I am not a winter person, but the Northern Lights have been on my bucket list for a long time. I finally decided to brave the cold and take a winter vacation in hopes I would get lucky and see the Aurora. After researching best destinations to see the Northern Lights, I settled on Fairbanks, Alaska in February. For a hotel, I decided on the Borealis Basecamp and I am so glad I did. For someone who really doesn’t enjoy the cold and snow, I had a surprisingly great time at this resort. In this article, I will share an honest review of Borealis Basecamp so you can decide if this is the best Northern Lights hotel in Alaska for you.
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Borealis Basecamp Overview
Borealis Basecamp is located outside Fairbanks, Alaska far away from any light pollution. The camp is nestled in the boreal forest. It offers unique, modern, comfortable accommodations combined with day time activities like dog sledding and snowmobiling along with excellent Northern Lights viewing opportunities. The resort is open from approximately August – April every year. Rooms go fast, especially during the winter. It is not uncommon to make reservations a year in advance.
The best way to book is to choose a package directly from the hotel. Packages are from 2, 3, or 4 nights and include transport and daytime activities. Due to the potential for inclement weather in winter, the hotel does recommend arriving in Fairbanks a day before check-in to the hotel. That way, if your flight is significantly delayed (preventing a shuttle pick up) or canceled, you can still hopefully arrive in time the next day for your reservation.
We took their advice and arrived 1 day early in Fairbanks and then stayed 3 nights at Borealis Basecamp. It is estimated that if you stay in Fairbanks for 3 nights, you have a 90% chance of seeing the Northern Lights. I opted for a 4 day trip to further enhance my chances. If you want to take a similar approach, we spent our first night at the Springhill Suites Fairbanks located downtown. We did not rent a car so we signed up for a Northern Lights tour to get out of the city our first night. The next morning, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast at The Crepery and then were off to Borealis Basecamp.
Getting to Borealis Basecamp
The Borealis Basecamp is located 25 miles outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. If you book your stay via a package (as mentioned above), shuttle transport from the airport or Fairbanks hotel is included. Upon arrival, we had the shuttle pick us up at a local hotel and upon departure we were dropped off at the airport with no issues. If you choose to use your own transport, renting a car would be best.
A Review of Borealis Basecamp Accommodations
The Borealis Basecamp has 2 types of accommodations: igloos and cubes. The fiberglass igloos consist of 1 bed, 1 bath, and have a clear ceiling so you can view the night sky and Aurora from bed. At the time I booked, it was advertised that these rooms did not have a flushing toilet. Based on this alone, we decided to stay in a cube. However, by the time we stayed at Borealis Basecamp full flushing toilets had been added to all the igloos. We did hear some guests say the heaters were more finicky in the igloos compared to what we experienced in the cubes.
The other room type is converted shipping container called a cube. These modern rooms have a large floor to ceiling window that allows watching the Aurora from bed. There is also a raised “treehouse bed” that could be used for a third person. We found our cube to be quite comfortable. We only had one issue where the internet dropped out, but the front desk was quickly able to reset it for us. Although the cubes are not as photogenic on the outside as the igloos, I was glad we stayed in one since the heat was reliable and they seemed a bit more spacious than the igloos.
For larger groups, there are family cubes that contain 2 queen beds and a raised treehouse bed.
A Review of Borealis Basecamp Dining
There is only one onsite restaurant called Latitude 65. Breakfast is included in your stay, however lunch and dinner are at your own expense. The food is excellent, but a bit pricey, and fortunately there were dinner specials each evening to add some variety to the menu. We ate all our meals here and always had a good experience. For dinner, the restaurant does request that you book a timeslot either prior to your arrival or during check-in. Additionally, alcohol is available at the restaurant and bar (some older online reviews say that they don’t have a liquor license but that is outdated).
In addition to meals, the bar outside Latitude 65 opens for drinks and complimentary charcuterie each evening. We took advantage each night and found it was a nice way to mingle with other guests and swap stories about our adventures.
A Review of Borealis Basecamp Activities
How do you pass the days in Alaska while waiting for nighttime to bring the Northern Lights? This is where Borealis Basecamp really shines. There are numerous activities available onsite to keep you as busy as you’d like. Several activities are included in each stay package, however; you can add additional on a la carte or even swap activities out if something else is more to your liking. We tried numerous activities during our 4 day stay and will review them all below.
Note, all activities meet in the Activity Center where staff members will offer you complimentary extra layers if they feel you need them. Take what they offer! If you don’t own a lot of winter gear, this is a great way to supplement your layers, and save some money by not buying a lot of things you may never wear again.
Dog Sledding
Local dog sledding teams come to Borealis Basecamp to provide rides to the guests. The entire experience is an hour long, but you only spend about 30 min on the sled. There is an opportunity to meet the dogs, give them some pets, and discuss dogsledding before jumping aboard.
