Fairbanks Downtown Bed & Breakfast - Bed & breakfast in Fairbanks - 1461 Gillam Way, USA

I wish I had read the other reviews before booking our rooms. This was our first stop in AK, so it could only get better. I actually never saw Carolyn. She was not there when we arrived & we found our way to our rooms via sticky notes placed on doors, walls & furniture. The info sheet stated that tea & coffee were provided in the large kitchen. However, no cups or utensils anywhere. My husband happened to meet up w/Carolyn while outside & he told her we had to leave for the train before the advertised 7:00 am breakfast time. She was baking blueberry muffins, which would have been easy enough to leave for us to take, but she did not. Rooms were small, but comfortable enough. Location was TERRIBLE!! NOT a good value at all.

It's a little off the main drag of hotels and restaurants, but if you're looking for a quiet place to get off your feet, and not be disturbed but close enough to walk to major dining and shopping, this is a good spot. It's clean, rooms furnished with mostly antiques, nice area rugs, and clean bathroom with plenty of towels. The rooms are upstairs with a dining room for a continental breakfast on the ground floor. The upstairs has a sitting area and kitchen with microwave, fridge and coffee pot for guests. Nice area to sit and read or visit. The continental breakfast of cereal, fruit, muffins, coffee and juice starts the day off well. Carolyn is a wonderful hostess and conversationalist. I didn't see any sign of Internet availability and the TV in your room is small, but it has cable. I'd recommend it for older people passing through looking for a peaceful place without a lot of frills.

The neighbourhood surrounding this B & B is a bit seedy, and so I was a bit worried as we approached it. The previous reviewer is correct, the bedrooms are located in a separate part of the house. I did not find this to be a huge turn off as we are generally looking for clean, safe accomodation, and that is what we got. There was no one to meet us, just signs pointing with directions to our rooms. Hence there was no one to ask advice about what to do etc. We did not require help, so we were OK with this. I can see how some might feel unwelcome, but we just really wanted a place to sleep. We met our hostess in the morning, she provided us with a decent breakfast in her part of the house, kind of old-fashioned and quaint. She seemed friendly and kind.

Great place. I'm half way through a 10-day stay in Fairbanks, and this B&B is like home. It'll be hard to leave! Comfortable, clean, friendly. Guests from all over -- Netherlands, Germany, California, Alabama, Pennsylvania, so far -- are coming and going and maintaining a friendly atmosphere. Yet I feel great privacy in my bright room with the summer twilight at 1 a.m. What a way to go. I love it.

Carolyn and her husband(don't know his name as we weren't told it). are in the wrong business. Carolyn is not forthcoming with any information about Fairbanks. my hubby and I wanted to meet like minded travellers but were the only guests all weekend. We both felt like we were intruding on their home not made to feel welcome at all. At breakfast Carolyn would leave the room probably so she didn't have to talk to us so we felt uncomfortable. She didn't bother to offer a phone to call a tour company regarding a tour we wanted to do. I left a written complaint at the Visitors centre and would never stay at a B&B in Alaska again.

My Mom and I arrived in Fairbanks, expecting a B and B that was closer to the downtown area (The name is Fairbanks Downtown Bed and Breakfast). I agree with the other person who posted that the area looked "seedy". We had arrived after flying 3000+ miles for our Alaska Vacation. We weren't sure where the front door was but we soon found it because there was piece of white paper on a door with our name on it (the door was unlocked and we walked in) there was no one there to greet us but we found our way up a dimly lit flight of stairs to a common living area, looked around to get our bearings ( I am 45 years old and my Mom is 65 yrs old and I have to admit it was a bit overwhelming to be in a strange house 3,000 miles from home with no one to greet us, looking for our room) We found our room because once again there was another piece of paper that had our name on it attached to a door to the right of the living area. We went into a dimly lit room with a sloping ceiling that had some kind of framed window there that lifted and that was called the skylight. As we went into to room the curtain fell off the "skylight" window. Th room had been described as a deluxe room with antiques and a skylight without any mention of the fact that it was not in the Downtown Area.The so-called Antiques were what appeared to be furniture that was just worn out and needed updated. We went back outside the establishment and proceeded to contact the owner by phone (she was not located on the premises) and asked her if she had any different area for us to stay. She said no that this was her only bed and breakfast. She stated that it shouldn't matter too much that we weren't pleased with the room because we were only going to be sleeping there anyway. I asked for a refund so that we could go somewhere else and she refused to give a refund. She said we should just go up there and go to sleep and things will be better in the morning. We made other arrangements, we did not stay there. That was on 7/17/10. In the end, we had a good vacation after all (determined not to let this ruin our trip to Alaska) As of this date 7/27/10 she still refuses to refund our money that we paid to her in advance even though we were very unsatisfied and did not stay.

This B&B is stuck in the 60s. ||Pros: the bed was comfortable and the bathroom clean.|| Good selection of cereal at breakfask. We are not really egg eaters, so healthy cereal and fruit is fine with us.|| Hostess is friendly and helpful when you see her, but she is downstairs and guest are upstairs with little contact.||||Cons: On the edge of downtown, but not really walkable.|| Older building with little charm. Older decor and furniture.|| You have use of kitchen, but nothing is provided. No pots, pans, or dishes.||||As for the comments about a seedy area, I found all of Fairbanks kind of seedy looking. I price was right for us and we were OK there. It just wasn't up to the standards of other B&Bs that we have stayed in here in Alaska.

It says downtown but it is a fair walk downtown across a busy highway. However, we had a beautiful room and the neighbourhood was quiet. The breakfast was rather ordinary and the hostess pleasant. It would be best to have a car as it isn't really close to much. We had an ensuite. There was a kitchen and internet for us to use.