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We decided to go on a roadtrip to the arctic for our Honeymoon, staying one night in the Mackenzie Hotel, another night at a local Air BnB and then 2 nights booked at the Arctic Chalet. What could go wrong, well strap in... ||When we pulled into the Arctic Chalet, it felt like we were pulling into an old garage or junk yard, vehicles, parts of vehicles, junk etc. As this is a working property, it didn't ring any alarms bells right away, but did seem to look very different from the photos on their website. Hey oh, let's go check in. ||Walking into the lobby of the main Chalet, you are hit with this warm, musty smell. Again, id excuse this if the weather was 25 degrees outside, but we were being hit by a lovely arctic front during our stay, so temperatures were in the low double digits. The windows full of dead bugs, a sad sofa (no life left in the cushions and hadn't looked like it had been introduced to a vacuum at any point during its life) and layers of dust. No one was at the front desk, even though we had called ahead saying we'd be there shortly to check in. ||We called the number on the front desk, spoke to Judi, who said she'd be right down. A couple of minutes later, a lovely girl came out, introduced herself (it wasn't Judi) and got unto the process of getting settled. During this conversation it became clear that there had been a miscommunication on when we were Intending to stay, our dates had been mixed up, mistakes happen and I honestly believe that this was no one's fault. The lovely girl who checked us in was courteous, came up with a solution to the issue and was chatting away with us about how the mistake happened etc, this is when Judi appeared from behind the reception desk, and asked what the issue was. We explained that it was Judi who we had spoken to about a month ago on the phone, changing the dates of the stay. She denied this conversation ever happening, then pulled out a paper calendar and said if it isn't in the calendar then it didn't happen, she then had the gall to say to my wife "Don't you know that a verbal conversation isn't an agreement, always get things in writing, we've fixed this problem and given you a night in the best cabin at a reduced rate, it's so nice in there id stay there myself! You're very lucky" ||It didn't feel lucky, and also, it wasn't Judi who provided that solution, it was the employee. This whole interaction was incredibly awkward came across very aggressive and really upset us. ||We drove the truck round to the cabin, let ourselves in. It was nothing to write home about, just a bog standard log cabin. We had a view of a bush, my truck, the cabin next door and another bush. For a cabin that is based in the arctic, it was incredible to see that in mid summer, the curtains on the window were about as useless as single ply toilet paper. This cabin also had the same, musty smell that it shared with the main lobby. If this was the best cabin, god knows what the rest of the cabins were like. It was at the moment that we decided that we didn't want this on our Honeymoon, we'd met some incredible people in Inuvik and Tuk, and the interaction with Judi really affected us, completely different experience from everyone else we'd interacted with in the north. So we decided to leave. ||While peeling out of the property grounds, we called the chalet to let them know we wouldnât be staying. We thought it would be courteous seeing as there were very few beds in town available. Judi answered the phone, angrily asking âwhat wasnât good enough for us?â When my wife explained she didnât feel comfortable staying, Judi continued to argue, telling her it was their nicest cabin & we were lucky to get it at such a discounted rate. My wife calmly & politely repeated they were welcome to rent it to someone else, that we wouldnât be staying. Judi then said âso I guess youâre telling me youâre cancelling.â My wife said something along the lines of âweâre not looking for anything, as Iâve said, you can rent it out to someone else, Iâm only calling so you know you have the space.â My wife then said goodbye & hung up. Even in leaving, not asking for a refund, the owner still wanted to treat us poorly. In what world is this any form of customer service, especially to two paying customers on their honeymoon? ||We drove to the Mackenzie Hotel, managed to score a cancelation ( we were ready to just camp in the truck like we had done on the way up the dempster) and enjoyed the rest of our trip. ||Later that evening I started to read reviews online, saw that we weren't the only ones to have these issues (Seems to be a wonderful reoccurring theme!). When we look at their website again, we noticed that nearly all yhe photos of the site and the cabin we stayed in were old, and clesrly had not been updated in a number of years. This became clear again as to probably the reason why they didnt send us photos of the overflow traile that we had requested numerous time after booking until 48hrs before we checked in. And then got sucked into their incredible, discriminatory hiring practices that they seem to proudly announce on their website. I'm sad we never asked for a refund, because after realizing that we funded a business that doesn't even allow it's employees to experience the wonderful people and town of inuvik, let aknown all the ridiculous hiring demands they have. Nothing says culture tours like having a business that doesn't even allow it's people to become part of thr culture that makes the North and Arctic so exciting. ||Overall, I'd steer clear of this place, there are some wonderful people who work there, however Judi was just abhorrent to deal with in every possible way and it makes me ashamed that a business like this exists in today's society.
