Stillwaters Chalets

10/11/2022

Columbus Day!

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09/26/2021

We are excited about our new addition to our wildlife family at Stillwater’s Chalets!

09/26/2021

We are excited to introduce a new member to our Stillwater’s wildlife family!

07/27/2021

Crazy days have arrived when the famous Sockeye Salmon run up our even more famous Kenai River. This is what we call “peak” in our vacation rental business. Saturday a group of our favorite fishermen arrived. All twelve of them! They have returned every year since we opened in 2007! Started with a father and his grown son the first year. Then they added a friend. Then grandsons and more friends. They come to fish, and for five days they fish with a vengeance. Always with the same guides - EZ Limit. We work a couple days ahead of their arrival to have four apartments ready for them. They are always gracious and thankful. Before they leave they book their stay for the next year. The son, whose two sons are 17 and 14, says he’ll be coming back with his grandkids in years to come.

We are exhausted after checking them in, and drag ourselves up the hill to our RV. Hungry and tired, but only to discover our food service has failed us. (There is none). Too tired to cook, I resorted to a least effort meal! Eat your heart out! To redeem our reputation of “healthy eaters,” I sent Don to the greenhouse (in the side by side, of course), to pick fresh garden beets and greens. This is what is called a balanced diet!

05/05/2021

NEW! Stillwaters Chalets Introduces
Enhanced Care Guidelines
Creating an Even Safer Stay for Travelers

Cleaned for Your Protection
Cleanliness and safety have been at the core of our services to our guests at Stillwaters Chalets since our beginning. During the CCP Corona Virus Season your hosts launched Safe Stay enhanced cleaning and safety guidelines to help us meet and exceed the concerns created during the pandemic. As part of that commitment we paid extra attention to high-touch areas in your suite as part of our enhanced standard of cleanliness.

Recently we chose to review our protocol after reading an article in Hotel Business Review. In an April 2021 article the subject of “Guestroom sanitation” was revisited. We believe this article very pertinent to our concerns for our guests here at Stillwaters Chalets. The author, Adrienne Scribner, Principal, Managing Director of the Washington, DC Office, challenged the trend toward incorporating antimicrobial products in our cleaning regimen. Without boring you with her indepth examination of this subject, suffice it to say we came to the same conclusions as this hotel expert. Here are some excerpts from Ms. Scribner:

“There are three levels of cleanliness. Clean, sanitize and disinfect. A clean surface is primarily cleaned with soap and water to remove germs, dirt, and impurities from surfaces, through wiping, scrubbing or mopping… This generally lowers the risk of spreading infection. This concept is constantly reinforced with the idea of washing your hands to prevent the spread of germs and bacteria. Sanitizing will kill germs or offer a level of germ control but does not kill specific germs. Sanitizing reduces the number of mocroorganisms like bacteria, and usually requires a sanitizing agent. A surface cannot be sanitized and disinfected until it is cleaned first. Since the pandemic there has been an uptick in building products-including fabrics incorporating antimicrobial additives to their product lines. “ (This includes paints, counter surfaces, etc).

“Antimicrobials may have negative impacts on human and environmental health. Some antimicrobials are suspected carcinogens or respiratory sensitizers and diseases such as cancer and asthma have been shown to decrease a person’s ability to fight Covid-19. In addition to the direct human health impact, evidence is growing that antimicrobial additives can migrate from the products in which they are incorporated, finding their way into wastewater systems and the larger environment with unknown ecological implications, but with reasonable cause for concern. In a study done by the Center for Disease Control, there was no conclusive evidence that antimicrobials additives actually reduce the spread of disease.”

Our conclusions ran along with this author’s that the focus of a clean room should be a general cleaning with special attention to high-touch areas: vanity area, nightstands, electronic controls, doorknobs, toilet handles and seats, etc. Then to limit any of our guests from worry or anxiety about cleanliness, we provide our guests with an in-room sanitizing wipes that allows them to wipe down high-touch areas they are concerned about.

As part of our Enhanced Care guidelines we include a Low-touch arrival and departure. Part of the charm of Stillwaters Chalets are the owners, Don and Jan, and their enjoyment in meeting each guest upon arrival, and making every effort during their stay to offer friendly care, which may include directions to a favorite eatery, news of a hot fishing spot, a phone number for the best guides on the Kenai, answering any local questions, or just a chance to share stories. However, if any of our guests are uncomfortable with any contact in checking in, we can work to do check-ins over the phone and electronic billing.

