Awful! Viator Tours & Alaska Wildlife Guide (outsourced company), never communicated the Chena Resorts "Ice Museum & Bar" had been closed for 2 weeks. It will not be reopening until at least October 2024. When we contacted them via email, they suggested we could get a refund or utilize the $16.00 per person for on site activities. We took the refund. We didn't arrive at Resort until 6pm. The activities all closed by 6pm, we found out when we arrived at resort...Dog trail closed @ 6pm, Greenhouse/Geothermal 2pm, Kennel 4pm, ATV 6pm. Since there were no activities or Ice Museum we wanted to eat dinner. Then we were informed dinner reservation was 8pm. Then we wanted to sit at Bar & drink...NOT ALLOWED. We could buy beverages and drink in Lobby. So all we could do was go to Hot Springs or indoor pool. I didn't want to do that until after dinner. So now, nothing to do for 2 HOURS. If you wanted WiFi, an additional cost of $10.00. What a rip off. It was a cloudy night but we were curious what time Tony was planning on driving us to see the Northern Lights. NO! He stated he drives to and from Resort. No special drive to see Lights. The resort has Yurts but only for hotel guests and is an hour drive north of resort. This tour cost $195.00 per person, 10 hour tour from 4pm-2am. We left resort @ 11:30pm. Back to hotel by 12:30am. If you want to see resort take the day trip. We stayed in Fairbanks 2 nights longer just for this tour. It cost hotel and meals extra to have this tour. What a waist. Plus, there isn't much to do in Fairbanks.
Ответ от хоста
Aug 2023
Patricia,
Prior to the night of your tour, Chena Hot Springs had been offering a special guided tour of numerous points of interest on their grounds to make up for their ice museum being down. The night of your tour, the Chena Resort, despite confirming with us ahead of time, cancelled the special tour with no warning to us. We did not know until you did that they would not be providing this service, and we were not very happy about this. For the disruption to your evening, we do apologize.
Regarding your statement about an email exchange, that would have been with Viator, and not our office. Viator is a booking agency that is owned by TripAdvisor, and we are an independent tour operator in Alaska. Additionally, the activities you mention being advised about, including the dog trail, geothermal plant, or ATV rides, are never mentioned as part of our tour, and are not intended to be a part of an overnight Northern Lights viewing experience, which this tour is.
Regarding the bar at Chena’s restaurant, we have no knowledge of customers ever being told they cannot sit at the bar, and Chena’s management is similarly unaware of any customers ever being told this. Like any restaurant, liquor sales are a significant revenue stream for them, and they will never turn away bar patrons if they have any capacity to serve.
Our tour guides are never allowed to take special drives that are not part of the itinerary as this could pose significant safety concerns if something were to happen and we did not know where to look for the missing people and our van. The Chena Hot Springs tour is intended to remain at the resort, and to stop for any possible viewing along the way back. As it was cloudy that night, no such options presented themselves, and we regret that you were unable to witness the Northen Lights the night of your tour.
We are indeed saddened to hear that you did not enjoy your time in Fairbanks. It is a relatively small town out here in the frontier of Alaska, but we have a bountiful supply of natural beauty and wonder that surrounds us that we do hope you were able to enjoy in your time here.
-Alaska Wildlife Guide