I've stayed at quite a few ESAs and ESDs and this one performed in line with expectations. Anchorage hotels in general have gone way up in price in the last year or two; I guess the days of being able to stay sub-$50 in mid-September have gone the way of free check-in bags on airlines. Maybe global warming has extended the summer season by 10 days or so. You probably have to go in late September these days to see peak fall colors and get much of a break on prices in ANC.

But I digress. I ended up with this hotel via Priceline, so imagine my delight when I get on TripAdvisor and read about the $10/day parking fee. (At least they don't make the parking "free" and charge a resort fee instead...that'd be the ultimate cynical move).

To be fair, the location IS a bit downtownish and hemmed in, and I suspect the dedicated spaces wouldn't be enough for all the guests if everyone had a car. Of course, I wanted to avoid the fee on principle. Thankfully the situation isn't as bad as feared, as it's on the edge of downtown and nights, Saturdays and Sundays are free on the street meters (which are 10-hour at 75 cents an hour, if memory serves). Which leaves weekdays during the day, when you can either pay the meter or try your luck with 2-hour non-metered street parking in the residential areas two blocks to the south (starting at 10th). Thankfully I had only one non-weekend day and didn't run into any of that, but YMMV. (To further complicate things, some streetsides can't be parked on overnight from Oct. 15-April 15 because of street cleaning).

The hotel isn't very well signed and can be tricky to locate, but if you're heading northbound on A Street just look to the right (eastward) just before you get to 8th.

Check-in was friendly and the room very ESA-like. You don't get daily maid service, so it's best for messy families, people who think they can cook but really can't, or the generally slovenly to stay elsewhere. TV had a smattering of channels, with Showtime, Showtime 2 and Showtime Extreme the movie channels.

The floor had an ice machine (that worked), which was nice. Many people don't like using ice trays in the frig they didn't fill themselves (and you have to wait if you do empty and fill them), so it's nice to have an alternative.

There's also a one-terminal "business center" for boarding pass printing and the wireless-less, which is good.

The indoor pool/jacuzzi were fine, if a little undersized for demand at times. In reading the signs I notice they're open 9 a.m. until 11 p.m., with 10 p.m.-11 p.m. designated as only for adults. I think this is a great idea and would be even greater if consistently followed (the maintenance guy had locked out all keycards by 9:42 p.m. on a Sunday night).

All in all it was consistent with other ESDs I've stayed at, though with the Alaska effect I paid roughly twice the lower 48 price, even through PL. This is in line with others in the local area, and certainly you could get a real dump on Spenard and pay just as much. OTOH, guests tend to let fewer smaller things slide when the nightly outlay goes up, even if it's just because everything's more expensive in Alaska.

This place can work in a pinch or as an alternative to a number of the poorly reviewed places, and if you're car-less it seems well-connected to the bus system and within walking distance for most of downtown.

We had one short night in Anchorage and looked for a budget hotel. This hotel was going through renovations on the ground floor at the Lobby area, which can explain some of the mess and would not have bothered us. However our room on the 2nd floor and the corridor looked as if they did not see a vacuum cleaner for a month or so. The bathroom was clean so we stayed. The bathroom was clean so we stayed. Breakfast was abysmal. Parking is available for extra fees. Spend more and get a cleaner place

Stayed only one night and arrived late at night. Glad that I had read the previous posts, because hotel is hard to find. Also, we had parked away from the hotel, because the hotel parking lot was full. On street parking is available, but you have to pay a meter. (As stated in a previous post, you can park for free from 6pm-9am. That means someone will have to get up and feed the meter.) That wound up not being a problem, because we were checked out by 9am. Check in was fast. Asked to have a quiet room and not located by elevators or vending machines. We got to our 2nd floor room and it was located by the elevator and vending machines! I looked at my husband, probably with those "REALLY!?!?" eyes, and he asked if he should go get another room. We had been traveling and so tired I just wanted to get some sleep. Opened the room man was it hot! We opened the window and turned on air cond, but it took forever to cool down. There were 2 beds. And, these 2 beds have seen better days....years ago. They sagged in the middle. Got settled down and watched some tv. Fell asleep after the room cooled down. Received a phone call at 12:10am! Receiving a phone call at that hour is never good. The front desk lady wanted to know what our zip code was!!! Really? I asked her what time it was, and she said that it was only 12:10am. You would think that she could have Goggled that zip code. We woke up and ran out of there. Won't be coming back there. Pay extra and stay at Dimond Center Hotel or Crowne Plaza.

When I checked in I was given my room # and key card. The key card didn't work. They gave me a new key card, didn't work. The desk person walked up with me and opened door. A woman screamed - there was already someone in the room! It was after midnight and I didn't want to go look for another hotel, so they gave me another room. There were kids running up and down the halls and adults talking loudly well after 2 in the morning. My room was very small and the furniture worn out. When I talked with the manager the next day, she didn't seem concerned at all. She just asked me if I wanted to check out. The front desk clerks were friendly and concerned, but not the manager. I was still charged for the room but moved to a new hotel. I did lodge a complaint with the company.