Well sitting here in Anchorage getting ready to go back to Sebring, I thought I would do a few reviews. We stayed at the Totem Inn twice this fall/winter. Two days in Sept. and one day in Nov.
In Sept. we thought to we would find a lot of deals in the park for the post season. We were wrong. Everything is closed up. We got one of the last rooms out of about 50 at the Totem Inn. When we asked what was going on the front desk guy told us that after the park closes on the 15th of Sept all the businesses try to get there repairs done before the snow and all the construction workers stay here. He said it was a little bit busier than normal but happens every year. Only two hotels, two restaurants, two gas stations and a store stay open all year, but we could drive into the park alittle. So we stayed.
Hotel: The room we got was good sized with two beds. Temperpedic mattresses (wow), large flat screen tv, microwave, refrigerator, and coffee pot with coffee. I asked the front desk if there was any tea and he got me some. There is a fitness room for those who work out. You have to wait your turn for the treadmill, there’s only one. Free laundry (only one washer and dryer for guests but it is free) and free WiFi. Noise, not so bad, there was a lot of traffic up and down the halls but it was muffled pretty good. We had a nice night and decided to stay another. When we came back in Nov. the motel was pretty empty, all the workers were gone. This is probably one of the better hotels we stayed at in the three months we were in Alaska.
Bar: The bar is pretty small and could maybe seat about 40 people. At the time we were there, it had about 12 people. The bartender was friendly and was chatting with everyone. About 6 of the guys were playing ”Wii bowling”, I have to admit this kept us amused for quite awhile. At about Midnight the bartender told the guys that they had enough to drink and should head for home, which they did. We also decided to call it a night and the bartender made last call and said that he was closing up. This was a lot of fun, even the music was good (classic rock). Two thumbs up for this small town bar.
Restaurant: We ate all but one meal here. The restaurant and bar are in the same building about fifty feet from the motel we were in. It’s cold in Nov. but you are going to have to walk outside it you are going to eat. The restaurant part is a nice cozy log room with wildlife pictures all over the walls. I found out that the owner is also the photographer and had a nice chat with him, and even bought one of his photos. I wish I could put a copy of the menu here, it must be six pages. There is pizza, pasta, steaks, seafood, burgers, sandwiches, and breakfasts (which can be ordered all day). The service was good and the food was excellent. The prices on most of the items were better than those in Fairbanks. We were told that almost all the food is prepared on the premises, including the onion rings and fries. I wish we could have tried everything.
The only cloud we had on our stay at the Totem Inn was on our second day in Sept. When I went to the front desk to see if we could stay for another night, there was another guest railing the front desk lady (who must be a saint to put up with it) about how every night she was here, she was kept awake by the bar noise and wanted a discount and if she didn’t see one on here credit card she was going to leave a bad review and get her friends to leave one also. The front desk lady said she would check with the night desk and see what was going on. Well I know for a fact that the bar closed at midnight and there was no bar noise and told the front desk that and that we were not kept awake. Who in their right mind would stay at a hotel for more than one night if the noise was keeping them awake? I mentioned the incident to the owner when I was talking to him at breakfast and he said that it happens during the post season every year. He called them the bargain hunters, if they can’t find a bargain they try to manufacture one. More than 3000 people stay at the Totem every year and 90% is happy and tell him so. So he tries to not get depressed about two or three customers he can’t please. He also told me you can tell who they are because “everything” is bad or terrible. Oh well this turned into a book, hope you enjoyed reading it.