Cape Fox Lodge is a pretty place in a beautiful setting, but suffers from some quality issues both in terms of facilities and staff. We spent two nights here in January, 2012. Although we almost didn't get there because the shuttle driver went to the airport ferry dock instead of the AK marine highway ferry dock, where we had called twice to say we were waiting. The manager apologized profusely for our 45 minute wait out in the cold.
Our room was OK, good bed and hot shower, but it was extremely warm (~80 degrees) and we had trouble sleeping the first night. The knob on the heater was non-sensical and the room stayed very hot even after the manager turned it off, and we used an electric fan to blow air out the open window (remember, this is January and it is about 30 degrees outside). Both knobs on the windows were broken off and one window actually had been screwed shut so that it could not be opened, even in an emergency! The other thing with the room is the lack of electrical outlets that could be reached, there were very few, all hidden behind large pieces of furniture.
On our second day the Tram, used to reach downtown, was closed because of "a funny sound", and stayed closed for the rest of our stay. So in the dark we negotiated the slippery, winding Married Man's path on a skim of snow and ice, for the 300 or so vertical feet down to town, and then back up again.
The worst single issue was rock and roll music resonating through our room beginning at 8 pm and lasting till after 11 pm. The first night we tried to ignore it, but the second night, unable to sleep I dressed and walked down to the office after 11 pm and described the bass and drums as somewhere between Iron Maiden and Twisted Sister, or whatever their modern equivalents are. The manager instantly said "oh, it's the kitchen staff" and shuttled off to deal with it. That was the end of it, but still it seemed inexcusable in what should be a quiet hotel in January. We were almost the only guests here. I pictured a dazed 20-year-old dishwasher head banging his way through his shift. This might not be a problem in other rooms. Ours, room 240 was directly above the kitchen--avoid this room!
Breakfast in the Lodge restaurant was very good, and a fairly good deal at $7.99 each. We had tried to find breakfast in town and the Pioneer Cafe was $11.99 or more for something similar, on seats with large tears in them. We tried to find a sit-down dinner spot, but instead punted with a Subway sandwich in the room after a man who worked in the food industry complained to us that there was nothing acceptable in Ketchikan. We had looked at several places but everything seemed substandard yet very expensive. And some still allow smoking in the restaurant, which is unacceptable.
The Jitters coffee shop lady was nice and had some interesting coffee varieties for sale, but she botched grinding our coffee for a French Press--I specifically told her to grind it coarse. So she comes back and says here, it's ground for drip or espresso. Hello?? Please get an education about coffee grinding if you are going to run a coffee shop and sell bags of coffee to people from Seattle.
In summary, almost everything went wrong on our stay at Cape Fox Lode. I would not stay here again!
- Cape Fox Hotel
