Finding a dog friendly hotel gets to be very difficult when you travel to remote regions of the country. We were having a bit of trouble finding a dog friendly hotel while visiting Fairbanks, Alaska when a new friend of ours recommended Pike’s Waterfront Lodge. It turned out to be exactly what we were looking for: fun, quirky, and friendly. We loved it so much we ended up staying there twice! If you’re planing on visiting Fairbanks AK, take a look at this Pike’s Waterfront Lodge review to see why Pike’s might just be the place for you and your dogs.
When we first arrived at Pike’s Waterfront Lodge, we weren’t really sure what to expect. We hadn’t done any research whatsoever, we didn’t even have reservations! It was off-season for the Fairbanks area and that usually means that hotels are run down, half empty, and have the “B-team” working. That was absolutely not the case at Pikes. I had a feeling this place would be right up our alley the second we pulled up. The first hint was when we saw that the property was filled with all kinds of quirky signs and statues, and it was much larger than we expected.
The outside of the lodge showed great promise!
The second hint came the instant we walked inside. The interior of Pikes was warm, inviting, and filled with all kinds of random pictures and decorations. It was like walking into a combination antique shop and museum. We were in knickknack heaven!
Who wouldn’t love to stay in a place decorated like this?!?!
The third, and final, hint that this was the right place for us, was when we got to the front desk. The staff was just as warm and inviting as the hotel decor. They were so nice they gave us the internet rate even though we didn’t have reservations! It wasn’t just the first person to help us at the front desk that made our visit though, we had several interactions with different members of the hotel staff and they were all top notch. One of the staffers was so friendly we featured her in our Why I Love Alaska post. After checking in, we made our way to one of their dog friendly rooms and were quite pleased with the set-up and the lovely view. If you are planning on staying at Pikes Waterfront with dogs, I really do suggest making reservations (don’t just show up like we did) since they have a limited amount of dog-friendly rooms.
Pretty nice for a dog friendly hotel room, no?
What really made our stay memorable at Pike’s Waterfront Lodge though, were all the little details throughout our stay. It’s easy for a hotel to have nice rooms and cool decor, but it’s much harder to make sure that every moment of your stay feels special. Remember, we stayed at this lodge as regular guests, they didn’t even know we were bloggers. So what did Pike’s do to make us feel special? Well for starters they gave us free ice cream each night that we stayed with them. We were given these cute little wooden nickels that we could exchange for an ice cream cone for each night. They also found out that we were interested in seeing the Northern Lights, so they offered us a wake-up call each night in case the lights were visible. The lodge also offers fun summer activities like mini-golf, and good ole’ fashioned rock chucking in the river out back. On top of all this, Pikes Waterfront Lodge included a great continental breakfast with a make your own waffle bar! For dining at the lodge you can take a stroll over to Pikes Landing, their restaurant next door, and enjoy a drink or a hot meal. We didn’t end up having dinner at Pikes, but we did take advantage of their “Fairbanks Famous” Sunday Brunch Buffet. It was so good, their brunch buffet alone is reason enough for us to return to Fairbanks.
Make sure to have a meal at Pike’s Landing.
