After the pictures i had seen i was not sure what to expect , pleasantly surprised we had a 2nd floor room right at the end of the long, long hallway. The room was pleasant and had a great bed, we stayed here as part of a Princess land Tour for 2 nights, The staff were simply sensational and deserved to be congratulated, The food was great and the service first class.If we were to travel to Fairbanks again this would be our hotel of choice.

Well Done

Pros: Very clean, pleasant hotel with a gracious staff and a nice lobby. Right on the river, so views are nice as well. Cons: no coffee in the rooms, products in the room are so-so (no lotion!). Breakfast buffet was good, but lunch was less than spectacular. Wireless was available, but slow!
Overall, a nice property but it had the appearance of skimping on the little things that make a difference to a business traveler.

We arrived at the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge at around 8:00 pm with a
bus load of other Princess Land Tour folks. As we walked up the hallway to our
room I couldn't help but notice the deep, black scratch marks and obvious damage
luggage had caused the walls, which made the place look very cheap. Upon
entering the room, the same "cheap" feeling stayed with me as I walked into what
I thought was a $49 a night Motel 6 type room. If you were used to the frills of
a cruise ship, or the rustic charm of the Denali Princess, you are in for a rude
awakening here. We had temperatures in the 80's on our trip so we turned on the
AC and was surprised by what sounded like a flock of dying crows coming from the
unit. Needless to say, we dealt with the heat for the duration of our stay since
no one could think - let alone sleep - with that awful noise. Once checked in,
we went to the Pub/Restaurant, Trappers. We noticed the restaurant was very
empty, since we were catching a late dinner, so we expected some pretty good
service. If there was a rating lower than "Terrible", I would have selected it
based on our experience at Trappers. The waiter wasn't capable of taking our
drink and food orders at the same time, so after we received our (incorrect)
drinks we waited patiently and he never came back. 20 minutes later after having
to ask a manager to get him, he returned, with food that we didn't order! We
explained to him that we hadn't ordered our food yet and he awkwardly apologized
and went back in the kitchen. The manager came back and took our order, but we
didn't get our food for another 25 minutes and by that time had had it with
everything. The next morning we ate at the Breakfast Buffet, which was a nicer
experience, until we noticed the lipstick stains on all the glasses and the
obvious stuck on food on all the silverware. I can't even go into the awful
service at the Princess Excursions Desk, because it is still an open wound for
me and my family after the tour people cancelled the one trip we wanted to do
and didn't tell us in time to make reservation with another company. They also
yelled at us for being upset and offered NO help what so ever. People in line
behind us who heard what was going on became as outraged as we were, but the
Princess people couldn't care less. Also, the motel (Yes, motel, it is certainly
no "lodge") is in the middle of no where. There is a shuttle - which Princess
charges for - but it only picks people up once an hour and if they driver
doesn't feel like stopping, he doesn't stop (Personal experience on that one!)
If you do stay at this horrible place, make sure you rent a car or use a shuttle
company (I'd recommend Airlink, so friendly and inexpensive, they
will take you anywhere you want to go!) If you're reading this, please be warned
about this place, and seriously consider booking elsewhere!

This lodge was our last stop on our Princess cruise and land tour. Service was excellent; staff were very helpful as we oriented ourselves to the city, restaurant choices and means of getting around town. The rooms were okay, comfortable enough but not overly cushy. They had a free wifi signal, but the strength was weak, very frustrating waiting for pages to load.

Because we wanted to visit spots in town that the regular shuttle ($5 per person round trip) didn't go to, the front desk called for a shuttle that offered round-trip rides for $6 per person. Pick-ups were very prompt and the drivers were personable, telling us about aspects of the city during each trip we took.

Our best meal was at the Pump House, which is reportedly a favorite with the locals. The food there was drop-dead wonderful.