The hotel itself has an understated refined rustic woodsiness about it. Our king room was on the smaller side but we had great views facing the mountain/tram. Next time, we'll opt for a suite. The upside is that the room was very clean.

The bathroom was as pictured but the faucet had come out of its place and had been tackily put half way back in place w/ caulky glue or something. A little unsightly but it didn't affect the function of the shower/faucet. The shower pressure was decent.

The bed was surprisingly HORRIBLE. We decided to call it the coffin (as the bed was too well worn and you sank into it whether you liked it or not). All the pillows offered no support so even before we skied the first morning, we had stiff backs and necks and we're not old people. It didn't get better the next night as in the middle of the night, while we were actually sleeping, our fitted bed padding came undone and rolled up into a ball. So everything else- sheets, comforter just went everywhere. That's never happened before, not even at 1 stars we've had to tough it out at as a last resort. Maybe the lower floor rooms had beds that were not 2 years past their replacement dates.

The best part about the hotel is their indoor jacuzzi; you don't have to brave -3F to get to it as it's attached to the hotel. Go before the sun sets as the view is awesome. That jacuzzi is worth every $ of the $10 resort fee. The kids seem to love the salt water pool.

Have to disagree w/ previous reviewers about food choices and prices. There are plenty of choices - unless you stay a whole week, then you're bound to run out of options eventually as Girdwood is a TINY town. The little caffe next to the sports shop downstairs had breakfast burritos and pastries along w/ coffee. If you want a bigger breakfast, there's the Bakery (delicious scrambles) at the day lodge or the Pond Cafe if you don't want to venture into the cold yet. We didn't eat there so we can't speak for the quality of the food. The Double Musky is a reasonably priced local institution w/ surprisingly good food (I didn't come w/ high expectations of a town this small in Alaska - sorry locals). We heard Chair 5 had pizzas (as does the Bakery) and the like, and is where the real locals all hang out. The Sitzmark has decent pub grub. And these can all be reached via the shuttle if you choose not to drive.

The front desk staff were nice but not very reliable nor helpful. We'd requested Northern Lights wake-up calls for each and every night but never got one despite the fact that the Lights were one one or two of the nights. So if you want to see Northern Lights, either stay up and ski half a day the next day or set the alarm to wake yourselves up. It's your best bet.

My husband and I went on a week long vacation to Alaska in April 2007, and spent four nights at the Hotel Alyeska. Our main reason for staying here was to try the mountain skiing in Alaska.

The hotel decor is elegant. Beautiful wood paneling in all the public places, leather couches in public areas, a giant diorama of a polar bear/stars above the lobby, brass plating in the elevators (though they were scratched up from skis). The swimming pool is small for a hotel of its size, though the hot tub is a decent size. The afternoon we arrived, the hotel was quite busy and the pool had easily reached capacity. The restaurants are nice and the food is good, but they are quite expensive. There is no breakfast included with your stay, so your only choices if you wish to not leave the hotel are to eat at the restaurant or go to a grocery store and get your own breakfast food for mornings (we did the latter). They have mini fridges in the rooms so you can keep milk, juice, or other cold beverages. Parking at times was a hassle. There are several lots sprawled out around the property, so when the hotel is busy you may have to park far away where it can be a long walk to and from your car.

We initially booked a "moderate" room, but there was a buzzing sound near the room that drove my husband nuts, so we requested a room swap. The hotel was accommodating of this request, and ended up moving us to a "deluxe" room (same amenities as "moderate", but with a much better view). I think they charged us extra for the room upgrade, but I didn't care to argue it because it was only $10 a night more and didn't notice it until we'd checked out. Room amenities for the moderate/deluxe rooms were a bit above what you'd expect for a typical two/three star chain hotel. Some of the "extras" I remember were heated towel racks in the bathroom, a mini-fridge, bathrobes and slippers (though they weren't that great), and buttons on your nightst
and that controlled "do not disturb" and "please clean room" lights outside your door in the hall. The rooms, as well as the hotel as a whole, were overall nice and clean, but there were some signs of wear as you would expect from a hotel that is not brand new, especially one that has skiers tromping through it on a regular basis.

This hotel has high value if you are coming here during winter to ski. Our "just want to ski" package included two lift tickets and room, and factoring in how much an adult all-day lift ticket costs, I figured we only paid an extra $60 or so for the room with the package. It is a perfectly acceptable hotel to stay at, and you can walk right outside the hotel to take the tram or chairlift to the ski mountain.

