Hi,
Has anyone stayed or heard of these Anchorage places:
1. Qupqugiaq Inn
2. Samovar Inn
Any info will be appreciated.
Also, according to my research, there is no PUBLIC transportation to/from Anchorage Ted Stevens Intl airport. One has to take a taxi ($14 one way). Is it true that PUBLIC buses do not run between the Airport and the town ? It is impossible to believe such thing can happen in US.

There are a lot of places in the U.S. that don't have bus service to the downtown from the airport. Many U.S. airports are pretty far out of downtowns or are between two large cities.

Many hotels have free shuttle service.

There are a lot of nice hotels very near the airport in Anchorage that would have shuttle service or your taxi service would be cheaper to them.

You don't want to spend a lot of time in Anchorage. It's just a pretty normal town. Most places you want to go are too far away to use Anchorage as a base to drive back to every day.

Neither is in the best location; the Qupqugiaq Inn is really not very convenient at all. While they may be cheap, I suspect you'd be looking for another place pretty quickly.

You are right, there is no city bus service to/from the airport. Blame the taxi lobby. Anchorage (the whole state, really) is a place where a rental car is a must.

Try Priceline for accommodations. If you're not insistent on a 4 star place (and the two you listed are maybe 0 stars) you might get lucky.

Thanks for response, Gardyloo. I forgot to mention important detail: I just stay in Anchorage for 1 night. I travel to Homer the next morning. I do not want to spend the night though in some run-down, roach-infested place. Nor do I want to pay $30.00 for Airport round-trip. You mention that Qupqugiaq Inn
is not convenient. What do you mean? Is the area bad ? Is the inn run-down, dirty ? or just location ? If it's just location, why would I care - I am there just one night. THANKS.

Oleg, it's obviously trying to convert from a "rooms by the week, bath down the hall" sort of place to something more up-market. I doubt if it will be successful in the part of town where it's located - rather shabby, no real attractions, few amenities (sorry Spenardians). For one night I suppose it would be okay, but personally I would look for something else. It would also cost something for a taxi from the airport, although not as far as downtown. If you added the cost of a taxi and a breakfast to the total, you might find that you're not paying that much more to stay in a motel with a continental breakfast and free airport shuttle. Or, FYI, there are at least 2 hostels in Anchorage.

You can expect many things to be pretty expensive in Alaska.

If you know that ahead of time, you can plan for it.

Thanks again for response, Gardyloo. I agree with your arguments. I went to sidestep.com and saw Econo Lodge hotel there for $108/night. I can't find out if they have airport service. Have you heard anything about the place ?
THANKS

You can find out if they have shuttle service by calling them directly. I know exactly where the Econolodge is in Anchorage, a bit of a walk from the main part of downtown. I would try the Holiday Inn. I know they have a shuttle service because I took it. Don't know if they charge for it though. Call them and ask. Good luck.

you obviously are a city person oleg
to think that buses or public transportation would be available everywhere. Not in the country, not in the south, and certainly not in Alaska!

100% agreement with Gardyloo. Best price is rarely the best deal.

Both Qupqugiaq and Samovar are in older "red light" areas of town. They are not representative of standard lodging either. Though, I would not say they are roach infested..... I've never seen roaches here at all.

Why don't you try a B&B? The rates are cheaper then most hotels & some come with breakfast!

Oleg,

If you're still looking for a reasonable place to stay, I just booked one night at the Executive Suite Inn near the airport for $59 in mid-May. The one-person rate is $49. It has a 24-hour hotel shuttle and a continental breakfast.

This seems to be some sort of special deal, but I saw it on Expedia and Travelocity. There were some year-old complaints on Travelocity about the hotel needing a good cleaning, but I'm not all that fussy. We'll only be there a short time since our plane arrives at 1 a.m. and we're picking up our RV at 1 p.m.

You didn't say when you were going, but you should know the rates go up dramatically on June 1.

For the same May date, the Best Western Golden Lion listed a $77 a night rate on Sidestep.

I also noticed that since I started working on this trip last fall, rates have come down some at some places.

The Qupqugiag Inn seemed too youthful for us and the Samovar Inn is too far away from the airport. We had booked at Clarion Suites, where we saw the price come down $15, but staying at the Executive Suite Inn saves us $30.

Hope this helps.