Borealis Basecamp

Burealis Basecamp is a must due when visiting Fairbanks Alaska. The Basecamp is an hr from the city which is perfect for viewing the Northern Lights. Its sits on the side of a mountain and all available rooms or igloos are facing the lights. They give you a wake up call if you fall asleep. The excursions are fantastic with plenty of options. The dining is romantic and the food is top notch without breaking the bank. The staff and management is top notch. We will hopefully make it back all the way fro Florida. Spend the money and just do it. Thank you for a wonderful experience. Also, The bed was very comfortable and rokms are warm. Thank you again, John Howell .

The good:
Staff were knowledgeable and helpful.
Igloo was warm and toasty, great hot water.
Lunch and dinner was amazing!
Views are fantastic.
It was quiet and the beds were very comfortable.

The not so good:
You might spend 5K and not see the Aurora Borealis.
There was hair and chewed fingernails from previous guests in our room. Its like they don't lift things when sweeping so it gets trapped under trash cans, dehumidifiers, coat racks, etc.
Breakfast is the same. Everything. Single. Day. If you dont like eggs, sausage or waffles you're kind of screwed.
The shower head in 305 was awful. When they get your trash daily, they don't restock toilet paper or coffee, we had to call for it.
If you don't book excursions, there isn't much to do.

We stayed at Basecamp last week and enjoyed everything so much! It was a dream come true to stay in a modern cozy igloo and enjoy the Northern Lights during our stay. From our shuttle ride and drivers to and from Basecamp to check-in/out staff, we loved it. The food was delicious, as were drinks(prepared by a young man who was trying out snowboarding). The omelette station was popular at breakfast with nicknames for guests to identify their cooked to order omelette( shout out from Georgia Girl!) The atmosphere and design of the yurts made it easy to enjoy the scenery. The café(staffed by a cheerful friendly young person who worked at the restaurant also), pub and Latitude 65 allowed for everyone to find food that suited their tastes. There are lots of activies to choose from, and we enjoyed dog sledding, a reindeer walk, snow coach and professional aurora photos taken by Evan with us gazing at the sky. We also enjoyed a beautiful trip to the Arctic Circle and Yukon River Camp with our knowledgeable and cautious guide Dave! We heard the helicopter tour was excellent. Everything exceeded our expectations including the maintenance crew when needed. The staff is enthusiastic and helpful. We are glad the owners chose to create this special vacation spot.

Location is great for seeing auroras and Northern lights for sure. The activities and staff for activities were amazing. Very helpful, friendly and accommodating. The restaurant food was okay and expensive. The staff was very nice but restaurant could use more staff to help to with the amount of patrons. Shout-out to the omelet guy from Louisiana he made some tasty omelettes. Front desk quite busy with workload could benefit from more staff. We stayed in a room for 4 nights and house keeping never made the beds, and we had to request more towels. The room did have a nice coffee machine and coffee, tea hot chocolate was provided. A hot kettle and milk frother were also stocked and very appreciated. The view for rooms were nice, however lights from other rooms may impede on aurora viewing when left on later on in the night. Not hotels fault but something to keep in mind. Overall stay was lovely, would do it again and excited to see them grow.

Magnificent views of the Aurora if you get lucky with the solar wind and the cloud cover. Great adventures, the reindeer walk was cool and the dog sleigh ride was awesome. Definitely learn about the Aurora forecast before you book here, as it is expensive and works be a shame to miss out on seeing the lights. The staff was super nice and helpful throughout.

At the same time, there are lots of things to improve. The check-in took a long time because the staff was not around even though our 8 person group van radioed them ahead of time. The igloo style rooms get cold easily so you have to keep the loud heaters running at max constantly. The skylight panels in our room were covered in score when we arrived and had to be cleared off by staff - should have been caught during housekeeping earlier on the day. The bathroom gets cold and the shower is old and super blazing hot. The Wi-Fi in the igloos was less than 1 Mbps most of the time - was ok in the common areas on the property. At night there is no dark period enforced, and no red lights, so your nighttime photos suffer from lots of light pollution from inconsiderate guests on adjoining igloos. The free breakfast is meh - omelette station is good. Dinner is super expensive.