walk around the grounds you can't help but feel like you're in the middle of something spectacular. Staff was super nice too!

The McKinney Chalet resort location is awesome and situated at the entrance of the Denali National Park. The hotel ambience was great for kids and adults alike. The staff was courteous and happy to help. Shuttles available for most nearby locations and lots of essential places are at walkable distances including the Nenana River banks, etc. We really enjoyed the Hotel stay as part of the Holland America Cruise package sine they own this and Canyon Lodge resorts in Denali. Will go for few days next time.

Ann Marie and Sam provided top notch service. We nearly missed our train due to miscommunication. Ann Marie tried to work it out for us, and got Sam to drive us. Good conversation on the way to the depot. The Chalets are nice — very cute. Convenient location, good service, clean.

Was just okay. No power or water for 6 hours while we were there. Compared to the cruise it was just so so. Doubt I’d go back. Pretty expensive for less than 24 hours and a 10 hour bus ride. Plus they placed us in the room the farthest away from everything. A little tough to navigate with no power.

What a great place! Not elegant by any means but clean and comfortable and the service staff is amazing. So much to do and a fun place to relax and enjoy nature. I loved the fire pits in denali square where you could sit around listening to live music! The Sun never went down and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there and hope to be back.

Great experience. Like a hotel room in a rustic way. Everything was clean, comfortable, great food. Reminded me of summer camp, only better. Every one helpful, kind and informative. Lots to offer here. Rafting, hiking, Denali tours relaxing in nature, walk to the river, eat delicious meals. Lots of vacation tours stay here. Book early!

Rooms are good size in canyon lodge. Internet not good, need to go to lobby. Food outstanding. Lots of transportation where you need to go. Friendly people. Elevators were not working well.

We enjoyed the Holland America inside passage cruise on the Vaandam. I give it five stars with no hesitation or reservation. I expected the same level of ammodations, management and service at the Holland America Denali resort. Not even close. The on-premise transportation was good. Other than that it’s a big disappointment. It does not have the high standards of service ther cruise ship did. We had lots of problems. Poor management. Low stardsnds. Accommodations are not impressive. It needs a lot of help. Three stars is a generous review.

Rooms are small. Beds r comfortable. Room clean. Rustic. Staff friendly but new. Did adequate and expensive. Not enough lunch options. Make dinner reservations ASAP.

Great location, but the rooms are nothing fancy. The carpet in our room was filthy with spots everywhere and that's not an exaggeration. The day we checked in, I was barefoot and opened the door when someone knocked and stepped on a big wet spot in front of it. No idea what it was, but it was gross thinking of the possibilities. No phone service, but you can text staff 24/7 and get questions answered, and they were quick to respond.

We definitely have enjoyed our stay here. The service no matter where or what was always over the top. From the shuttle drivers to the wait staff to the Denali singers at the gold nugget saloon. Even the guests were friendly. Of course, surrounded by such beauty, who could not be happy.

Bottom line up front, my family and I ended up leaving the resort and requesting a refund. After checking in to the resort in the morning, my family and I proceeded to the Denali hiking trails nearby. Upon our return to the resort, we were surprised to find someone else staying in our room, and our luggage nowhere to be found. After speaking with the front desk, and taking some time for them to figure out what happened, they decided to move us to another room (which of note had a lesser view). After additional waiting for our bags to be found from various locations and new room keys to be created, we finally went to the new room we had been given. Turned out the room keys still didn't work for the new room we had been given. Staff honestly seemed untrained and unprepared for daily operations.

This resort is nice and the main lobbie is really nice. The gifts are priced to sell. Enjoy :D.

We are here very early in the season. The majority of staff still had a lot of learning to do yet. They are all welcoming and curteous. The accommodation we were in lacked a chair or sofa, would have liked more sink vanity space. Comfortable bed. There was no outdoor seating near cottages W.

