Aloft by Marriott Anchorage

I've stayed at a lot of Marriotts, and the service and recognition here are unmatched. Alex at the front desk was especially friendly. Seeing my hands were full, he took my extra gift bag, opened the elevator, and pressed my floor before I could even think to ask. I'm here for work and was super excited by that kind of help.

The room was quiet and large enough, and the market was well stocked. There are plenty of doors you can enter with a room key, though parking got really difficult during an event. The TV's HDMI didn't work, and the shower splashed so much water onto the floor that I didn't like the setup. I also have kids who like baths. The heater and fan were loud enough to wake everyone at night. Breakfast seemed way overpriced for us with a one-year-old, so at that price I'd stay somewhere with free breakfast instead.

The room was pretty clean, but the HDMI direct connection on the TV didn't work when we followed the screen instructions to use HDMI2. Service was a mixed bag: staff were responsive and friendly, though some seemed to still be training. Breakfast was strange. We walked in and got uncomfortable looks, then when we asked for a plate, staff asked us to pay. We showed our voucher, but they came back later asking for our room number anyway. The self-serve food was poorly stocked when we arrived around 9, an hour before closing. Biscuits, apple juice, scrambled eggs, gravy, and fried potatoes weren't replenished, and what was left looked like it had been sitting out for a while. Next time we'd order something from the menu at the store/front desk area instead. There was also a posted pool rule about no kids under 18 in the pool area after 8pm and in the room after 9pm, but it wasn't enforced. The hotel is modern and newer, but still has kinks to work out, so I'm not sure I'd recommend it yet.

Over Thanksgiving, the pool and spa were too cold to use and closed at random times without explanation. I asked several times about the temperatures and mostly got a shrug. At Christmas, the pool was closed again, and the boys had already suited up before we found out. The front desk first said it would open in a few hours, then said the next day at noon. At noon it was still closed, now for another 24 hours. They sent us to a sister hotel, but its pool was closed too. Back at Aloft, I asked for help finding another hotel and met the assistant manager, whom I call “Fenton.” He just said, “WHAT?” I explained that the pool was the only reason I stayed there and I wanted to swim. He brusquely told me, “go swimming then!” When I checked whether it was open, he rudely said it was. We got the family suited up again. The pool was about 81°, the spa 93°, and I wasn't feeling well, so I sat out. I noticed dirt and hair all over the pool bottom, big chunks of dirt and trash under the lounge chairs, and lots of hair on the deck. One clump by the shower looked like a wig. The spa looked as if it hadn't been cleaned since the hotel was built, with a dirty ring above the waterline and debris on the bottom. When it was bubbling, the bubbles were brown. I took video and spoke to “Fenton,” expecting things to be spotless after a 24-hour closure. He insisted his engineers had cleaned the pool and that he'd watched them. He refused to walk through it with me. I think I heard him huff “Good Day” as I walked off in disbelief. I then asked his engineer about the cleaning protocol, and he said, “the spa temp is set at 105°.” That's when I realized he didn't speak English and seemed to have little or no pool experience. The next day, I took more video and checked the temperatures: the pool was 78°, the spa 81°. The same dirt was in the same places, and the “wig” was still on the floor by the shower. The next two days were the same. On day 6, the boys suited up again, but the pool was still dirty. The “wig” had moved a few feet but was still there, and there were more clumps of hair on the deck. The kids weren't having a good time, so we called it a day. “Fenton” saw us walking through the lobby and gave us a big Cheshire Cat grin, seeming to know what had happened. We had words, and they weren't polite. Day 7 brought more of the same dirt in all the same places. I contacted the hotel manager about the unexplained closures, cleaning, and temperature problems. He rambled about how the Illudium Q-36 space modulators weren't designed for Alaska pools. He said he had a hot tub and had gone swimming while living in Oklahoma, so he was qualified to maintain the equipment himself. He also suggested I wouldn't understand Alaska problems because my address is in Texas. I've lived in AK for 50+ years and own an Airbnb/pool. I emailed more questions about the filthy brown-bubble spa and how often they clean up biohazards from the pool deck and lounge area, but never got a response. Housekeeping also came into my room while I was in a delicate position, even though they'd been told I was still inside. On checkout day, they shoveled snow into a pile right beside my driver's-side door. If you stay here, don't complain to Fenton.