chena hot springs resort

No better place to see the Northern lights in relative comfort no more than 100 yards from your room or the bar. This drives my rating. Good food in the restaurant and reasonable prices. Restaurant staff is only OK. Seems like the are only going through the motions since there are no other eating options. Rooms are probably from the 1980's and are in dire need of updating to this century. Bed was hard and shower is 3ft x3 ft (like on a boat). Northern lights wake up call never comes. You need to check every 30 minutes form 10pm to 2:30 am. No wifi and only two TV channels (old tube TV) with poor reception. The hot springs are wonderful. Saw the Northern lights 3 out of 3 nights but the weather and lights cooperated. For the facility alone, I give it two stars. But the location and Northern lights were a 5. I think if you are going with the expectations of roughing it in the wilderness with a great location for possible northern lights, you'd be Ok. Yes, I'd do it again.

Fried key staff.good viewing if the Aurora, lovely walks I the fresh air and beautiful grounds. The minuses are - no wifi, internet, small and tiny bathroom in the room and the tv is backward!vut one does not come to Chena to watch tv!outdoor sports and hot springs and swimming are great!

Pick the right time to visit and you'll be in heaven. There was a fantastic party going on when I visited and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I dint stay in the resort and so don't know much about it. But the lake itself was a great place to visit.

Photographing the Aurora Borealis had been on my wife's and my bucket list for some time. There is not guarantee you will see it anytime, anywhere. However, we chose to gamble on the new moon of February, 2015. This place is about 1200' above seal level and 60 miles away from the light pollution of Fairbanks. And for $75/person they will take you to the top of a nearby 2,600' hill with a 360 degree view. You must sign up by 8 pm. They leave the bottom and 9:30 pm and leave the top at 2:00 am. It's about 1/2 hour trip each way, so you get 4 hours at the top. We hit it just perfect. We went to the top on Feb.17th. No clouds in sight. Major Auroras were going off from the time we arrived until after we departed. We got excellent photos. There was moderate Aurora activity the night before and the night after. But Feb. 17th was spectacular.The staff was generally friendly and very knowledgeable. However, they left the top at 2:00 am exactly even though the best Auroras occured as we were coming down the mountain and the driver refused to stop and let us photograph it.

We were in Fairbanks to see the aurora and drove to the hot springs one afternoon/evening based on numerous recommendations for it. Overall, we’re glad we visited to satisfy our curiosity but were nevertheless disappointed in the overall experience of the resort.Given that the resort appears to be busy year round (the lodge was fully booked in mid-February and crowded the day we visited), I would have expected better quality, more up-to-date facilities. The Activity Center reminded me of the fellowship hall at my hometown church with plastic tables and benches, an adjoining sparsely furnished cavernous room with no clear purpose, and a dark, depressing café. If you arrange a massage, be warned that it will be in a closet-sized room that’s in the thick of the hustle and bustle of the Activity Center. Your masseuse may be an employee who also runs the cash registers at the tour desk. We did the Ice House tour, which was pretty cool. The ice sculptures are interesting and well done, and it was fun watching the carvers make the ice glasses for the $15 appletini upsell. Three of us split one appletini, regrettably. It’s an expensive cough-syrup-like concoction in a souvenir glass that you obviously cannot keep, as it’s made of ice. If you happen to love appletinis, however, you can get the same drink in the lodge restaurant for only $7, sans ice glass. On the positive side, we had a good dinner in the lodge restaurant. The outdoor hot spring was particularly novel since the weather was extremely cold that weekend (minus 25 degrees). Amazing how quickly your hair and eyebrows will freeze! If you can take your own towel, do that so you don’t have to pay the towel rental in addition to the pool fee. Also, avoid the indoor hot tub as it was pretty gross. Consistent with other parts of the resort, the facilities at the pool area were run down. Would suggest the proprietors visit some spas in Korea to get some good pointers on freshening things up. Other than the pleasant bartender in the Ice House and our server in the restaurant, none of the staff seemed very happy to be working there. But maybe it was just a busy, long day. Again, we’re glad we visited to check it off the list, but the resort is not somewhere we would return.

We loved the hot springs experience, especially in the winter. We ate at the restaurant and the meal and service were very good. We did not stay at the resort.