This upscale lodge and hotel sits on the edge of the scenic Nenana River and provides easy access to Denali National Park's entrance — about one mile away. In the main lodge you'll find the Canyon Steakhouse restaurant and the Canyon Steakhouse bar. The bar offers a fantastic view of nearby Nenana River. Also in the main lodge you'll find an expansive gift shop. Down the hill behind the main lodge is Denali Square, an area comprised of a restaurant, dinner theater, gift shops, and more. The restaurant is Karstens — a large modern timber-frame building with indoor and outdoor seating. Several fire pits surround the outdoor seating areas, one of which can be used to cook your own s'mores. Live music is provided just beyond the outdoor seating area every evening by a talented singer/guitarist. Next to Karstens is the Gold Nugget Saloon, where you can watch the Music of Denali dinner theater while you eat Alaskan salmon with your friends and family. Surrounding Karstens you'll also find gift shops, a tour desk where you can sign up for daily tours, and the Old Sourdough Studio — an old time portrait studio and gallery. While you're in Denali, don't miss the opportunity to take a bus ride into Denali National Park. Buses depart from the main lodge daily.

We enjoyed every moment at this resort. All of the staff were first class and we had some great meals. Family members even saw a moose from their breakfast table! Lots of shopping and dining within walking distance. Easy transportation around the site and to all of the attractions. We really enjoyed our visit to the dogsled area and our gentle 1 1/2 hour hike at Savage River (saw a few mountain goats along the trail). Make sure you stay here at least a few nights as part of your cruise package. The train ride to Anchorage was a hi-lite too!

We had a great stay at this resort. It is on a beautiful piece of property along a river. Only a couple miles from the entrance to Denali National Park. The rooms are really nice but no AC if you visit in the summer. The resort is within walking distance to many shops across the street. They also have a few restaurants on site that serve really good food and best Alaskan beers.

Beautiful hotel. It has a bus running around their community for ease of travel and a nice restaurant attached to the mail lobby. It's also just outside the park which makes it a prime location. Multiple restaurants right across the road — we used to just walk over instead of taking out our car.

This hotel, as well as the Princess Wilderness Lodge next door, is owned by Holland America Cruise line. We stayed in the Canyon Lodge building, which had a nice lobby area, but the room itself had just the bare minimum. There was no desk and chair as you would find in most other hotels. We requested an extra blanket and a refrigerator and the hotel was accommodating. There is a property shuttle that comes around to take you to the different buildings, since some of them are a little ways from the main lodge. There is a "dinner shuttle" that will take you between the McKinley Chalet and the Princess Wilderness Lodge, but will not take you to any of the shops or restaurants across the street (not owned by Holland America). If I had not been on the land/cruise tour, I probably would have stayed at the Princess instead. There really aren't many other hotels to choose from in Denali.

We stayed there three night during a tour. Restaurants had a great variety of foods, shops had the typical items. Room was in the lower area which was great for us but some might find the walk to the top an issue, but they have a great bus system for getting around.

Stayed here on our trip to Denali. Very scenic with rustic, comfortable cabins. Excellent food for breakfast and dinner! Highly recommended! Interesting that it was still light after midnight.

This resort nestled at foot of Denali Park is a quaint place. The rooms are spacious, comfortable and the shuttle service to points of interest on property is efficient and convenient. The selection of restaurants is amazing and the food scrumptious.
The bus tour through Denali park picks you up at Lobby door and delivers you safely back. Great place to stay.

Rooms were large and clean. Beautiful views and great location! Close to a lot of shops and staff was very helpful. Breakfast was delicious. Easy access to the park and all that it has to offer!

Awesome stay. Great hosts with eleclent service. One person in our group lost a phone and they helped get it back. Comfortable rooms with access to food and drink round the clock. Close proximity to Denali and other excursions. Excellent stay for the wife and I.

Very bad. Room was very hot. 80 deg and didn't have ac. No mini fridge and no Wi-Fi in rooms. This is not a resort. Saved 119 and went to Denali Park Village which is on the Nenana river. Better room with Wi-Fi and very nice location. Think about it before you book it.

