Went to North Pole, AK mainly to see the Aurora Borealis and we got to see them twice in one week. Considering we mostly had cloudy skies and some rain, we considered ourselves very lucky. Get on the list and the hotel will call your room if the lights can be seen. They also provide a map of the area that shows nearby public locations within five miles you can drive to in order to get darker skies. Because North Pole is several miles from Fairbanks, the sky there is darker and we were able to see the lights by looking out our window on the back of the hotel building, but driving a few miles where it was darker was better. We planned our trip during the new moon phase, so the skies were really dark.
The room is large and has a microwave, coffee pot, and small fridge. WiFi worked and there were adequate outlets for recharging things. We travel with our Roku and we had no troubles streaming with it. The bathroom was large but it was lacking in towel racks and lights, and there was plenty of space to add both.
Within a short walk is a good sized Safeway grocery store with a Starbucks and prepared foods that could be reheated in the microwave. The stay open pretty late at night. There's also a mini mall with a handful of stores and several other eating places within walking distance, if it's not too cold. When it's very cold the hotel has plugs to plug in your car to stop it from freezing.
Front desk staff were helpful when checking in. They have their own closet room with beverages, snack food, and some microwave eats for sale. We only made it to breakfast one time and they had at least three different fresh fruits and other stuff.
