Van Gilder Hotel - Seward, Alaska

Vacation37764990997

Such a lovely hotel, very authentic and felt like a "step back in time" ,warm, comfortable and very welcoming. Robbie and her family, where very frendly and made us feel at home 🏡 ❤️. |Better than staying in a posh new "plastic" hotel. Feature with a bear 🐻 in the coffee ☕️ lounge and free hot beverages, microwave and refrigerator. A comfortable lounge to relax in. Bobbie was informative about the activities locally and other parts of Alaska. The price reflects, staying in an old authentic house. Bedrooms warm and beds 🛌 allowed for a good night 😴 sleep and clean rooms. If and when I visit seward again,I'll be booking a room well in advance. Thanks 👍 again

Sachin C.

Great location, pretty old hotel with no update/maintenance.

The room door for room no 312 was so hard that I had to push it very hard with my shoulder to open. Also to lock it was extremely difficult. These basics should be taken care and there should not be excuse for that.

No hot water for basin so v hard to shave. There is hot water for taking shower.

The staff were very kind. Safety is extremely good in this town. There is no one in the front desk all night but as the town is so safe, it’s awesome.

Request to include some plates etc in the breakfast room.

Elizabeth V.

The outside of the building definitely needs restoration. But the staff was very attentive to our needs. Towels were plenty room was warm . Room had TV with many stations to choose from. Had every thing we needed to make our visit enjoyable for our first time in Seward. Bedding was was very clean, it’s a very old build but again we had everything we needed. Hotel attendant she was Angel.

Breinna B.

I've never left a 1 star review on anywhere I've stayed but unfortunately this "historic" hotel deserves just that. Upon arrival, the building itself promised many stories of past tenants. Both alive and otherwise. Walking inside, you could immediately tell a lot of its old features were kept but not kept up. No big deal. Until we checked in... that was when we were informed that our room had no working bathroom (something we weren't informed of until we arrived but the rightfully-so overwhelmed receptionist offered a 10% discount). Thinking no working bathroom was the worst of it, we arrived to our room to discover there's no curtains on any of our windows, nor was there a pillow case on the what looked like blood-stained pillow. Not having curtains is one thing but not having them in Alaska, while facing a relatively popular street was an issue. The receptionist did her absolute best with the growing complaints from multiple tenants and we in no way blame her. However, it's bluntly obvious the owners don't give a damn about that hotel and if bare minimum is their goal, they've some how managed to go beneath that.

Christie W.

The silver lining on this awful place is the wonderful front desk manager and the maintenance manager! They are the front line of everything that is wrong about this place and handle it with grace! They work with what they have but obviously the owner limits the resources. Shame on the owner who allows outdated and inaccurate pictures to lure travelers into believing this place is somewhat habitable! This has all the potential to be an incredible boutique hotel! BUT…. The window in our room didn’t close, there was no heat with the exception of a plug in space heater the fire marshal would not approve of, get up early to get a hot water shower or forget it! Now, the smell I can’t quite describe; something between manure and a shop full of dirty antiques. Seriously, book somewhere else, I wish I had!

Joseph Z.

This place isn’t nearly as bad as all the one star reviews make it seem. It’s not the Hilton, but it’s Seward, Alaska. Should you be expecting the Hilton? It’s an old historic hotel. It’s nothing flashy or fancy. We stayed here while visiting Alaska for my 50th state. I only point this out so you’re aware I’m well traveled and this wasn’t my first vacation, lol. It was worth the price ($316) for two nights vs the airbnb prices, which were nearly twice as much in late September (shoulder season), lots of seasonal shops already closed or closing for the year. We also stayed in Talkeetna, Anchorage and Homer on the trip. This was the worst accommodations we stayed at, but I write this as an honest and fair rebuttal to the numerous 1 star reviews that make it sound absolutely awful. I would give it 4 or 5 stars if the water was warmer in the shower, but it’s tolerable and not cold, just lukewarm. If a place to sleep is all you’re seeking at an affordable rate, I’d say go for it.

It needs a little love. Scraping the front of the building and repainting it would do wonders.

BMCRM

The hotel is old looks nothing like the pictures!!! Paint peeling off outside of building, open electrical box in room, peeling wall paper, water barely came out of faucet of extra sink in bedroom, NO hot water entire 2 day stay!!! Water was BARELY warm!!! There was a lever on top of shower to turn water on and off, not where supposed water temperature handle was!!! If you're short, guess you're out of luck!!||Lady at front desk was very friendly and apologized for lack of hot water, certainly not her fault. ||Our room was clean as we saw lady cleaning it with pine sol. ||Could have been a great historic hotel stay if owners had maintained!||I would not recommend nor will I stay again.

James W.

Awful hotel. Everyone who was staying there that I talked to complained about the lack of hot water. The rooms were very dated, small TV, no refrigerator. Not what I expected for the money I spent. The hotel would not give me any refund, thought they gave other guests refunds for the water situation . We were all told that the owner was aware of the situation but has no plans to fix the boiler. I have tried to discuss the situation with a manager but no one answers the phone nor responds to messages left on the answering machine.