Alaska Backpackers Inn
Alaska Backpackers Inn descritpion
This hostel is a nine-minute walk from downtown Anchorage and offers both private and shared rooms. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the hostel and public computers are on-site.
All private rooms at the Alaska Backpackers Inn feature cable TV and a mini-refrigerator. Shared rooms provide an individual locker for each guest with locks offered at the hostel.
Ten shared bathrooms are available, with both male only and female only bathrooms available. Seven bathrooms contain showers. A fully equipped kitchen and laundry facilities are also open on-site.
Guests of the Backpackers Inn can relax in the day room, featuring a 50-inch TV, board games and table games. A reading room contains books, magazines and a computer.
The Backpackers Inn Alaska is a 10-minute walk from the Anchorage Museum and a 16-minute walk from the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts.
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They speak 2 languages——Alaska Backpackers Inn's staff speaks:Spanish,English
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Facilities of Alaska Backpackers Inn
Outdoors ：BBQ Facilities
Pets ：Pets are not allowed.
Activities ：Game Room | Library
Internet ：Free!WiFi is available in all areas and is free of charge.
Parking ：Free!Free public parking is available on site (reservation is not needed).
Services ：Vending Machine (drinks) | Vending Machine (snacks) | Baggage Storage | ATM on site | Fax/Photocopying
General ：Non-smoking Rooms | Family Rooms | Heating
Languages Spoken ：Spanish | English
Reviews for Alaska Backpackers Inn
Review 1：A bit stinky and weird tenants
Review 2：Its the cheapest accommodation in Anchorage, so dont expect a 5 starhotel. I stayed only one night, with 2 African guys who were watching atv for a whole night, otherwise staff was polite and nice to me. If youwant to save money and its not your honeymoon, I would recommend.
Review 3：It's a creepy place to stay for solo women traveling and I wouldnot stay there again!!!!! The bed in my room was so uncomfortable andthe room was next door to security so you could hear the cops comingall the time and people talking loudly! The vending machines suck theyrip you off!!!
Review 4：My departure
Review 5：There are NO regulations on who is allowed into the hostel. There were very 'mature' travelers who were drunk and/or high and hostile themselves. I was woken up to screaming, and pounding on the dorm room next door. The screams included threats of shooting people in the dorm if they did not let them in. When I told management they did NOTHING to resolve the issue other than explain they were drunk deckhands. Had I not been in a private room with my partner the night would have ended with law enforcement in the hostel. Furthermore, EVERY TIME I used the ladies room it was disgusting the toilet had not been flushed and half of the time there wasn't toilet paper. I do NOT recommend this dump.
Review 6：The wifi worked ok, location ok..
Review 7：Bad communication - booking cancelled after check in causing bedding to be removed and clothing being removed from room. Reception staff rather unhelpful/rude.
Review 8：Clean and well decorated.
Review 9：extremely noisy!!! People were talking loudly even in the middle of the night and slamming doors, impossible to sleep with that noise level. The private room I had also did not look clean.
Review 10：location is not too bad, at the edge of downtown area.
Review 11：Reached late at 2.30am. There was no one to answer the main door. Waited Fir half hour but got a chance to get inside behind a guy to take a sneak peek. I saw around 10 guys and a couple of girls. I don't remember a single one of them being sober. Very dirty and noisy facility too. And yes, trashy. I decided to sleep in my car.
Review 12：The fact that it's cheaply priced
Review 13：Women's bathroom 2nd floor often was out of TP, especially middle of the night. No sleeping in late... vacuum going in hallways by 8:30 AM
Review 14：Good location, quiet roommates, relatively inexpensive, kitchen facilities, best of all... refrig in room!
Review 15：No soap and no possibility to buy it. No heating. Uncomfortable beds. Poor value for the money.
Review 16：Room was spacious. Location was great, walking distance to downtown.
Review 17：Booked this hostel short notice, you get what u pay for. We booked a room with a private bathroom, found out that wasn't an option when we got there. That didn't change the price! O'well, we only needed a place to crash for a few hours. we brought our own sheets just in case, thank god we did. We were afraid to take our shoes off and slept in our clothes. Room was very stuffy and hot. It wasn't worth the $90 we spent. We would of rather slept in a rented car.. No more hostels for us..