Out of all the activities we participated in, we were the most frozen during dogsledding. Be sure to wear your warmest layers, paying special attention to your feet. Perhaps because we were just sitting down in the cold, my toes were absolutely frozen by the end of the sled ride. Still had a blast though and would do it again!
Snowmobiling
Borealis Basecamp offers 2 snowmobiling experiences – the first is a 6 hour ride to the White Mountains and the second is a shorter 1 hour experience. The longer ride is included in most packages, however; we decided to swap out for the shorter experience since I had never snowmobiled before and was worried 6 hours would be too long. We did not regret our decision when it ended up being -30 F the day we were snowmobiling and apparently the 6 hour ride heads to areas where it’s even colder than basecamp. No thank you!
Our one hour ride was a perfect amount of time in the extreme cold. We lucked out and ended up going out with just a guide, me, and my husband. This allowed us to set the pace and snowmobile as fast as we wanted.
Reindeer Meet & Greet
The reindeer meet and greet was a quick 30 min activity to meet, feed, and pet some reindeer kept at Borealis Basecamp. There is a longer experience that combines meeting the reindeer with a 30 min guided hike through the forest. Given the extreme cold during our stay, I didn’t think we would want to stay outside that long.
Sunset Snow Coach Experience
The sunset coach is the only activity I would have been ok skipping. You ride in an old Swedish military vehicle out to a lookout point where you watch sunset over the mountains. At the lookout, your guide starts a fire, hands out drinks, and offers an opportunity to make s’mores. While in theory this sounds great, during our stay it was too cold to be enjoyable. Some folks in our group were not dressed in enough layers to stay out by the fire very long, so we ended up heading back early. The ride was also quite cold and bumpy. Overall, I think this would be a fun activity if you are there when it’s not quite as extremely cold.
Aurora Portrait Session
One activity I really appreciated was an opportunity for an Aurora Portrait Session. My husband and I are terrible about taking photos together when we travel, so this was a great way to force us to get a picture. Plus, I was curious to see how much better the Northern Lights would look with a professional camera. The only downside of this activity, is that the appearance of the Northern Lights can’t be guaranteed on any given night, so you could end up with a photo session and no Lights. In these cases, the photographer offers a sunrise photo instead.
Other activities offered by Borealis Basecamp that we did not try include a drive to the Arctic Circle and a helicopter flightseeing tour.
Northern Lights at Borealis Basecamp
After all the daytime activities, you will be ready to relax in your room, stare at the sky, and wait for the real show to start. While everyone wants to see the Northern Lights during their winter Borealis Basecamp trip, nothing is guaranteed. We really lucked out and ended up seeing the Northern Lights all 3 nights of our stay! This was probably helped by the fact that we choose February 2024, during the solar maximum that occurs every 11 years. During this maximum, the sun creates more auroral activity giving stronger Northern Lights displays. Additionally, it was absolutely freezing when we went (-30 F or lower at night) which the locals said usually corresponds with the Lights coming out. When it’s that cold, there tends to be fewer clouds in the sky to hide the Northern Lights.
Our cube allowed us to watch the displays comfortably from bed. If you fall asleep, the staff will call your room when the Northern Lights appear. If you don’t answer the phone, they will eventually bang on your door to ensure you wake up.
Our Review of Borealis Basecamp Northern Lights
On our last night, the lights were especially strong and dancing overhead all night. They would start as multiple bands, come together into a big blob, then explode up overhead and dance, before dissipating back into separate bands. That night, we felt the best experience was to head outside of the cube because you really couldn’t get an immersed in everything happening directly above you without leaving the cube and looking straight up.
As a note, all the pictures shown here were taken with my iPhone in night mode with no special equipment necessary. One tip is to make the exposure time as long as possible. For example, with iPhones the default is 3 sec but you can change to 10 sec. While taking the photo with the longer exposure time, it’s important to hold your phone as still as possible. Support your arm/hand/elbow if possible to avoid shaking.
A Review of Borealis Basecamp: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Modern, comfortable rooms (heating may be more reliable in the cubes vs. igloos)
- Daytime activities to keep you active and entertained in a remote location
- Complimentary breakfast
- Excellent lunch, dinner, and drinks in the Latitude 65 restaurant
- Complimentary additional layers available during activities to keep you warm
- Complimentary, strong WIFI
Cons
- Lunch and dinner are pricey & variety is limited
- Remote location may not appeal to all guests
As you can see, I couldn’t come up with many cons for my review of Borealis Basecamp! I really enjoyed our stay and would recommend for anyone looking for a stress-free winter vacation at the best Northern Lights hotel in Alaska.
If this review of Borealis Basecamp didn’t answer all your questions about the hotel, please ask your remaining questions in the comments.
If you aren’t sold on Fairbanks, Alaska as your best destination for a Northern Lights vacation, learn more about other places where you can view the Aurora.