I have stayed at a different hotel in Fairbanks on my last ten visits, and this time I decided to splurge and stay downtown at the Springhill Suites for $97. Was I ever delighted to find such a fabulous accommodation in Fairbanks. Everything was clean and neat, with nice employees, and free wireless internet.

The rooms are all suites with a kitcenette including a bar sink, fridge and microwave. Next to this is a work desk and then a reading chair with foot stool, couch, and TV. The bedroom is by the window with another TV and the bathroom has a separate sink and vanity from the toilet and bathtub. My room overlooked the Chena River and was incredibly spacious.

The daily breakfast had the normal selection of cereal and old fruit, along with bagels, english muffins, pastries, coffee, tea, and juices. The morning treat was eggs and sausage patty, perfect to fit on an english muffin with cheese. This was a wonderful way to start the day, although it would have been nice after a few days to change the hot entree. Maybe they do, but I was there for three mornings and it was always the same.

My favorite restaurant in Fairbanks is in the hotel, Lavelle's Bistro with fabulous food and wine. For the first time I had something there I did not like, the meatloaf made of 25 different ingredients. I think I will stick to maybe 4 or 5 ingredients.

A major drawback for the hotel is the lack of parking, especially when the weather is well below zero and you need to start your car in the morning. I found myself coming back early in the evenings just to get a close spot if the VERY small lot was full. Another detail I did not like was some sort of small air register by the ceiling in the bedroom that blew air all day and made extra noise I did not like. I think it turns off at night since it was off when I woke up in the mornings, but still blowing when I went to sleep.

I would definitely stay here again in the off-season, although I am sure it is too expensive during the tourist rush in the summer.

This hotel was clean and well kept up, and was in a convenient downtown location. Our room had all the amenities including high speed internet, but was a little cramped. My biggest problem was the inability to open a window for fresh air, and had to leave the air conditioner running all night.

This is my first experience with the Marriott’s Springhill Suites brand, although I often stay at other flavors of Marriott, since I especially like their total non-smoking policy. This one had the added benefit of being very close to where I needed to go.

This was a very pleasant stay. The check-in staff was friendly and went out of their way to make sure I had what I needed (I had forgotten some personal items in the rush to get packed and out of town) and parking was adequate for this time of year (although I do think in the busier summer season it might fall short). There was always candy and fruit on the check-in desk. The staff was always friendly and polite.

The room was quite nice –clean, comfortable, and nicely laid out to make a long stay a little bit easier to take. I appreciated the chair with ottoman with the floor lamp, which was a great place to read. I liked having the mini kitchen, although I didn’t use it much (soda in the fridge, since the vending machine prices were too high). I didn’t use the internet access but the TV had more than enough channels and the pay per view had both recently released popular films (the latest Harry Potter) with a mixture of art house films.

The public areas were clean and comfortable (love the fireplace!). And the complimentary breakfast was all you could ask for: hot and cold cereal, yogurt, make it yourself waffles, toast, muffins, bagels, danish and make it yourself egg mcmuffins. I didn’t try the pool or the exercise room.

All in all, a very positive experience. I’ll go back, and try other Springhill Suites when I travel.

While the building won't win any architectural design awards, the layout of the guest rooms is among the best we have encountered. The "suites" aren't much larger than a comfortably sized standard hotel room, but the rooms make excellent use of available space. Several mirrors, one full length, add an appearance of spaciousness. There is a sofa and recliner chair for lounging; a well lit work table with internet access, small kitchen with sink, microwave and refrigerator, windows that open (useful during the brief summer months in Fairbanks), and a spacious room with shower/tub and toilet. The vanity is located nearby in an alcove for privacy, but not in the same room as the shower/toilet. Lighting is excellent everywhere.

The included Continental Breakfast is bountiful, with a pot of hot oatmeal, and hot eggs and breakfast meats in addtion to waffles, breads, danish, yogurt, fresh fruit, cold cereal, etc.

The hotel was spotless. While we were there one employee was hand-sanding the grout on the floor tile in the lobby to restore the original white color.

There is 24 hour airport shuttle service (useful when the Alaska Airlines flight arrived late at 3 am).

Staff was very accommodating; housekeeping did an excellent job during our 6 night stay.

One problem is that the hotel has very limited parking. We observed one customer for the hotel's restaurant (who was not a hotel guest) who was denied parking at the hotel due to lack of space, resulting in a nasty exchange of words with the hotel front desk attendant.

The hotel is located downtown across the street from the Visitor Information Center and Chena River. The new Visitor Information Center, being built at the time our visit, will be about 3 blocks away. There are several restaurants located nearby, though the more popular Fairbanks attractions, such as the Riverboat Discovery, Pioneer Park, and University of Alaska museum will require use of an auto or taxi. There is little or no traffic noise since most of downtown Fairbanks shuts down at night.

In all, a great property and highly recommended.

(the reviewer has no connection to Marriott, SpringHill Suites or any of its employees)