Review 18：Staff was friendly.
Review 19：Sit down.....make yourself comfortable....this is going to take awhile. If you're afraid of the dark....book elsewhere. If you can rough it with real people then this is the place for you. Beds are uncomfortable. Room was hot and stuffy.
Review 20：The best thing about this place is the staff.
Review 21：The first room had an awful smell. We were only provided towels.
Review 22：The staff was very friendly and did their best to accommodate our requests. The beds were surprisingly comfortable. Although the facilities are fair at best, the price we paid was far less than other hotels in the area.
Review 23：The beds are not comfortable at all, the rooms are not very clean and there was only one shower on my floor, and the restrooms were out of order. The wifi was not working.
Review 24：Cheap and pretty good location.
Review 25：Expectations were low to start with, but needed a place to sleep briefly after a late flight into Anchorage before hitting the road early. Yes, it's a hostel - but when you're charged $115 for a dirty, dilapidated room it's just a huge ripoff. The private room or "suite" as they referred to it was dingy and dirty - lights did not work and there was a gaping hole in the bathroom ceiling above the shower. Frequently throughout the night water loudly cascaded through the ceiling and into the tub. The parking lot and stairwells/walkways weren't lit and felt extremely sketchy after dark. Went to use the vending machine and found a couple had locked the door to the laundry room and were inside loudly fighting. Not what I would call an especially safe place for a woman.
Review 26：We really didn't like the place. We book three nights and left on the first day after 10 minutes. We booked a superior studio with kitchen. The appartment was in a building on the first half basement. There's only one window and the view is directly on the cars parked on the parking lot. To enter your room you need a code you can enter on the door. The doir is fragile and it's hard to say how many times it has been forced. The backpacker building is facing abother building where residents are living. The whole place looked hostile and unsafe. People are watching you from the other building. We just felt very unconfortable and we believe we made the best decision when we left even if wéve lost 3 nights (cancellation without refund)
Review 27：nothing
Review 28：My booking.com reservation wasn't in their computer (and they told me they are not anymore on the website) so they told me they where full and try to give me a double room (more expensive). Finally I say no and they find us 2 room of for ( one male one female) with 5 extra free beds ! So it Wasn't full at all ! I have to pay more than on booking.com and no hot water the first night.
Review 29：It's clean and quiet
Review 30：we stayed on the first floor, and when we arrived it was dark. so I tripped off the last step of the stairs, due to lack of lighting, (and me being very tired).
Review 31：the staff was very friendly and helpful, even let me borrow a cell phone, when mine did not have service. Great room and kitchen. Could have stayed for long period of time if I needed it. Great outdoor space with cute bunny's for my kids.
Review 32：Feels like Russian army. The office and the hotel are in separate buildings (300ft) and i have to walk back and forth in order to get quarters for washing machine, to get towels, to check in, etc
Review 33：They allowed me to get it and wait in chalet room until the check in time at 4pm.
Review 34：The bed was not comfortable and the walls were very thin - you could hear everything that was going on at all hours of the night, even in the solo room. The Tv in my room did not work.
Review 35：cheap (for anchorage) and within walking distance to downtown
Review 36：Beds were left dirty from previous tenants (sheets strewn about the room). I stayed in a room that was a double "private" room (1 full size bed and one twin shoved against the wall). This would probably be a good place to stay if you don't mind getting bedbugs and want the pleasing sounds of drunk people or folks getting high outside your window. If I hadn't traveled two days straight before getting there and not had any sleep I would have just slept in the back seat of my car. Even for the budget conscious you'd be safer from communicable diseases and have as many amenities if you just bought a $50 tent at Walmart and slept on a sidewalk somewhere.
Review 37：Accommodations were available for a last minute stay and during a busy period.
Review 38：It was too far from the location I needed to be at the following morning. Not able to have lights on after arrival to room, didn't want to disturb others in room.
