Talkeetna: Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge (August 2008)

This lodge owned by Alaska Heritage Tours Group is located quite near downtown Talkeetna, but it would still be a 10-minute downhill walk (but we had a rental car). The lodge is nice, but the view on a clear day is spectacular. There's a great outdoor viewing deck where you can relax and have meals and drinks. There are two restaurants: the casual one with both indoor and deck seating, and a more formal restaurant. The lobby has a nice public seating area with a dual-sided fireplace. We had a booked a standard main-lodge room, but were given a mountain-view room at check-in, which was an upgrade since it included a sofabed, coffee table, and small refrigerator. There was also a desk and chair, easy chair, and bench seat (which we used for our luggage). It was wonderful to be able to watch the sunset (although that was 10:00 pm) right from our room. We were on the ground floor of a three floor building; the top floor would be ideal, but we were able to remove the screen from our window and hop out to take photos, which wouldn't have been possible (or maybe necessary) from the top floor. The sink area was outside the bathroom, which I always find helpful when more than one person occupies the room. Shampoo, conditioner, lotion were provided, as well as a hairdryer, lots of towels, and comfortable bedding.