Great Alaska Adventures Lodge

Did my 3rd trip to Great Alaska in August and as usual it did not disappoint. Guides, food and all staff are obviously well trained quality employees. I was heartbroken when COVID closed them down last year as it was like missing a family reunion. I tried booking other resorts that did stay open and it soon became apparent nothing compared to Great Alaska Adventure Lodge. I'm anxiously awaiting my 2022 trip for fantastic meals, fishing and friends.

We spent several days at Bear Camp… I cannot say enough about Caprice, Steve, Ben, and the rest of the staff. They made us feel like old friends… Traveling to and from camp was flawless…it was a bit of a wait to catch our transport back to Anchorage (but friends we made at bear camp offered to take us back with them and saved us hours of waiting). The accommodations were just as we expected… simple but comfortable and welcoming. We especially loved the outdoor pavilions to sit and take in the scenery. Steve and Ben made the daily outings fun, exciting, and full of bears. My sole complaint… or maybe I should say suggestion… would be the food at camp.. The food was good and the chef did a excellent job… However, the general feeling was we left each meal feeling a little hungry… ie we needed more fuel for the walks and bear watching…. This is the only reason I didn’t give 5 stars. All in all…. This was a wonderful experience that I would definitely recommend… and definitely myself so again.

The Good: *No issues with the guides, all were good to great (especially at bear camp, with Steve and the other lady that started with a C, sorry I forgot). *Lodge lounge/bar area has a nice view of the Kenai *Bear Camp was in a beautiful area *The sweets (brownies, cookies) were good The Bad: *The food was quite shocking to be frank. I want to first say it is not really on the chef, but rather what the chef was given to work with. For how expensive this lodge is, you would expect some quality food. All of us in our party could not believe how little/no seafood we were served (it's Alaska!). Also no choices or menu whatsoever, whatever they serve you are eating (a lot of pork/chicken/beef). The one night out of the 7 we were served seafood it was halibut, but wasn't very good in my opinion. What about the fresh salmon that comes out of the river a few meters away? We never even got a bite of it the whole time, we really couldn't believe it. Not what we were expecting. We only had salmon once we got back to New York and went to a grocery store. Also lunches were bagged sandwiches every day...no fresh lunch. Again, for the price we paid we were expecting to enjoy and look forward to the food each night, you will not get this experience here. *They do not even provide water bottles for beverages for you on your trips. Other lodges I have stayed at the guides bring a cooler with ice and your favorite beverages. Such a simple thing, that makes guests happy. But no, they at GAL do not even offer water bottles (they make you pay for them). The UGLY: 1) Oh boy, here comes the ugly. This lodge is quite close to Anchorage. Therefore, they offer a bus from Anchorage to the lodge. But When you return, they (for some reason...we know the reason now is to make $$$) do not offer to drive you back, instead basically force you to take a flight to Anchorage (which makes little sense for the distance, you don't even save time after you go to airport, wait for flight, etc). Also they make you take a flight with all people at the resort, no matter your flight time out of anchorage back home (again, we realized later they did this to make money and did sacrificed their customer's convenience for this $) Anyways, this flight back was "optional" and you could find your own transportation back if you wanted. Therefore, since our eldest son has a van and lives in Alaska, he was going to drive us back to save on the money. Long story short, the day before the last day, the head lady of the lounge told us we had a flight the next day. When we told her we didn't, she said we did and already paid for it. We were confused and upset, but decided not to argue with the lady to avoid making this ruin the trip. It clearly states that this was optional, and we never opted in for it, and never agreed to paid for it. In our bill, they never itemized this expense, but INSTEAD they hid the expense into the total of our bill. So yes, we did pay for it, but we had not noticed it as it was not itemized and we never agreed to purchase this and it was optional from the start, and even mentioned to them our plan. So we had no choice at that point, as they said they could not refund the tickets. NOW if that was not dodgy and suspicious enough, as we were going to the airport we did some research. It was so dodgy they didn't provide transportation back and force you to take the flight (~$175 a piece, total over $700 for 4 of us). We looked up at the airport the cost of this flight list price, it was around $110-120 (fixed price for 1 ticket all season) (Grant Aviation or Ravn airlines both operate this route). So what Great Alaska does is force you to fly back to make money from your ticket. This whole experience was quite disgusting. 2) They do not offer any room cleaning because of "COVID". This makes little sense, as they also put everyone into one little dining room with no masks and eating together...but a maid can not go into an EMPTY room with a mask to tidy up the room for a few minutes. Of course, this was an excuse to make more money, but they covered it up as a COVID thing and that "that is what all the major hotels are doing". Not honest people. Food was extremely disappointing. Not recommended.

My son and I spent 5 days fishing for salmon the first week of September. We had three different guides and all were great, very instructive and patient. Rooms were basic but clean and comfortable. Boats and equipment were excellent. Every one of the staff was friendly and helpful and the food was fantastic! We had beautiful weather the whole week. We went there to catch the biggest fish we had ever caught and we were not disappointed! The guides worked super hard for us and we caught Sockeye and Silver Salmon as well as Rainbow Trout! We had a great time with a very professional outfit. I'm already thinking of how I can do it again next year!

My 18 year old daughter and I spent 5 days fishing the Kenai and Anchor rivers with GAA. The scale and abundance in these fisheries is remarkable. We spent three straight days with Aaron as our guide. His knowledge of the rivers and tendencies of the fish were fantastic. He taught us new techniques specific to those rivers and put us on many trophy fish. Our guide Nick the final morning was great as well. The rooms at GAA are very nice for a fish camp. The food and service delivery of the staff was excellent. The only reason I am giving this 4 stars rather than 5 was the lack of quality fishing gear (specifically reels) supplied by GAA. We lost several trophy fish due to gear malfunctions which was terribly disappointing. If GAA invests in quality gear they way they have invested in every other aspect of the operation this will easily be a 5 star rating next time.