Review 39：The staff was very friendly and helpful. The hostel was very clean. This was my first time staying at a hostel, and would consider doing it again.
Review 40：No hot water in the am or pm, and then water turned off the 2nd day!!Unbelievable! Dirty. Lots of poor folks around. Drinkers too. Woman thatI was with felt very unsafe. Smelled like urine in the outdoor corridor.For a hostel, there were no facilities hardly. No pans, utensils, etc.(The shame is, that this is a great location and with some tender lovingcare, this place could rock!) But it is obvious that the ownersdon't care! Forget about the Wi-Fi. We had to go to public places totry to find another place to stay or to book trips. This robbed us ofvaluable time on our trip.
Review 41：Location was okay. Price was good. It costs three times as much to findanother place, which we did by the third night.
Review 42：no closet in room and thin walls. Avoid the grand flour level, people chat and you cannot rest. No breakfast.
Review 43：very close to downtown, the single room was spacious, shared bathrooms clean. Always hot water. Small kitchen annex allows you to warm up your food, make tea.
Review 44：the room was way, way, too hot. The bed was unsteady and shook when my partner or I rolled over. The furniture was kind of shabby.
Review 45：it was affordable. there was plenty of parking, off street.
Review 46：Stay ruined by ranting alcoholic shouting profanities all night. I never got more than a few minutes sleep before he stayed up again. He disturbed everyone not only me yet was allowed to continue by night manager. I was exhausted having just arrived after 2 days of airline mis/haps and needed to sleep.
Review 47：I liked the location of the property, your facilities and the helpfulness of your staff!
Review 48：Some of the staff were down-right unfriendly and not very bright. The only people who left messes in the kitchen were the employees. I would have cleaned bathrooms and kitchen myself rather then have them around.
Review 49：Obviously, this place is the cheapest in Anchorage. 2 adults and 3 teens stayed for 2 weeks for $1500. the kitchen and bathrooms were ok. Better then any in London. Will stay again!!
Review 50：Water standing on the floors in shower room - and OUTSIDE shower rooms in basement - concrete floor, I walked out of shower room, hit a slippery floor with an inch of standing water - and went down HARD. Only bruises this time - but VERY dangerous. Safety/health issue - need to keep water up, & rugs.
Review 51：Location and price - right downtown - seems like plenty of rooms available, private or dorms. $33 buys a nice bed, and plenty of internet and / or TV. Do not plan to find silverware or dishes in kitchen, tho - take own towel and soap. NOT fancy - but (mostly) safe & quiet.
Review 52：Kitchen was empty - You should ask for everything in the office. The bed was in very bad condition. Towels also were in the office. Looks like slams.
Review 53：Location
Review 54：Compared to all other options in Anchorage this place is cheap. But I for one don't like musty, smoke smelling rooms with worn sheets and old pillows. We actually stayed elsewhere and forfeit our full two day annex booking. By all means book there, just don't expect much, if anything.
Review 55：I've stayed at Hostel before so I knew it was going to be bare minimum but this was scary. We were in the "blue" building. The place is just old and not kept up very well. I was afraid to walk on the floors in my bare feet. There was no way I was going to use the shower. There were no towels provided and the floor just gave me the creeps. Words just don't do it justice. It needs to be knocked down and rebuilt. We met up with people in Seward who had also stayed there. One woman was covered in bed bug bites. Her arm had to have minimum 15 bites. I guess when you upgrade to a suite, it come complete with bugs. Bottom line, it was scary and I will be reporting it to the Hostel Association.
Review 56：It was close to the train depot.
Review 57：noisy. the wall between room is very thin. We could hear the voice next door clearly. It was too noisy to fall in asleep. And more, the stuff working in hostel had some strong argument in the early morning and daytime. One of the stuff screamed " Shut up!!!", which woke us up.
Review 58：cheep fee, good location, free parking.
