Alyeska Resort
Girdwood's ski hotel, with the Mount Alyeska tram leaving from inside
Anchorage
About this stay
The tram is the reason to sleep here rather than in Anchorage: about seven minutes from the base to the Glacier Terminal at roughly 2,300 feet, where Seven Glaciers serves dinner from Tuesday to Saturday in its winter and summer seasons, and the Bore Tide Deli covers lunch in season. A dinner reservation at Seven Glaciers includes the ride up.
Down at the hotel, Forte cooks Italian beside the pond at the base of the mountain, Sakura is the Asian bistro, and aBar on the third floor shows the games. The Alyeska Nordic Spa, a separate indoor-outdoor bathhouse next to the lower tram terminal, cycles guests through hot pools, cold plunges and saunas. The Winner Creek Trail starts behind the hotel and runs flat through rainforest toward the gorge, about 2.5 miles in.
- Lower tram terminal reached from inside the hotel
- Indoor saltwater pool and hot tub
- Seven Glaciers restaurant at the top of the tram
- Alyeska Nordic Spa beside the lower tram terminal
- Winner Creek Trail starting behind the hotel
Our take
This is the only Anchorage-area base where the ski tram and a Nordic bathhouse sit outside your door, and I would book it for exactly that: a ski week, or two or three summer days of hiking, tram rides and spa. I would not book it as a base for Anchorage itself. Every trip into town means the Seward Highway along Turnagain Arm and back, so business travelers and anyone with a cruise or an early flight are better off in the city. Most standard rooms have one king or two double beds, so a family of four usually sleeps in doubles.
- Seven Glaciers closes from late September to mid-December and from late April to mid-June: in those weeks dinner means Forte or Sakura at the base, so check its calendar before building a trip around the mountaintop meal.
- Book the Alyeska Nordic Spa before you arrive, since entry works by reservation, and plan the hot and cold circuit after skiing rather than on arrival day.
- The summer tram season ends in mid-October (it closed on October 12 in 2026), so a late-October stay falls in a quiet gap before the ski lifts open.
- Rent a car at the airport: the Alaska Railroad stops in Girdwood only in summer, and Seward, Whittier and Portage Glacier are all easier to reach by road from here.
Why we love it
- Sakura's sushi, walk-in only, served Friday to Monday evenings
- A real hot and cold bathhouse circuit next door, rare in Alaska
- Rainforest trail and glacier views without moving the car
Why guests love itFor a family, the useful question is who gets what. Children have the indoor saltwater pool and hot tub, the tram ride itself and the flat first stretch of the Winner Creek Trail, which leaves from behind the building and stays under the trees, a good outing for younger walkers. Adults lose some options with kids in tow: the Nordic Spa is for over-18s only, and Seven Glaciers is a long, formal dinner at the top of the mountain. Forte at the base is the easier family meal.
Guest reviews
Live prices & dates open with our booking partner. No card needed to look.