Please feel free to call: 907.252.4991​Updated 05/04/2021

12/21/2020

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE! Did you know?

Although the winter solstice marks the shortest day and longest night, the term itself refers to a specific astronomical moment. In fact, the word "solstice" comes from two Latin words: sol, meaning "sun," and sistere, meaning "to stand still." The winter solstice occurs at the exact moment when the sun enters the Tropic of Capricorn. Because of the angle of the earth's tilt, the sun appears to stand completely still during this moment.
The exact time of the winter solstice changes every year, but it always marks the official beginning of winter — just as, in June, the summer solstice marks the official beginning of summer. After the summer solstice, the sun gets steadily lower and lower in the sky as the earth tilts away from the sun. Once the winter solstice has taken place, the sun remains low in the sky for several days. Then, as the earth begins to tilt again, the sun gradually rises higher in the sky. Also, the days get longer before finally peaking at the summer solstice once again.

07/27/2020

After five months of no business, were we ever delightfully surprised to start June with a rush of visitors! We went right into July, and even with many states in the Lower 48 locked down, our loyal guests who return year after year managed to make it to Alaska, with a few exceptions. A BIG SHOUT OUT to all of you who tried so hard to get here. Hope to see you soon!

Those who did make it to Alaska are finding it’s a great CATCHING YEAR! We enjoy hearing all the success stories at the end of each day, as our guests filter back to the Chalets.

05/15/2020

Beaches are a great family outing that allows social distancing.

05/12/2020

Spring comes to Alaska!

We are enjoying this time as our economy slowly begins to recover from our unexpected shutdown! I understand we won’t bounce back to pre-virus success right away, but we are thankful when we hear of friends able to open their businesses or return to work. And..I am very impressed by the wisdom the businesses are using to ease back into the market without compromising the care of their customers.

Thanks to our very caring Governor Dunleavy, our beautiful state has experienced far fewer Covid-19 cases than many other places. As a result, and because our state is so unique, we’ve been able to be outside throughout most of our shutdown, enjoying our great outdoors.

On the home front at Stillwater’s Chalets, Don and I have our greenhouse full of summer blossoms. Don keeps the wood stove in his greenhouse burning every night, rising in the early morning hours to add wood or coal to the glowing embers until the Alaskan night temperatures cease to hit freezing. When we are assured our flowers will survive there will be hundreds of flowers lining our walkways to welcome our guests.

We are excitedly awaiting the arrival of our first summer guests. Rest assured Don and I are preparing for the comfort and safety of each visitor to Stillwater’s Chalets. Because a few visitors were forced to cancel because of medical reasons, we now have a couple vacancies during prime fishing time. Don’t hesitate to call if you need a beautiful place to stay during your Alaskan visit.

04/15/2020

Alaska will wait, for you. We’ll see you soon. ATIA partners, copy and paste this link into your browser to download: vimeo.com/405144763/40485...

04/12/2020

Okay, are you ready for another Shared Chef’s dish from the Skyline Deluxe Suite kitchen in Chalet #3. I’ve been doing so much stretching in my culinary skills, I’m feeling like I might just be pushing my favorite real chefs over! (Joel and Ginni! Talkin’ about you two)! Ha! Maybe not!

With our “sheltering in place” orders for Don and I, that means we can’t run down to our local grocery when we find a great menu. We have to be creative. But we are making our quite well. When my youngest son bought me a large lamb’s leg for Passover I was a little intimidated by this lovely cut of meat. I’d never cooked a lamb roast before, so I did a lot of investigating, and mine turned out really good! I even made this mustard-garlic rub that was perfect! Even though there were several of us eating on the lamb roast, we had a lot left over.

In anticipating the Easter dinner I went back to my favorite chefs online and found the best Easter stew that called for ingredients I already have! Yay! Just a couple spices missing, and made a couple substitutions, but I think this is going to be great! I’m cooking it tonight, so just have to heat it up tomorrow! I’m so organized I can’t believe this is me!

Wish I could share it with guests. One good meal deserves the best guests to complement it! Ha! We can’t wait to get our guests back!!!