Review 59：Didn't like anything else. When we went to our room, someone else was in it. Went back to reception & was given another room, but to use the word "suite" to describe the "queen suite" is deceptive. It just didn't look clean. There was a rotten apple core in the old fridge; the sofa looked filthy, so much so that we couldn't bring ourselves to sit on it; the pillowcases looked dirty & stained (one looked like it had a footprint on it); the sheets were just weird; the bath looked filthy & there seemed to be a bit of blood in it...honestly, it was just a hole. In fact, when we drove into the car park, there were junkies coming out of one of the rooms across the car park. The surrounding streets seemed pretty dodgy, so we were under the impression this was not a great part of town. And contrary to the property description, there is no wi fi in the rooms. If the price was cheaper for the queen suite with private bathroom and the photos they provided to booking.com more accurately reflected the poor condition of the rooms, at least potential customers could make a more informed decision. As things stand, the photos that make up the room description are deceptive.
Review 60：Thought the guy at reception behaved fairly to give us a refund for the night we didn't stay.
Review 61：This was the worst backpackers hostel i have ever been too and i have been to quite a few in new zealand,australia,canada and usa. The front desk staff were not bad but the cleaning staff were arguing in their language twice in one day wheni was staying there. The bathrooms were ok but not enough and the kitchen in the main annex was not good at all,nothing to cook with apart from one pot i found,no forks! The area the hostel is in is not a good area and two girls i roomed with were followed by druggies/alcoholics! The bedding in the rooms kept coming off the matress and the floor hadnt been vacuumed or mopped in god knows how long! The wifi didnt work in the bunk rooms but did further down the hall. I left after 4 nights and moved to a better Inn in downtown. I felt unsafe the whole time!
Review 62：Room was not made up when we arrived and it was well after midnight and two lights were burnt out and the room key did not work. The room was filthy and smelt disgusting. We were given another room which was not much better, the toilet ran all night and it smelt bad. We were staying in the most expensive rooms with a private bathroom and they were nothing like the photos and this place is a complete rip off. We paid for 3nights upfront and they would not give us a refund after we checked out early because of how bad it was. Seriously do not stay there. The staff were rude and dismissive. Honestly it is the worst place I have ever stayed at and advise people to avoid it. The wifi was weak.
Review 63：Nothing
Review 64：I made a reservation for this hostel through booking.com and it was confirmed. However, when two months later I arrived to the hostel, they did not have my reservation in the system. They did received it, they said, but messed up and failed to put it into their system. The outcome? They did not have a room for me for my whole stay. Therefore they had to put me into one room and I was told to move to another room the following day. Plus sorry, no towels, come back tomorrow. What? Also, a "delux single" is not so single - although you have your own room, you still share bathroom with others. The rooms are very basic. My first room was filthy and smelly. The next room I moved to was better. Equipped with a fridge and an old TV - so that was good. Wifi in the hostel did not work at all. You had to come to the lobby to get connected. In the end they did not charge me one of the four nights I stayed, so I took that as an apology. However, would not stay here again.
Review 65：The location is central and close to downtown.
Review 66：We paid $130 US for a 'Deluxe Suite' which was anything but deluxe. When we walked into our room, there was a used drugs needle, and cigarette buts in our rubbish bin in the lounge. The place was dirty, run down, scruffy old sheets on the bed, although there was a kitchen in the room, not a cup or plate in sight. We could not get wifi in our room as advertised. We could not wait to get out of there. Pay extra and go anywhere else!
Review 67：Leaving
Review 68：Kitchen opens not until 8 am in blue building, but great coffee at check in brown building at 06:30am
Review 69：Staff great, good coffee in the morning and interesting other travelers.
Review 70：Our reservation was not held, even after calling and verifying. Due to circumstances beyond our control we knew we would be late checking in. We called in to see if they would be holding our reservation and they said they would. The person at the desk seemed bothered by our presence, the person that answered the phone was either unaware, or didn't want to tell us the actual situation. When we arrived they didn't have a room. We were told we would have to stay in a four bunk room. I've backpacked in many places and never seen worse accommodations for 28 dollars. The room had an awful stench. If it were any place but Anchorage in the summer I wouldn't expect to pay more than 5-10 dollars for a night in a place like that.
Review 71：The location is prime within easy walking distance of downtown.
