room 503
Hotel: The Explorer Hotel
Location: 49th Ave, Yellowknife, Northern Territories, Canada
Number of nights stay: 1
Date of arrival: 1 September 2008
Reason for visit: Assignment for Wired magazine. Read it here
Travel companion: Writer Carl Hoffman
Bed: King
Hotel dining: Palatable
Room rate: Pricey
Would I stay here again: Sure, this is Yellowknifes top hotel
Room rating on a scale of one (being the worst) to ten (being the best): 5
Weather: Changeable
Jet-lag: Minor. A flight from JFK via Calgary
Local attractions: Viewing the spectacular Aurora Borealis, also known as the “Northern Lights”, Canadian Arctic Char fishing, Fly fishing, Arctic Expedition, Arctic Adventures, Canadian Subarctic Hunting, Subarctic Bear Hunting, Northwest Territories Caribou Hunts, Arctic Circle Tours, Cross country skiing, Dog sledding, Mountain climbing, Snowmobiling tours, Birding and bird watching, Dog sledding, Cross country skiing, Snowmobiling, Sailing on Great Slave Lake, drinking in one of the local bars, Ice road truckers and Diamonds
Trivia: Yellowknife was first settled in 1935, after gold had been found in the area; Yellowknife soon became the centre of economic activity in the NWT, and became the capital of the Northwest Territories in 1967. As gold production began to wane, Yellowknife shifted from being a mining town to being a centre of government services in the 1980s. However, with the recent discovery of diamonds north of Yellowknife, this shift has begun to reverse.
