The Lakefront Anchorage in Anchorage, AK

Awful. The staff were never helpful, the halls were lined with box fans at check in. Terrible smell. The walls were all beat up. We had a local tell us that the hotel is used in the off season to house the homeless. We were booked 2 nights and cut it down to 2 because it was so bad. And be warned of a ‘resort fee’ ?

BLUF: Please, please do not stay here. Save your money and your peace of mind. Traveled to Anchorage on official orders with a coworker. We booked this hotel due to the beautiful lakefront photos and description online. The overall rating on TripAdvisor seemed good, and we were excited to begin our journey. 1. The website is misleading. Only a miniscule number of rooms have a view of the lake. The majority overlook the rundown parking lot or an adjacent motel with less than 6 ft clearance. 2. The website and confirmation emails also fail to mention that there is a "resort fee" of $40/night. I scoured the website in detail, clicking every link to find this information and it is most certainly nowhere to be found. This is important to note because when you travel on orders, you are required to pre-load your anticipated expenses like taxes and fees. I even called the hotel to ask about procedure for waiving the local 12% hotel tax per DOD guidelines (which was waived) and they did not state that there were any other fees. The website specifically says that there is complimentary parking, water at check-in, wi-fi, and shuttle service. Complimentary means FREE. The hotel must clearly outline their fee structure to customers and cannot promote false marketing. If you are staying at this hotel, please make sure that you are not charged the "resort fee" for things that are advertised and promised as being free. We were not charged this fee at the end but this is a warning for all other potential and current patrons. 3. As a single woman, I was assigned a double queen room on the ground floor next to the parking lot. The room reeked of sweat and another odor I couldn't place, and everything had a layer of dust. The carpet was dirty and both mattresses looked like the bed from Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" that still had the indentation from Mrs. Bates' dead body- you could literally see the indentation from otjer people having laid on the bed. I immediately called the front desk and asked to be moved because I most certainly did not feel safe and the room was filthy. After being told that "the hotel was overbooked" and that I couldn't be moved, I politely asked if they could just switch me to a room where the guests hadn't yet checked in. They switched me to a room on the second floor. 4. Second floor room. Getting to the room was a nightmare. The hallway was windy and full of turns. I half expected to see the little girls from "The Shining" at the end (wherever the end was) of the hallway. The carpet was filthy, the floors are weak, and there was garbage on the floor throughout. Getting out of this hotel in the event of a fire or emergency would be difficult. 5. My room had garbage and someone's snowboots piled up outside the door. The new room did not reek like the first but still smelled musty. The shower did not drain and the toilet did not flush. The bath mat was dirty when I unfolded it to take a shower. The window looked directly into a wall. I took towels from the bathroom and laid them over the bed without unmaking it or using the sheets. I did not use or touch the pillows and tried to sleep at the foot of the bed, fully clothed, on top of the towels. In the morning, there were black spots appearing on the coverlet. 6. My co-worker's air conditioner wasn't working. When she arrived at her room on the third floor (also after marching through the labyrinth of a hallway on a bad ankle and dragging luggage on filth carpet), she honestly thought someone was having sex in her room- turned out to be the room directly next door, and obviously a hotel can't control other guests or noises, but it is a warning that the walls are extremely thin here which adds to the seedy feeling. She also had problems with the cleanliness of her bedding. 7. At check in, the front desk gave my coworker vouchers for $10 off breakfast but the woman who checked me in directly adjacent did not hand out vouchers or mention them. I asked the other desk agent for the voucher and he assisted. 8. Please note- I believe that the large number of glowing reviews seem to be generated by employees or their friends and families in order to keep the average up. There is a trend with those reviews and they most certainly do not reflect the reality of this place. After my experience, I went back and read all of the poor and terrible reviews- and my experience, down to being told the hotel was overbooked, has been repeated numerous times. 9. This is not a Millennium Hotel in keeping with the reputation of the brand. Thankfully, we were moved to a different hotel by the DOD.

Pros: The hotel is located close to the airport, and the free shuttle is convenient. The lake is picturesque if you are lucky enough to have a room with a view. (We are not one of the lucky ones.) Cons: This hotel has seen better days. The decor is outdated, and the carpet throughout is heavily stained/soiled/worn out. They could definitely do a better job of cleaning. There are crumbs/stains throughout the halls, in addition to in our room. The dresser and other surfaces throughout our room were also covered with a sticky residue—definitely a “leave your shoes on and don’t touch anything” type of hotel room. Our room also looked straight into the wall of another building—all pretty disappointing considering what we paid. All-in-all, I would skip this one and look elsewhere. At least do your homework and know what you’re getting into.

Our stay unfortunately started off on the wrong foot. After checking in with the shuttle driver at the train station and letting him know we needed to grab our luggage, he drove off without us. I called the hotel immediately, only to be told that it was outside their pickup time window. I explained that we had already checked in with the driver and he had acknowledged us and our need to get luggage, but the agent remained firm until I asked to speak with a manager. Thankfully, the manager apologized and sent the shuttle back to pick us up. Luckily the sun stays up late and we weren’t alone in the dark at the closed train depot. We originally booked another hotel in town but chose this one instead because it offered a Day Use reservation option, which was ideal since we had a red-eye flight. However, when I went to the front desk to check out of our overnight stay and check back in for the Day Use, I was told they don’t allow Day Use bookings in the summer. I had made the reservation four months earlier, and the front desk staffer insisted multiple times that these bookings weren’t allowed, even while holding my confirmed reservation. After about 30 minutes of back and forth, she said the manager would have to approve it but was busy with payroll. Eventually, the agent returned and said the manager approved the stay, though not without further comments that made it feel like we were asking for something unreasonable. As for the property itself: it’s dated. While the rooms were spacious and the bed was comfortable, the photos are misleading. The hotel gives the impression of being lakeside, but in reality, all rooms face a parking lot. Be prepared for a long walk which felt like a mile through aging hallways and walls that were visibly damaged. The location is good for the airport but is a $15 uber ride to downtown. Unless you want to use the free shuttle they offer. We were also woken up at 7:30am by someone who entered the room without announcing themself and then quickly closed the door. I went to the door to see who it was and it was a housekeeper who asked if we needed anything. I’m still uncertain why that happened. For the price and experience I would not stay here again, but I guess these are Alaska summer prices. If this is your last stop for a cruise, I would fly out same day and skip the hotel prices/experiences in this city.

All in all the hotel was good!! The “Flying Machine” restaurant was very good, very clean but prices were a bit high for me. The staff was very good-my compliments go out to Rita,Boyd and Yana for superb service which overcame the food prices making my week long stay there acceptable!!! Will return to same hotel next visit for sure!!!!