15 Best Hotels in Fairbanks, the Yukon, and the Interior, Alaska

Though just a 20-minute drive from Fairbanks, A Taste of Alaska is far enough outside town to make you feel as though you're at a wilderness retreat; the 280-acre property, graced with fields and forested woodlands, has great views of the Alaska Range to the south, and in winter you can see the northern lights. It's clear from the get-go that owner Kory Eberhardt was born to run this lodge, and he'll happily share stories of his family's life here: his grandfather homesteaded the property in 1947, and his parents built the lodge in 1992 with trees hewn from the property. Accommodations include a remote cabin, a two-story log home, and the main lodge. Collectibles decorate the rooms, with an endearing predilection for Elizabeth Taylor memorabilia. The room rate includes a sturdy and delicious breakfast, and Eberhardt offers dinner upon request. An extra bonus, the Paws for Adventure Sled Dog Tours mushing company is on the property, making it easy to enjoy a ride or more without straying far from your temporary home.

In the heart of downtown Fairbanks, just above the Chena River, the Bridgewater welcomes guests with overflowing flower baskets and comfortable, modern rooms. The Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center is within walking distance, as are downtown shops and restaurants. 

One of Tok's nicer lodgings, Burnt Paw has seven comfortable, sod-roof cabins—each with two beds, a private bath, a microwave, a refrigerator, Wi-Fi, and satellite TV. They are also motorcycle-friendly and have a popular gift shop where you can find jade, gold, Alaska Native crafts, and a display of sled-dog equipment.

Rocket scientists from the nearby Poker Flat Research Range gather at this cedar lodge, as do mushers, snowmachiners, and local families (including the owners, who expanded the bar so much it consumed their cabin). The eclecticism of the clientele is matched by the decor, which includes bear skins, exercise bikes, and a John Wayne memorabilia wall. Most of the thousands of Christmas lights at the lodge stay up year-round. The rooms generally have a double and single bed, a sink, a television, and Wi-Fi. The toilets and showers are down the hall.

Soaking in the resort's hot springs has long been a popular experience for tourists and locals, especially in winter, when a soak is often paired with overhead aurora sightings. Chena's waters are served up in hot tubs, an indoor swimming pool, and an outdoor natural-rock lake. In winter you can go dogsledding, snowmobiling, and take a 4½-mile round-trip snow-coach tour to a heated hilltop yurt with a 360-degree view. Summer activities include dog-cart rides, guided ATV tours, and horseback riding. Don't miss the world's only year-round ice museum (tours $15), complete with an ice bar, ice bedrooms, and ice sculptures by world-class carvers. In addition to the multiple lodge buildings, the resort also offers camping sites, and yurts ($65 and up) are available for rent.

Fuel, tire repairs, and towing are available here, along with basic and clean rooms built from surplus pipeline-worker housing. The restaurant serves generous portions of truck-stop fare. It's the only facility within 100 miles or more. Adventure-travel options include flightseeing and river rafting in summer and aurora safaris and dog mushing in winter. The complex has a post office and 20 RV spaces with hookups—they're nothing fancy. There's no dump station.

This family-run inn has picturesque private cabins and comfortable apartments. Fill up on a full breakfast before spending the day hiking and exploring right from the property.

Built in 1903 during the gold rush into the Interior, Alaska's oldest functioning roadhouse caters to a diverse crowd of vacationers, miners, and road-maintenance crews. It's known for its home-style restaurant and comfortable accommodations, in the original roadhouse and three cabins. The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner; the bar earns bragging rights for its 200 brands of liquor and 20 varieties of beer.

Log columns and beams support the high ceiling in the lobby of this hotel and conference center designed to remind guests of the city's gold-rush past. More than 20,000 flowering plants grace the grounds, a ½-mile walk along the Chena River borders the property, and kids will enjoy visiting the resident ducks at the Lucky Duck Hotel out back. Green touches include solar panels, carpets made from recycled materials, and a greenhouse that university students tend. The lodge contains several warm and cozy common areas, including a piano room and a fireplace lounge, as well as wet and dry saunas. For a higher rate, riverfront rooms offer scenic views. If you're looking for a more Alaska experience, try one of the 28 rustic log cabins.

Usually reserved by locals and adventurers with extensive backcountry experience, these Alaska State Parks cabins have woodstoves, bunks, and tools for cutting wood; you have to supply everything else—food, bedding, water, cooking utensils, and, at some, firewood. This is basic Alaskan shelter, but it can't be beat for leaving the real world behind.

The Bureau of Land Management runs 12 public-use cabins in the White Mountains National Recreation Area and one road-accessible cabin on the Elliot Highway, with 300 miles of interconnecting trails. Designed primarily for winter use by dog mushers, snowmachiners (snowmobilers), and cross-country skiers, cabins provide shelter for summer backpackers, although summer access is limited by mountainous and boggy terrain. The cabins have bunk beds, wood stoves, tables, and chairs.

If you want the privacy of a cottage, a bit of elbow room, and the amenities of a luxury hotel, you'll find them all at this resort on the bank of the Chena River. The individual cottages, some of them fronting the river and surrounded by beautifully landscaped grounds, have patios or garden spaces. On summer evenings you can sit outside and watch canoes, rafts, and powerboats pass by. Chena's Alaskan Grill serves lunch and dinner at the lodge, which has eight executive suites. 

Its quiet location and very helpful staff make this spacious hotel near the airport one of Fairbanks's best. It has comfy furniture, rich upholstery, and Alaskan artwork throughout. If you don't feel like dining out, these suites include full kitchens and are a short walk from two large grocery stores. Or just head to Zach's, the hotel restaurant which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner; menu items incorporate ingredients grown in the hotel's flower-filled on-site gardens.

At the center of the commercial district's former heart, the SpringHill Suites has 140 very comfortable suites, each with a microwave, a refrigerator, living-room furniture, and a well-lighted work area. The hotel provides a complimentary continental breakfast buffet, and the in-house restaurant, Lavelle's, is among the city's best places to eat. Ask for a room facing the river, on the hotel's scenic side.

Wild and cultivated flowers adorn the landscaped grounds of this 105-acre resort bordering the Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge. The Alaska Bird Observatory, a local nonprofit that researches and promotes the conservation of Alaska's birds, is headquartered here, and trails at the 75-acre Wedgewood Wildlife Sanctuary connect with ones at the waterfowl refuge. Most accommodations are suites with full kitchens, and the Bear Lodge Hotel—also part of the resort—has 157 large rooms available in summer. The Fountainhead Antique Automobile Museum, one of the world's finest car museums, is also on the property.