Denali Crow’s Nest Log Cabins

3.5 stars.
Denali Crow’s Nest Log Cabins is not cheap. A room (queen bed, small attached private bathroom, no blackout curtains) at the end of June cost us about $ 250/​night. But given our location, the cost was not a huge surprise to us. The room was clean, the bed fairly comfortable, and they had a Keurig in room (heaven sent when I was running on only a few hours of sleep).
Prior to our arrival, the manager was super responsive over the phone, and extremely accommodating. Our packed itinerary had J & I arriving at DCN around 2:30AM on a Sunday night/​Monday waaay early in the morning. The front desk at DCN is staffed 24/​7, so someone was on hand to help us figure out our options (the manager and I had previously discussed the possibility of early check-​in if a room was available; when we arrived, there was one, but now an associated $ 99 was tacked on– we were fine with that if we had enough time to nap/​freshen up in the room). It took the girl manning the desk a while to figure everything out (while I waited rather impatiently… it WAS 3AM and we were scheduled to take the 5:15AM Denali NP shuttle bus to Wonder Lake), but we managed to make it into the room (keep in mind that you will have to truck your luggage up several flights of stairs), where J immediately fell asleep while I checked everything out.
OVERALL: Completely satisfactory for our short stay in the area. Its pricey, but we enjoyed our time in the cabin.

Cabins were presented as totally refurbished when I made my reservations by phone. When I arrived, the carpet in my cabin was threadbare, the linoleum in the bathroom was stained and old, the tub had mold around the base, and the bathroom door could barely be closed because of settling of the cabin. That night, we had a trickle for a shower and the next morning, the toilet wouldn’t flush. We asked to be let out of the final two days of our reservation but were told that was impossible because of «policy». We settled for another cabin the next night, and while an improvement, we now had only cold water and, again, a toilet that would not flush. We again asked for a refund and were told no, but that we could speak to the owner who was on site. Instead, the manager returned with the owner’s business card and informed us that he would only communicate with us via email! After an additional hour of strained negotiation and a litany of excuses, the manager finally agreed to refund the final night and offered a discount on the nights spent.
If you’re going to present yourself as «the best lodging in Denali National Park», they need to do a damn better job.

Log Cabins, simple. If you’re looking for luxury, this is not it. If you want to get away from the crowds and have a nice spot for drinking and relaxing on your deck, step on up. Price is like everything in Alaska, higher than you would expect, but the upside is that everything is very close and they have a shuttle to run guests around the area. The Overlook Bar is on the road between the levels of cabins, good food and great beer selection.