Review 72：Room 201...the bed was awful, could feel the springs,didnt sleep at all.I insisted on changing rooms or get a refund. Room 203 was much better.No towels....take your own. No coffee maker.
Review 73：I booked a "suite" but was just the usual motel style room, although large.Large fridge and microwave,but no table to eat off. All rooms are different,so check them out first.
Review 74：Staff was little less welcoming; WiFi wasn't available in rooms;
Review 75：location is good; closer to many bars and restaurants; Facilities were okay; Quiet most of the times;
Review 76：limited communal space - folks did not really hang around to meet other folk - perhaps get ride of the TVs in each room.
Review 77：informality, free parking, good location - short walk to the heart of the downtown. overall the price was fair. I enjoyed the free upgrade to a suite due to a booking error.
Review 78：I don't usually write reviews but this was my experience... Not being able to check in until bang on 4pm - this meant that at 4pm everyone comes to check in at the same time. I came back at 4pm but had to wait until 5.30 as there was so many people at once. The person on the desk was very very slow and then told me that she couldn't find my booking but turned out they had entered my name incorrectly despite it being booked online (on checking out the same thing was happening to a couple checking in!). Got to my supposed "deluxe" single room and it was a very good size but was so hot (problem was fixed for building by the next day at least - heating was on full blast). Mattress was pretty beat up but still comfortable. Sheets were old and several holes. Cigarette butt on the wall heater. Fridge in room couldn't be used as the seal was falling off and didn't keep it closed/cool enough. The kitchen (shared with one other room) was a joke. Just a sink and microwave - no utensils or plates at all. These can be borrowed (with deposit I think) from the front desk but there is no brush or soap to clean them up with so what's the point. The shared bathroom was clean enough with soap and paper towels and shower over bath. Shower mixer needed some fixing as was either burning hot or cold. Anchorage is known for its expensive accommodation but having just come off a cruise where I paid $100/night for my oceanview room and all meals, etc (a great deal!), this backpackers room at $60/night was just horrid. I've stayed in hostels for 25 a night that were lovely and included breakfast (M-Montreal). Wifi reception was good in room but I kept getting redirected to lots of spam pages.
Review 79：Location was great - about 10 mins walk from downtown/main info center. One of the staff was very friendly and helpful (not the one who checked me in). Variety of room types to choose from.
Review 80：Quite ran down facilities and cranky beds. Some of the staff could use some basic customer service training (yes, is a backpackers place... but still clients!)
Review 81：Location is fine, near downtown. Probably the cheapest when looking at central location. Some of the staff was helpful and chatty.. That was nice (and the coffee she prepared was also nice!)
Review 82：Infested with bed bugs and fleas. We brought them back home with us and now face a hefty bill to get rid of them! AVOID!
Review 83：There's a dive bar around the corner with cheap beer.
Review 84：This hostel was one of the most dirty hostels that I have been. The bathrooms are OK (like any other hostel) but the room and sheets were disgusting (my wife and I were in a private room). In simple words, they do NOT WASH the sheets and clean the rooms between guests. I stayed there for 5 nights in 3 different rooms. The first room I found a bug in the dirty sheets. The second, I found dirty sheets again and a lot of garbage in the room. The third was a little bit better or, perhaps, I was tired from the long trip. They put a lot of signals explaining that hostels are different of hotels, trying to justify the dirty. Well, I was in several hostels around the world like Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Rio de Janeiro, New York city, Philadelphia, even Minneapolis (and lots of others in small cities). I know very well what a hostel looks like and I'm sure that it is not synonymous of dirty. Also, the staff is not the most cordial guys that I have met. And don't forget to bring your reservation printed since they were not able to find any of my reservations. I recommend to spend few dollars more in better place.
Review 85：Just the location.
Review 86：Kitchen facilities were lacking. There was only one plate, two cups and no bowls that we could find. Adequate pots and pans but nothing to eat from. The sheets were not comfortable . Other than the lack of crockery It did what we wanted to at the time.