Way too expensive. Old rustic rooms with no Wi-Fi access. You have to walk quite a distance to get to the rooms. If you are not careful with the bath shower, entire bathroom floor can get wet. Try the rooms at Denali Park Village (Mile 231) instead. Lobby looks cool. Gift shop is nice. Coffee shop serves great coffee.

Overall, unimpressed. The unit itself is fine, although expensive (granted, most Denali hotels are expensive). However, what did not impress me was their customer service and organization. I booked a two night stay directly on their website. Check in was fine. After the first night, while I was out at the national park without cell phone service, I received a call from the resort. Once I was back in cell phone reception, I had a voicemail from the resort asking if I was planning on checking out that day, as they had me recorded as this being my checkout day. I immediately called back, and after a bit of confusion, was informed that they had gone ahead and kindly left my items in my room, and had let me stay another night at the same nightly rate as my first night, but would need to charge me on checkout for the extra night. This was all a bit of a surprise, since I had a reservation for two nights, I had been checked in for a stay of two nights, I had only been there for one night, and I had been charged for two nights (something that I confirmed after the phone call). I informed them of this, just to attempt to make clear that I wasn't simply trying to stay longer than my reservation, or anything of a similar nature. I received no apology or acknowledgement that, maybe, the error had been on their end. Upon checking out the next morning, the front desk staff had no idea what was going on, but were very pleasant and were apologetic that they didn't know what was going on.

Amazing resort. The rooms are clean. Most buildings have amazing view of the river. It's slightly on the expensive side with no breakfast included.

Beautiful views, room was nice, but wish the room had air conditioning, slept with the windows open since it didn't. Wifi is only in a couple areas and was slow and dropped frequently even with full bars, so went to gas station by the shops across the street since it was way faster. The excursions offered were very fun. We did whitewater rafting and black diamond atv adventure.

MVery nice rooms. Trails to the river and along it. The square had a good musician last night and cute shops. The lodge has a Starbucks. Chances of seeing moose.

Convenient to Denali NP. No driving required. Beautiful scenery surrounds the site. Free shuttles to the dining establishments that surround the lodge. Free shuttle to Denali NP Visitor Center & train depot, so no need to drive here — just get on the train in either Anchorage or Fairbanks. Many off-site excursions available who provide their own shuttle. Down side? Wi-Fi available only in the lobby area, none in rooms. TV in the bedroom instead of the living area of our room. No towel hooks at sink, which is outside of the bathroom. Busy, busy, busy in morning & evenings due to scheduled excursions — plan to stand in line for food & drink. Make sure you plan for at least two hours if you plan to eat in the restaurant for either breakfast or dinner.

The rooms do not have Wi-Fi yet. And some staff are uninformed.

Main lodge and new restaurant area are really nice, definitely eat at Karsen's. Rooms are dated, but decent condition. Wi-Fi is only in common area.

The family and I stayed at a first-floor room through Memorial Weekend. Front counter people are capable and friendly, but the maintenance/domestic staff's behavior was bewildering, if not annoying. For our 3 day/2 night stay, two sets of staff knocked on our door both mornings twice (so say, once at 8am and once again an hour later) to 'verify' that we were staying for that night and to… what else? It was confusing and interrupted an otherwise peaceful routine. Right hand should know what the left hand is doing and so forth. Additionally, our shower water's temperature ricocheted between scalding and ice-cold constantly. Oh, the contraption to adjust the height of the shower head was broken too. The room also lacked adequate lighting (3 lamps but no central fixture, really? ) Conclusion? Looks great on the outside, but internal workings (objects and people) need improvement.

Overall it was good, I wish there would have been a closet and a little more sound proofing, we could hear our neighbors and people walking by.

