Pre-cuise Anchorage Hotel

[ChandyMan]

We are currently booked at the Sheraton Anchorage pre Seward departure. Have any fellow cruisers stayed there? Your thoughts on the hotel? Trying to find the best hotel downtown for the buck. Hoping not to spend over 200 per night. I can always cancel this reservation. Thanks :)

[poss]

You'll probably gets lots of helpful detail over on the "ports of call" section of CC. For our Alaska trip last summer (wonderful), I read posts on Anchorage hotels on CC and on Trip Advisor (probably Fodor's too). I chose Capt Cook hotel, and we were quite satisfied. I believe I posted my impressions of the place when I did a trip report last summer. (not in trip report section--it's here somewhere)
Btw, we didn't love Anchorage, but we enjoyed our bike ride the length of the Tony Knowles trail (if I'm remembering the name correctly).
I hope you enjoy your trip-- we loved it.

[ChandyMan]

Thanks poss, I am worried about no a/c in room at Cptn Cook? We will be there in August. We have a day to spend. Do not want to miss the cruise :)

[Longhorn1]

For what it's worth, I thought the Cap'n Cook was just ok, at best, and would not stay there again. Same for Anchorage. Just ok, and I have no need to go back. Just my opinion...

[poss]

Does Capt Cook have ceiling fans, I wonder? Don't remember-- just remember being quite comfortable. Btw, I don't think we would've been happy in anything except the Capt's Deck king room which we were in; we asked in advance for and were given a corner room-- considerably larger and more windows.
View was impt to us in choosing our Anchorage hotel: our view was very nice. I don't think any of the other hotels in the city have views. (not sure though). Capt Cook had good service too.
No question about it though-- it was not by any means an especially memorable hotel. It's "dated" and has a lot of dark wood-- might be a turn-off to people who like brighter, "fresher" appearance. Bathrooms were blah (but not awful). I don't think there's anything very special in the way of hotels in Anchorage. Ah, but then you board a Regent ship, and THEN...

[Roland4]

We stayed at the Sheraton for one night pre-Mariner last June and it was perfectly acceptable. The room was large, if a bit dated, but the bed was comfortable and the bathroom clean and well-stocked. The lobby restaurant served a nice breakfast. As far as location goes, all of the hotels are within a 3 - 6 block radius of each other and all are within a 3 - 6 block radius of all of the "recommended" restaurants in downtown Anchorage so I really don't think it matters which one you pick. Especially if it is just for one day/night.

[ChandyMan]

That is what I was thinking. Most of the hotels downtown seem to be just fine for a night. Trip Advisor and CC Ports of call seem to give bad/ok to great stay at the Sheraton. I think I will stop pulling out what is left of my hair out :) and just enjoy the city. Does anyone have a recommandation for best king crab legs resturant?

[ededmd]

Just a thought (not to dissuade you from being comfortable with your choice at all!).

After a lot of research and time, we decided to stay midtown.
The top 3 hotels on tripadvisor are embassy suites (hilton), homewood suites (hilton), and springhill suites (marriott).

Free breakfast at several, free shuttle to/from airport, free shuttle to/from downtown or other locations (on demand), larger more modern rooms, kitchenette, etc. A lot more room for the inflated anchorage prices.

Best,
enjoy your trip!

[MamaQuack]

We also stayed at Cap'n Cook. Our visit was in June and we would have welcomed AC. There was a good and powerful ceiling fan and we too had a corner room but we were glad it was for just one night. The staff was wonderful. Lots of pre cruise folks and in our instance lots of late arrivals due to weather. Our entire Delta flight crewed stayed there as well. The hotel was completely full. The hotel was kind enough to keep the downstairs restaurant open late that evening for all of us. We had wonderful halibut burgers and king crab. Enjoyed it so much we ate lunch there the next day as well. But agree the hotel itself is very dark, the bathroom was very outdated and the room was, at least to us, more like being at grandma's house.