Review 87：Own twin room. It is an older style hostel and you get what you pay for. Other accommodation in the town was very expensive. We arrived in the middle of the night so were awake to hear the cleaner cleaning the shower rooms thoroughly. Hostellers remember if the bathrooms are not clean it is you who have made them so. Clean up after yourself and show some respect for others.
Review 88：Floor wasn't swept in room and the shared bathroom smelled like mold and the water was lukewarm at best.
Review 89：Convenient at a low price during tourist season.
Review 90：Not really clean, old bed not confortable, old room, a bit noisy.
Review 91：Good location, 10 minutes walk from downtown anchorage, quite cheap regarding other hôtel around
Review 92：Everything else but the location is bad. Whereas I am used to staying in hostels, this is a tragedy. The room was the dirtiest room I've ever paid this amount of money for, with worst quality plastic-like bed sheets you can't sleep in, very poor Internet, a door that doesn't properly lock and shakes in each and every way, the window was broken, etc. The hostel sent me an e-mail before arriving reminding me this is a hostel and not hotel, so I don't have high expectations. I understand this is a budget type of accommodation, but cleanliness has nothing to do with that, it is unhealthy to live in such conditions. This should really be your last choice, when absolutely nothing else is available.
Review 93：The location is not bad, walkable distance to downtown.
Review 94：We had to get staff to change the bed linen before we could sleep in it as it was dirty. When we stripped the sheets on leaving there was what looked like blood on the under cover. Wifi was too weak and slow to be useful. Toilet paper kept running out in women's toilets. The booking. Com info didn't really match up with the room and facilities
Review 95：Efforts had been made to it a bit funky with wall decorations, wall writing etc . While iron bed looked a bit dodgy with plywood over the springs it was actually very comfortable to sleep on.
Review 96：WiFi remained an issue though, throughout my stay.
Review 97：In its current price and the facilities available over there, it was really worth it to stay there for as many days as you want. The Bulgarian lady is really welcoming and treats her customers well :)
Review 98：No reception at night Many rough looking people there
Review 99：Near to centre Wifi freeparking
Review 100：Windows didn't close properly or lock. Room needed deodorising.
Review 101：Low price. Convenient to walk to train and town centre.
Review 102：Unhelpful and mannerless staff at the counter
Review 103：Good location
Review 104：Close to downtown and reasonably priced
Review 105：no towels available, couldn't control heat in room, way too hot, hard to sleep
Review 106：Approach of personnel.
Review 107：Location in city center.
Review 108：Location near downtown,
Review 109：everything
Review 110：Perfect located, parking, wi-fi, two rooms appartment, laundry
Review 111：The sketchy people across the parking lot.
Review 112：The location, and the feel of a hostel.
Review 113：Bed and pillows so uncomfortable, I slept on the couch, using one of its cushions as a pillow.
Review 114：Bed was uncomfortable
Review 115：Laundry, kitchen and lounge area
Review 116：The bed was very bad, just a matress on a woorden plate.
Review 117：We spent twice what we thought as the mattress was so bad we had to buy a topper and pillows and sheets to be able to sleep
Review 118：Price
Review 119：I can not sleep. Have to stay in my car all night.
Review 120：If you can't say anything nice about something than don't say anything at all.
Review 121：Departure
Review 122：Didn't have bad experience.
Review 123：Liked that bathroom facilities were clean
Review 124：Drinks outside was the only thing I could think of
Review 125：My tv and movies I had and my refridgetator
Review 126：The shady people living and working there.
Review 127：No block out curtains in room. Spring mattress and poor bedding.
Review 128：Friendly staff, great kitchen.
Review 129：Whatever promised by booking. Com no facilities found. Staff not accomodative.
Review 130：The manger Laecy is so nice and the location is really convenient
Review 131：No toilet paper No glass No kettle
Review 132：Got an upgrade Location was ok
Review 133：It was very clean, spacious
Review 134：The kitchen was not well maintained
Review 135：Very quite, serene environment, the staff are quite friendly, the lavatory was neat
The Fine Print
Towels are provided for a small fee. They are not provided in the rooms.Guests are required to show a photo ID and credit card upon check-in. Please note that all Special Requests are subject to availability and additional charges may apply.