The grounds are pretty, and the location largely can't be beat. But, you'll want to be careful to know where your room is located — — you may be doing a lot of walking or relying on a shuttle bus to get up to the main drag and reception area. Rooms (at least mine) did not have A/C, which generally wouldn't be a problem but in the midst of a heat wave, made for a relatively uncomfortable stay. The toilet overflowed on the first flush, but building services folks were there in a hurry to fix it. The room was oddly spartan in terms of decor. It seems almost as though dormitory bland was the design goal. Mission accomplished, if so. Note that this 'resort' is owned by Aramark, a company who seems to want to own all of Alaska's lodging and services business. Though it shouldn't matter, it does mean that the on-site food and beverage services are typical of Aramark — — sub-par. I was not impressed with my lunch at their restaurant; the venue itself was freezing cold, had an odor, and the food just wasn't very good. There are tons of smaller, Alaskan-owned places with much better food to be had: go visit them instead.

We stayed at McKinley Chalet Resort on the 2nd of September 2015. The plus points for us were the main building and the scenery around it was nice. Also it's close to Denali national park. But, unfortunately, there were more negatives than positives. The parking lot was far away from the building. We were in, so we had to walk with all of our luggage. The room was nothing-special just two queen beds no air conditioning and smelled stuffy. For the price ($250) it was a bare minimal room. All in all I would not recommend this resort at all they are over priced for what you get.

Reserve rooms in the chalet, not the cabins. Chalet is new and clean. Wi-fi only in lobby of main lodge (office) not in any rooms which is a major bummer. Staff is friendly, but they hire out of area college kids for the summer tourist season which are learning their jobs on the job as they go. Dinner theater show was excellent.

We had a terrible experience with this hotel. We are a military family who has travelled across Canada and USA, among other countries. We are very careful about booking with hotels that allow dogs. We have a 20lb Yorkshire Terrier — very well behaved, house-broken, and quiet. Yorkies are also hypo-allergenic and do not shed — perfect dogs to travel with! When I searched Trip Advisor for hotels in Denali National Park, I searched "Pet friendly hotels in Denali. " McKinley Chalet Resort is the only hotel that listed. I searched for McKinley Chalet Resort on Google to get the reservation phone number and booked the reservation. During the booking, I told the agent clearly we have a small dog that would be staying with us in the hotel. The agent confirmed it was not a problem, booked the room (King size bed, non-smoking), and charged us in full at the time of booking. Obviously I did all I could to verify my dog was welcome in this hotel — it is listed as pet-friendly on Trip Advisor and the booking agent for the hotel confirmed it verbally and booked the stay. When we checked in, I mentioned we had a dog with us to the front desk clerk, who immediately said we now have a problem. After speaking to several managers (Front Desk Manager, Sales Manager, and Services Mangaer), we were told that new ownership had taken place October 2013 (Our trip was July 5-6, 2014) by Holland America.

We're staying for 2 nights and we loved it! Everything we wanted is here! Staff are super friendly and helpful! Super clean!

This place was pretty bad. The pictures online made this place look really nice and I felt that it would be a good place to stay with my husband and one year old for 2 nights while we explored around the park. The lobby was beautiful… but that was about the only thing that was. Our room seemed clean but just had that creepy motel vibe. They didn't seem really dirty or anything… it was just not what I pictured after seeing the beautiful photos of the main lodge area. We arrived in the evening and decided to just order to go food from the main restaurant and then try to find our room. The menu looked great and I was really excited! It took over one hour for a small pizza, ceasar salad, a piece of grilled chicken and some steamed vegetables. We repeatedly asked what was going on and the woman at the bar that took our order told us that the kitchen doesn't know what they're doing. So after an hour wait and finally getting our food (that ended up all being cold and nasty) we went off to find our room. There are buildings (a-z I think) and we were in building V. It was night time and there was very little lighting and we ended up driving around in a big circle 3 times before we finally found our place. I will say the woman at the front desk (can't remember her name) was very nice and our crib ended up being in the wrong room and she took care of it right away.