Accomodatioms in Seward

[momeason]

We stayed at the Ballaine House B and B. It was worth a trip to Seward just to stay with Marilee, the owner. ( Her name is pronounced Marlee)

She is the most accomodating hostess you will ever find. The state was working on the road in front of her house, but Seward is small and the detour was no big deal.

Marlee buys and cooks whatever you want for breakfast, including any special needs or desires like whole grain, sugar free, low fat, all of the above or none of the above. She provides her laptop and internet for your use 24 hour a day. She has 200 plus movies and a TV and VCR in every room. She books your tours and gives you back the 20% booking fee. She gives you all the advice you want for free.

She will do your laundry while you are on a tour. Also for free.

Believe me, She is unbelievable!! Oh Kenai Fjords National Park tour was great and the Sealife Center was very interesting, but Marilee was the best!!

Email her at historicsewardbb@yahoo.com

 

Tell her Sherry and Ross sent you. My 19 year old daughter was even impressed!!

[jimcat]

We stayed at the Ballaine House B and B. It was worth a trip to Seward just to stay with Marilee, the owner. ( Her name is pronounced Marlee)

She is the most accomodating hostess you will ever find. The state was working on the road in front of her house, but Seward is small and the detour was no big deal.

Marlee buys and cooks whatever you want for breakfast, including any special needs or desires like whole grain, sugar free, low fat, all of the above or none of the above. She provides her laptop and internet for your use 24 hour a day. She has 200 plus movies and a TV and VCR in every room. She books your tours and gives you back the 20% booking fee. She gives you all the advice you want for free.

She will do your laundry while you are on a tour. Also for free.

Believe me, She is unbelievable!! Oh Kenai Fjords National Park tour was great and the Sealife Center was very interesting, but Marilee was the best!!

Email her at historicsewardbb@yahoo.com

 

Tell her Sherry and Ross sent you. My 19 year old daughter was even impressed!!

 

we wil be with Marlee, tomorrow, thursday after we leave rachel's place in talkeetna.. called talkeetna bed and breakfast... the Denali room is the one we have.. sharp sharp sharp.. tons of movies, dvds and computer for usage, just like Marlee's is.. are these gals twins?

 

Waffles are on the breakfast request. I will sample a little moose sausage, but who knows

[tapia]

Does she have a website? Do you have pictures? What types of rooms?

 

Thanks!

[jimcat]

Does she have a website? Do you have pictures? What types of rooms?

 

Thanks!

For Rachel's it is www.talkeetnachalet.com. Pics are there but we have some we have taken as well. I will be posting when we return. 3 rooms she has.. the denali room by far is the best. Includes small fridge.. coffee maker..home made soaps, robes so one could use the hot tub outside. Upstairs is the kitchen, large screen tv etc etc.

 

Just very homey, tons of books to read, games to play.

Very delightful, from what I have read, Marlee's in Sewards the same.

[NancyIL]

We stayed at the Ballaine House B and B. It was worth a trip to Seward just to stay with Marilee, the owner. ( Her name is pronounced Marlee)

She is the most accomodating hostess you will ever find. The state was working on the road in front of her house, but Seward is small and the detour was no big deal.

Marlee buys and cooks whatever you want for breakfast, including any special needs or desires like whole grain, sugar free, low fat, all of the above or none of the above. She provides her laptop and internet for your use 24 hour a day. She has 200 plus movies and a TV and VCR in every room. She books your tours and gives you back the 20% booking fee. She gives you all the advice you want for free.

She will do your laundry while you are on a tour. Also for free.

Believe me, She is unbelievable!! Oh Kenai Fjords National Park tour was great and the Sealife Center was very interesting, but Marilee was the best!!

Email her at historicsewardbb@yahoo.com

 

Tell her Sherry and Ross sent you. My 19 year old daughter was even impressed!!

 

Thanks for the great review! I also want to hear about your PWS cruise that went to Esther Passage. Oh - and I suppose you could comment on the cruise too, if you'd like! ;)

[NancyIL]

For Rachel's it is www.talkeetnachalet.com. Pics are there but we have some we have taken as well. I will be posting when we return. 3 rooms she has.. the denali room by far is the best. Includes small fridge.. coffee maker..home made soaps, robes so one could use the hot tub outside. Upstairs is the kitchen, large screen tv etc etc.

 

Just very homey, tons of books to read, games to play.

Very delightful, from what I have read, Marlee's in Sewards the same.

 

Great to hear you are enjoying your stay in Talkeetna, too! Did you also stay near Denali, and if so, where? I'd be interested in your pre-cruise itinerary.

[momeason]

The Ballaine House website is http://www.superpage.com/ballaine/.

There isn't a lot of info there. Marilee gets most of her business from referrals.

The rooms are fine. the house was built in 1905. It is kept up well. You will be sharing a bathroom, but we never had to wait and the house was full. Marilee is wonderful. If you do not use the link from the superpage site and just email her at historicsewardbb@yahoo.com, she won't have to pay superpage a commission.

[momeason]

The PWS cruise was very nice. We had beautiful weather and saw lots of otters which was great because we did not get very close to otters in Kenai.

the boat was not very full and it was a nice day. The Esther Passage was very pretty and I was glad that I went for the more scenic, slower paced cruise and not the 26 glacier tour. the glaciers start looking alike after a while. I enjoyed seeing the combination of scenery, glaciers and wildlife.

 

The Island Princess cruise was very nice but I will do a review of that later in another thread. Very roomy ship, loved the long narrow design. Never felt crowded although it was sold out!!