I was a member of fishing party with 1234Texas (see his review on September 4), and I can wholeheartedly confirm and agree with every comment he offered. The only point upon which I would expand is the competence, attitude and customer orientation demonstrated by each individual we interacted with (fishing guides, office staff and dining staff).

The experience we had with Great Alaska Adventures was incredible. I’ve gone 4 out of 5 stars simply due to the fairly basic accomodation. Everything else exceeded our expectations!! From our first day seeing pods of Beluga Whales on the sound, and our itinerary being changed due to bad weather, we went fishing and had a great time!! Then 2 days out at Bear Camp which was awesome and humbling. Being so close to these magnificent animals in their environment was a privilege. The team out there are super professional and know how to ensure interactions are safe for us and the bears! Then to the Glacier Cruise, where we saw Orca, numerous different breeds of seals, those funny buggers Puffins, Sea Otters and a Humpback. We were fortunate enough to see the glacier calve, amazing!! Also went Mush Mush dog sledding on Godwin Glacier. The chopper ride to the dog camp was incredible!! Sea Kayaking, more fishing and hiking were on the agenda also. Visits to Seward, Homer and a few other local towns rounded the trip out. The staff are just awesome, and the food was good, with fresh Halibut and of course Salmon. Starr and the rest of the The Lodge staff made the experience amazing, as did Cherie, Vicki and Kathy. A massive shout out to Caprice, Steve, Ben, Bronte and Alex at Bear Camp who made the experience incredible and left me wanting more!! The guides were totally professional but knew how to work a crowd, a great team!! Shout out to Nick, Jack and Caroline ! We met new friends that will last a lifetime, great people like James and Amy, Frank and Joann, Pat and Larry. The atmosphere created by the GAT team facilitated that kind of meeting of people who, in the normal world, you probably wouldn’t meet. I’d love to say we’ll be back!!

I have wanted to make this trip for over 25 years, but other trips and priorities simply got in the way of fitting it into the schedule. It was wonderful to rectify that error. If you like to fish, this is really something. In addition, there are numerous "side trips" for your non-fishing friends/spouses--overnight bear sighting's, National Forest hikes, helicopter flights over glaciers, Dog sled trips, white water rafting, sea plane rides,..... The reviews of these trips from people in camp were absolutely "gushing." My trip with friends was strictly fishing. And, great fishing it is! We were able to catch lots of fish--many of them very large: 12 pound Coho's, 15 pound Sockeyes, 10 pound Rainbows, 8 pound Dolly's, 50 pound Halibuts, Specular Rock Fish--some varieties over 7 pounds, and we were able to limit out on the Coho's all but 2 days. We were not in season for Kings, but they are huge up here. Your fishing options are: boats on the ocean, river and lake or from shore. The boats with guides is your best option. Critical information regarding fishing: BRING WARM CLOTHING. The day starts very early (between 4 and 6 to get to the best locations). Hats, stocking caps, hooded rain coats, mufflers or wind guards, long johns, waterproof shoes, waterproof pants, warm gloves....are all critical. Plan your trip CAREFULLY for the fish you want to catch, and book well in advance! The accommodations are a little spartan (no art, few amenities, and a small toilet room), but remember that this is a fishing camp--not a Grand Hyatt. There are 3 queen beds to a room for families, and there were a number of families in camp. The guides do a great job with the kids on the boats. The food is very good, but not great, and it is attractively served in the dining room for dinners. The room is nothing special, but the views make up for any of that! The happy hour is wonderful and well attended. The breakfast is good start for a day of fishing--they pack a sandwich for lunch on the river or lake. The staff is friendly and service orientated--as are the guides. The boats have a flat deck for more comfortable fishing. The camp is equipped to deal with any type of fishing you want--they provide the gear and eliminate the hassle of bring your own (but, you can do it if you want). They provide a van to pick you up at the hotel you will have to stay in the day/night you arrive, but it is a 3 hour drive to the camp from Anchorage--you can have them arrange a sea plane to take you from the airport to the camp, which takes 30 minutes. For our return to "real world," we did take the sea plane. It is a wonderful and beautiful flight. I strongly recommend it. The landscape is really special--ocean, mountains, lakes, forests, and clouds--some of the best I have ever seen. The long views of the mountains and volcanos are special. Getting decent pictures from the plane is not easy! Max will cook your fish for you on the river. The chefs will not do it for you in the dining room. Make certain the guides mark the cleaned fish for Max to prepare for you. Arrange in advance you cooking times--they are limited! However, the fresh fish done this way is very special!!!! Make certain you tip him for his efforts. These types of trips are never cheap and you need to plan for the heavy tipping that is expected. However, plan to have a great time--it is special.

Words cannot fully express the adventures we experienced after booking with Great Alaska Adventures. From their putting together a customized trip to fit our needs and modifying those as our needs changed; to the wonderful staff......there was never a miss throughout our entire experience. They made everything effortless; and, every experience was breathtaking and new. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the food experience was first class. Thank you to the entire staff that made us feel like family; and to the wonderful new friends we made along the way. You will not regret booking your Alaska adventures with Great Alaska.

We went to Great Alaska for our honeymoon and we had a great time! Everything was what we were looking for. They tailored the trip to our active style. The food was delicious. The staff was super helpful. We were very pleased.