However, I am not sure if I would recommend staying here in the summer, when most tourists visit Alaska. It is supposedly one of the most luxurious hotels in Alaska, but I'm not sure this hotel is worth the summer rates. Summer rates are much higher and do not include skiing (obviously), so value is lessened considerably. Also, Girdwood is a very small town and I'm not sure there are enough things to do in the area in the summer to warrant more than a night or two stay at this hotel. Spend time in Seward or Denali National Park instead.

Since we primarily came here to ski, I don't feel my review is complete without giving an overview of the skiing at Alyeska. My husband had never skied anything more than the tiny hills we have in MN, and my only other "mountain skiing" experience was one day in the Austrian Alps with a high school trip. So neither of us can compare Alyeska to a mountain ski resort in the "lower 48". Alyeska was by far the most difficult skiing both of us had done, partially due to the excessive amount of snow/sleet the mountain received the week before we went, so they didn't have time to groom the hills adequately. We both ended up renting wide parabolic skis the first day, since there was so much deep powder that neither of us could ski very well without them. The second day was better so I went back to my parabolics, but my husband kept his rentals since his skis are the old-fashioned type with no shape whatsoever.

After we took care of that, we enjoyed the skiing very much. The hill is quite large and it takes about 45 minutes to an hour to make a complete trip to the very top of the hill and back down again. There is a tram that runs from the very bottom to the very top to the very bottom of the hill on the "double black diamond" side (not recommended unless you are a true expert); the other side has chairlifts and you have to take more than one in intervals to make it to the very top. Both my husband and I will ski all difficulty levels of hills in MN, but we both mostly stuck to the "blue" hills at Alyeska, which were comparable to (if not more advanced than) "black" hills in MN. That was fine since there are an abundance of "blue" hills at Alyeska and you can make it from the top to the bottom only taking those. I would not recommend Alyeska for anyone who is a beginner, since there are only a few "green" hills that are all clustered at the bottom of the hill.

I would probably not come back to Alaska in the winter primarily for the skiing at Alyeska, as I would prefer to try a resort in the "lower 48" instead. But I would recommend it to avid skiers who happen to find themselves in the area in the winter, or are visiting Alaska in the winter to partake in a variety of winter activities there.

We just returned from Alyeska yesterday. We were in Anchorage for 5 days then onto Girdwood for 3 days to snow ski with our 3 kids and our extended family who live in Anchorage. Skiing in Alyeska is much different than say, Tahoe. Mostly blues which would be comparible to black diamonds in Tahoe, very steep!!! For my husband and I, we love it! However, be brought along our kids, two 4 year olds and a 7 year old. Their Mountain Learning Center leaves much to be desired. It plain ole STINKS!!! Our daughter, on her 3rd day of skiing, got seperated from her instructor after loosing a ski on a blue run. (This was her first ski trip and she was doing great! On the lower blues by her second day! ) So some guy who was there helping with his kids school ski trip was trying to be helpful and took her up the mtn to find her class back. He thought she was in a different group, keep in mind they didn't wait for her at the lift, they left her!!!! She yelled from a lift, thank GOD she spotted my husband and I, and we waited for her only to find out that she was with a stranger on the top of a mountain and didn't even have a lift ticket for that particular lift. There are no greens at the top of the mnt. We skied with her down the whole mountain, to ski school, where they could care less that they lost a student. We asked for our money back and just to be jerks, they charged us for the lift ticket. She was free for the bottom lifts because she was 7 and under but they charged her for the one trip up the mtn. It was only $5, but the point of the matter is THEY DON'T CARE!!! The boys class is only an hour long, not long enough for parents to do anything. The resort is good, clean rooms but they don't allow late afternoon checkouts. If you go, be sure to visit Chair 5, a cool bar/restaurant in Girdwood. It's great. Love the people and the food. Fine place to take kids, lots a tv's and music so the kids don't have to be so quite.

Hotel was nice enough - rooms are nice albeit a little small
Ski shop / tram area is well organised / efficient
Skiing good for blue + runs. If you want to ski greens do not go to Alyeksa
Biggest problem in the hotel was good. Most restraunts serve the same over priced average food. Going into Girdwood good food is available but is expensive.
We visited over Xmas (arrived 21st, left 29th Dec) and didn't appreciate how short the days would be (not light until 10.30, dark by 3.45)

Overall nice hotel, good holiday, but won't be rushing back.