[Roland4]

That is what I was thinking. Most of the hotels downtown seem to be just fine for a night. Trip Advisor and CC Ports of call seem to give bad/ok to great stay at the Sheraton. I think I will stop pulling out what is left of my hair out :) and just enjoy the city. Does anyone have a recommandation for best king crab legs resturant?

The Regent ground rep recommended, among others, Simon and Seaforts (spelling? Could also be Seaforts & Simon:rolleyes:). We had dinner there and it was excellent, but you really need a reservation! Don't know about king crab, but the king salmon was the best I have ever eaten. I think it might actually have still been swimming in the ocean a couple of hours before it landed on my plate!!! My Better Half's halibut was equally as good too.

[poss]

We enjoyed Simon and Seaforts as well. It's a chain, I believe, but it was a quite good meal with pleasant atmosphere and service. We didn't have the crab legs. You can get crab legs a-plenty on board ship, by the way. They were good! (this coming from a Marylander, who admittedly kind of sniffs at any crab other than blue)

[ChandyMan]

I am agreement with ededmd. I believe they may be better hotel choices. I am going to evaluate those hotels closer. I am glad to know we can have great king crab onboard. Any suggestions are welcome in Anchorage.

[Dreps]

Don't spend time worrying about hotels in Anchorage. A couple of years ago, we stayed at the Captain Cook's because of a medical emergency on a Delta flight bound for Tokyo. This was in the middle of September, and it was sunny, but cool. The hotel did an amazing job coping with a full plane of unexpected guests, but it was after cruise season. That being said, the hotel is nothing spectacular. We also stayed at a Hampton Inn once in Anchorage before our Mariner cruise, and it was fine. We were on our way to Denali the next morning for a pre-cruise excursion we put together. The best King Crab legs we had were in Talkeetna at the Alaskan Lodge. I remember that the Lodge did not have A/C in the rooms and although it was an unusually warm August, the fans were sufficient. It was a bit warmer than our preferred sleeping temperature, but we coped for the two days.

With regard to the crab legs, remember, now all the Regent ships have Prime 7, and it serves King Crab legs, and they are also very good--better than the ones I had on the Mariner Cruise several years ago. When we're eating with a group, we always ask for a plate of them to share for one of the appetizers.

[SusieO]

We just spent the night (May 21) at the Embassy Suites in midtown Anchorage and I would stay there again. On our prior trip (4 yrs ago) we stayed at Anchorage Hilton right downtown.

We loved Embassy Suites; they had a free shuttle pick us up at the airport, free evening appetizers, 2 free drinks per person at the bar, the next morning they had the most wonderful buffet bkfst with fresh pastries, about 10 different hot bkfst items i.e. bacon, sausage, biscuits, eggs along with made to order eggs, pancakes (as big as a platter) and waffles.

There were 4 of us traveling so we shared a 2bdrm/2bath suite. The suite was very nice and the hotel itself seems quite new. Not in a great location to walk much of anywhere, but we did take a nice walk the next morning around the huge block and saw several restaurants and shops.

The hotel offers a shuttle to take you just about anywhere for free; they took us to Simon & Seaforts (one person had king crab and they said it was great, I had halibut cheek and it was totally delicious). We called the shuttle to pick us up after dinner and they were there in less than 10 minutes. Took us to the train station the next morning, too!

We would not hesitate to stay here again!!! Oh they did have heat and a/c in the rooms, too! ;>

[ChandyMan]

Thanks Susie O - That was one of my next choices for downtown hotels. We have 2 nights in ANC. Flight from Dallas arrives 7pm. We will spend the next day touring Anchorage. We board AKRR - Gold Dome for travel to Seward on Aug 18th. The train leaves approx. 6am. All things considered, the free airport and city shuttle and a breakfast and snacks could make up for the $$ we are saving at the Sheraton. And, a/c....nice. Embassy Suites has always been a good standard