[NancyIL]

The PWS cruise was very nice. We had beautiful weather and saw lots of otters which was great because we did not get very close to otters in Kenai.

the boat was not very full and it was a nice day. The Esther Passage was very pretty and I was glad that I went for the more scenic, slower paced cruise and not the 26 glacier tour. the glaciers start looking alike after a while. I enjoyed seeing the combination of scenery, glaciers and wildlife.

 

The Island Princess cruise was very nice but I will do a review of that later in another thread. Very roomy ship, loved the long narrow design. Never felt crowded although it was sold out!!

 

One more question for you: which cruise did you like best - Kenai Fjords or Prince William Sound? Our cruise next summer is northbound ending in Whittier, and as much as I'd like to do the PWS cruise, I think it might not be appreciated as it ought so soon after we get off our ship. I'm thinking we might be more receptive to getting back on a boat in Seward 5 days later, just before we fly home.

[NancyIL]

This is what I said on April 29th:

 

The 26 Glacier cruise leaves Whittier at 1 p.m. - so you will have quite a bit of time to kill before then. If it were me, having just sailed through College Fjord on the cruise ship, I would probably opt for the cruise that sails around Esther Passage (11:00-5:00) to get a different view of Prince William Sound: http://www.princewilliamsound.com/579.cfm[/Quote]

 

Way back then, I was booked on a southbound RCI ship out of Seward. Since then I changed to a northbound Princess ship into Whittier...so maybe I'd better take my own advice and go on the PWS cruise while we're in Whittier!

[momeason]

I enjoyed both cruises. The scenery was very different. We saw more varieties of wildlife in Kenai, but we did not see sea otters up close. We saw tons of sea otters in PWS. The only marine animal we still were searching for after PWS was the Harbor seal. We saw tons of them in one spot in Misty Fjords from Ketchican.

The glacier Hike is the one thing I would definitely say is a must do on your land tour. You will LOVE it!!

[NancyIL]

I enjoyed both cruises. The scenery was very different. We saw more varieties of wildlife in Kenai, but we did not see sea otters up close. We saw tons of sea otters in PWS. The only marine animal we still were searching for after PWS was the Harbor seal. We saw tons of them in one spot in Misty Fjords from Ketchican.

The glacier Hike is the one thing I would definitely say is a must do on your land tour. You will LOVE it!!

 

Thanks again. Yes, the Matanuska Glacier hike is a keeper! I'm still thinking about Kenai Fjords vs. PWS - and now I think we will do one or the other, but just before flying home. Both cruises are 6 hours, and without a 2-for-1 coupon, pretty much the same price. If you could do only one...which would you choose?

[momeason]

Probably Kenai Fjords...we did the 10 am tour which included a salmon or chicken dinner on Fox Island. We really enjoy seeing wildlife. I have a thread that lists all my favorite things we did. Look for all my posts by clicking onmy name and you should find it.

[jimcat]

Great to hear you are enjoying your stay in Talkeetna, too! Did you also stay near Denali, and if so, where? I'd be interested in your pre-cruise itinerary.

 

Denali river cabins.. theres a coupon in the toursaver book.. neat place.. very clean.. modern log cabins.. mile post 231.1.. right in the same place as the McKinley lodge.

 

Tv with perhaps 3 or 4 channels.. 2 twin beds.. room all cedar lined.. great smell. Phone in rooms.. no in room coffee.. but still very very nice.

 

Restaurant was very good. I have come to believe the state dessert in Alaska is Ice cream..

 

So, we stayed here.. then drove into the park.. its like 4 miles perhaps at best to the entrance. The restaurant makes up a nice box lunch for 8.00 to take into the park for that shuttle ride that costs 19.00 per person.

 

Just fill out the order form in the office and it will be ready at the time you specify.

 

Jim

[momeason]

NancyIL:

The one thing you will see a lot of in PWS, but not in Kenai is Sea Otters.

They were incredible in PWS. The otters made our day.

[NancyIL]

Thanks for answering my questions, momeason and jimcat. :)

[jgo51]

Please tell me !!! is it easy to get around from her place ?? We have reservations at Harborview Inn and I would prefer a B&B. your review has made me wonder if I should change my reservation. WE don't have a car ...so we need to get around by walking or by taxi. is this a good place to do that???? I know that Harborview Inn is between downtown and the harbor. We are taking a 6 hour cruise the next day after arriving in Seward , the day after that we are plannig to ho to Exit Glacier and to the Sea Life Center then take the 6 PM train to Anchorage . What do youn think????

[jimcat]

Please tell me !!! is it easy to get around from her place ?? We have reservations at Harborview Inn and I would prefer a B&B. your review has made me wonder if I should change my reservation. WE don't have a car ...so we need to get around by walking or by taxi. is this a good place to do that???? I know that Harborview Inn is between downtown and the harbor. We are taking a 6 hour cruise the next day after arriving in Seward , the day after that we are plannig to ho to Exit Glacier and to the Sea Life Center then take the 6 PM train to Anchorage . What do youn think????

 

If your talking about the Ballaine House ( Marilee's) It is not that far a walk from her place to downtown.. but if you ask her prior to booking.. she may drop you off at the dock for your 6 hour cruise.. from her place to there, it's maybe 6 blocks.. shes on 3rd and madison ( 3rd being the main highway.. and the docks on 4th. to Sealife center about 6 blocks the other way. I know she drove the one set of folks to the other B and B for dessert.. we drove ourselves as her vehicle was full :)

[momeason]

We walked back and forth to the downtown area for restaurants,shopping and the Sealife Center from the Ballaine House. We drove down for our Kenai Fjords cruise,but my husband had to park the car 2 blocks from the cruise. We could have walked or Marilee would give you a ride. Seward is not very big and Marilee is extremely helpful. If you stay at the Harbor, downtown is a pretty far walk.