Chena Hot Springs Resort is home to the world’s largest year-round ice museum in the world, the Aurora Ice Museum! It was completed in January 2005 and stays a cool 25 degrees Fahrenheit inside year round. Keeping the museum icy cold in the heat of summer comes from the patented absorption chiller, the first of its kind in the world used for this purpose! You are given parkas to stave off the cold while touring (thank goodness) ! It used to be called the ice hotel, but government regs precluded the idea of a hotel to a museum. It has all the trappings of a hotel - a cheerful bar, beautifully lighted bar stools and then you find various nooks and crannies containing beds and wall decor. There are statues and object of art all around. On your way out you may purchase an adult drink in a truly "chilled" ice ware. The vestibule contains the tools of the artists that creat the wonders inside. All in all, a fun, leisurely experience & while you're there, check out the greenhouse and the power plant, enlightening and educational! Next time there, we'll check some of the other activities.

When visiting Fairbanks area, especially in the winter, take a 90min trip (by car, though local shuttles are available as well) to visit the hot springs! We happened to step into the springs when the temperature outside reached -20F, and though the icicles form on every strand of your hair, the experience is truly unforgettable! With a visit to the ice museum, greenhouse tour, and the springs, you can easily spend all afternoon & evening there. The resort restaurant offers veggies grown in the local greenhouse, which taste delicious after the cold day and the soak in the springs!

It really is a long drive out to the springs. We left it a little late in the day to go out there. The accommodation is older and more school camp style. We went on the geothermal tour which showed us how the hot springs were used to heat the buildings and then went over to the greenhouse to see how they used the spring water to grow vegetables all year round. Great ideas that have been constantly refined over the years. Ice sculptures were wonderful - it is a bit of fun to sit at the ice bar and have a martini. You can spend as much time as you like inside. We also watched the martini glasses being made. Good to see but glad we weren't staying there.

As we are Alaskans we love doing Alaskan adventures. we have been meaning to do this for some time. We loaded up the fifth wheel and drove from Palmer Alaska to North pole Camped in a RV Park then drove to Chena Hot Springs. Information about the RV Park in Chena is a bit sketchy from the internet. Driving into the entrance is also Sketchy. I found a place to park the truck and Fifth wheel so the wifey could go into the front desk and find out where we were going to go to park. If you are driving and going to use the rv park I would advise you to get there early for a RV spot. otherwise you can park your rv in the over flow parking lot. Once we settled into our spot we went to the hot springs... THESE SPRINGS ARE HOT. Also use caution as the ramp that you walk down to go into the outdoor pool is very slippery. We loved the Pool. We loved the restaurant and bar. they use as much of the produce that is grown in the greenhouses that are heated by geothermal heating. very unique menu. we truly enjoyed our restaurant bar experience. We did the Geothermal power house tour, the green house tour and the ice museum tour. Spend the extra money for the "appletini" if you do the ice museum tour. Great place will visit again.

I have been twice to Chena and both times were amazing. The place has been there a long time and has it's issues, but you don't go for the Marriott...you go for the natural hot springs. My first time there in 2002 was during the tail end of winter in March. Was about 12° outside and felt awesome when you hit the the 100-120° water. Last time was in July and was great too. You come out relaxed and refreshed. There are spots in the springs that are hotter than others, so you can find your comfort zone in there.

Allow at least an hour for the drive up the Chena Hot Springs road which ends at the resort. Visited in winter when -20C and was an experience to say the least. Take you own towel and save the hire costs. Staff were polite but he didn't look happy in his job. The adult pool has a heated corridor almost right to the pool but leaves a chilly run to the water. The surrounding snow is a contrast to the hot water and watching other peoples hair and eyebrows freeze was a surprise.

It is a long lonely drive out into the wilderness to get to this place When we finally got to this place we were kind of disappointed and it is kind of out of date and we did not even get to see the hot spring's ! Glad that we took the time to go see what it is about but will not be going back !

The resort offers lodging, food, and a number of activities.We did not stay at the resort but took advantage of the hot springs, and toured the ice museum (separate review). The springs were nice but nothing exceptional. Fortunately they were not very crowded. They might be better at night, in the winter, or when the aurora is visible.The locker rooms, along with what we saw of the rest of the resort, appeared worn and could use a facelift.

It was a fun day trip, hot springs, the greenhouses, and the ice museum. We also ate at their restaurant which featured greens grown in their greenhouse.