Aurora Villa - Fairbanks, Alaska

BRAYAND MUÑOZ USUGA

Buen ambiente

J W

We checked into Aurora Villa with high expectations. It is about 20 minutes from the city center. Great location. The room and public areas are clean and tidy. Everything is self-service. No complaints with all these. However, if you want to have a quiet and comfortable rest, please do not choose this property. You can hear everything from your neighbors even with earplugs… walking, talking, singing, even sneezing…

Mark Borchgardt

Had a very nice stay near Fairbanks. Room was modern and clean. Lots of towels provided in the room. Great pillows. Free snacks and drinks available 24/7 in the kitchen area. Best feature is incredible views of the Northern Lights from outside the property AND from inside our room. I actually got better pictures of the aurora from our room where we were nice and warm.

Although it is mostly a “contactless experience”, the onsite staff person helped us to resolve an issue. Another guest took the extension cord for our rental car while it was plugged in outside. The staff person offered to reimburse us for a new cord which was very kind. But even more so the next time we came back to the room, he had gotten a new extension cord for us. That was above and beyond what I would have expected.

Shane Renner

Pros:
- Rooms and facility were very clean and comfortable. Unlike other reviewers, I was never once disturbed by sounds from other guests. I also thought the mattress was incredibly comfortable and was going to look at it to see if I could buy one for myself.
- Views were incredible. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and snowy during our stay so we did not see the Lights, but that’s just nature and weather.
- The hill out the windows was perfect for sledding.
- With regards to removing shoes before entering: you do this inside the facility in an entryway with benches to sit on and complimentary slippers. I chose to wear my own slippers that I brought with. After seeing another party not remove their boots before entering, and seeing all the snow and mud they tracked around, I can appreciate why they want boots off before entering. I didn’t not feel like this was an inconvenience in any way, shape, or form.
- It appears that some of the complaints from other reviews have been addressed, which tells me the owners care about the feedback and want this to be a positive experience.
- They offer a light breakfast but actually have several food items that are more “lunch” or “snack” in nature, so we don’t go hungry between meals.
- Personally, I loved the contactless check-in. No issues. Love not having a room key to carry around and potentially lose.
- Staff were readily available by text whenever I had to reach out.

Cons:
- I would have liked a little more space to store personal food. As mentioned in other reviews, there is very little nearby.

I would suggest that people review the “Terms and Conditions” on their website as it addresses many of the things other people seem to have questions about.

Amanda Brown

This is an overpriced hostel with a decent view. If you like walls so thin you can hear your neighbor clip their toenails then you’ve come to the right place! If they cough it’s like they are in the room with you. They also require you to leave your shoes at the main entrance and wear disposable slippers to your room with a mask. Breakfast is a refrigerated egg sandwich that they leave in the communal fridge for you to heat up. No staff on site.when you arrive, you have to send an email with your ID and credit card picture to check in and just wait until they send you the code to get in. This is not worth the money. Also smells weird and our walls had weird markings on them. We left after the first night and went to a hotel in town but they did not refund us for the remaining two nights we booked. Horrible experience all around. I should also add that no tours that you book will pick you up here due to the rough road and it is 25 minutes from everything. Added a picture so you can see the view and save your money.

tressler720

We stayed as a family in the lodge. It was a great and seem less experience. The place was clean. The beds were super comfortable and all the little extras from the thank you gift, slippers, toiletries and the fresh fruit and juice and water upon arrival were super helpful. ||It’s the perfect spot. We weren’t able to see the lights from the cabin due to clouds. But the scenery was great. So quiet. The Wi-Fi worked great and had access to streaming Roku device which was great for the family after a day in the snow.||Thanks for a memorable stay.

Dan Erickson

ITS A SCAM! DO NOT BOOK HERE!

This is an overpriced hostel. They have no actual restaurant onsite and only have a microwave sandwich. This is not advertised in their "Luxury" desciption.

Room is a Motel 6 room. Two pillows per hard, lumpy bed. Even Motel 6 gives you 4 per bed...

They also force you to remove your shoes, you are not allowed to wear them inside the building or to your room. They force you to wear slippers. This is not posted online.

Walls are repaired without paint. Check out the pic for the holiday of patching and sanding.

Then they force Covid rules and restrictions like masks and 6 foot social distancing but then force us to share a fridge and table with strangers?

100% scam, do not book here!

We are fighting out travel agent and CC provider to combat these thieves with with false and misleading advertising.

$600/night is a total scam!

Update to the owner's comment-
You have signs at the entrance saying "Masks are Required, Maintain 6 Foot Social Distancing" and "Guests must remove shoes at entrance" as of Sept 9th, 2024. Stop lying. You don't advertise those overreaching rules online. We never would have booked if we knew that.
We never complained about the smell, we complained the wall was recently patched but you didn't bother to paint the wall after repairing it but charge $2000 for 3 nights. There was still dust and debris from them sanding the patch work down. It was built up on the base molding still, you didn't bother to sweep it or vacuum it. I showed it all to Kevin and he claimed it was clean and nothing was wrong.
We complained we could hear the neighbor clipping their toe nails. When my fiancé asked if it was me clipping, the noise suddenly stopped then got quieter. The neighbor clipped them quieter after he heard us talking about him but the walls are paper thin, that was our complaint.
Not a smell but that you charge Ritz Carlton prices for a Motel 6 room.
You claim parking and your breakfast options are "amenities" but for $600/night, I don't want a $1.00 microwave breakfast sandwich. That is not an amenity worthy of your price tags.
For these reasons outlined above, you are clearly a scam.

Linda Abrams

Our 4 night stay was a disappointment especially given the price which is substantially higher than other places. This is not a hotel but rather a contactless airbnb type facility with no services. We never saw any staff except a housekeeper the first day. To start with, we arrived to an empty facility and it was extremely confusing how to check in. We were given the room code by phone and entered an unmade room. The room wasn’t made up until 3:45 pm (3 pm check in) which was unwelcome news after a full day of travel. It was disappointing there was no housekeeping or even cleaning supplies to clean ourselves so our room was filthy by the end of the stay. We were told they would clean our room day 3 upon us asking for this but this didn’t happen. The common room was dirty including old takeout food in the dirty frig( which didn’t belong to anyone- we were the only guest initially) a filthy microwave and food in the trash. On day 2 I asked for an extra blanket because it was well below zero and was told there were plenty in the cabinet but there were actually none, which made sleeping difficult throughout the stay.
It’s a remote location, treacherous via car in the winter and There were no block car engine heater plug in’s so we had to deal with scary warnings in the car to plug in and fears we would get stranded. During our stay, we were either the only guest or just one other so it made me feel uneasy if something were to happen in such a remote location without any staff on premises to help us.
On a positive note- the location is beautiful and we could see the aurora. Common room was pretty for photos but uncomfortable furniture (couches without backs and hard chairs) so I didn’t spend time there. Rooms were pretty with quality towels and toiletries, plus heated floors and a nice tv. But there was almost no place to store things like drawers and only a few hangers for jackets…and little counter space in bathroom so we had to live out of the suitcases and everything felt cluttered.
No breakfast anymore since COVID and be aware there’s no food or stores within 20 minutes, and it’s not an easy thing to go in and out especially if it’s snowing.
Overall do not recommend.