We just returned from McKinley Village Lodge in AK (June 14 & 15, 2004). I highly recommend this hotel for a trip into Denali. We were independent travelers, a rarity in AK.

Aramark, the national park concessionaire for Denali, owns this hotel. Holland America routinely uses both Aramark Lodges near Denali and has an office in the hotel. Large tour groups surround you, but had no impact on us at all.

We left Anchorage on the AK RR and arrived at the Denali station mid afternoon. Hundreds of people disembarked from the train all at once. It was difficult to locate the bus to McKinley lodge, but eventually we found it. It was one of the large beige Aramark buses in the parking lot. We checked our baggage at the Anchorage train station, and it was arrived directly in our hotel room shortly after we checked in. All we carried on the train and bus was a small daypack with snacks and books to read.

We had a large room overlooking the river. It was very clean; the hotel is new and well maintained. Second floor rooms possibly offer better views, but we don’t do stairs anymore! The staff is mostly college students supervised by professional hotel staff. They are well trained, and there is a strong customer service orientation in all the services from baggage handling to the front desk.

The dining room was the best and worst of the whole trip. The first night we had an exceptional meal, well prepared with gourmet touches and beautiful presentation. The second night we ordered the same entrée, however, it was after 9 pm. Our chicken was totally dried out. It never should have passed quality control in the kitchen. Obviously it had sat on the hot table, possibly since lunch. Unfortunately we complained both to our server and the host with no offer to select something else, or adjust the cost. Prices are high average for AK.

We walked across the Driveway to Denali River cabins for our pre-arranged bus tour of the park. We took the Kantishna Roadhouse bus to the end of the road, 91 miles one way. The trip left at 7 AM and returned about 8:30 PM. I highly recommend this bus tour. We had snacks morning and afternoon, and had a soup, sandwich, and salad lunch during out two-hour stop at the Roadhouse. We stopped often for rest stops and pictures enroute. Some persons negotiated a flight back to park HQ and only took the bus one way.

There is a shuttle from McKinley village to the park visitors’ center, the post office, and McKinley Chalet every hour.

Note: McKinley Village Lodge is in a rural area south of the park. Nearly are two other accommodations on the Nenena River--Grizzly Bear Cabins and Denali River Cabins.

Note 2: McKinley Chalet lodge is north of the park in a highly congested area along the highway with other hotels, shops, and tourist attractions. They are building an overpass across the highway nearby which should be ready in 2005. Otherwise you take your life in your hands in summer to cross the Parks Hway and the hotel parking lots!