WASILLA, Alaska — Forget boutique hotels and log cabins. In the Last Frontier, one pilot has done something gloriously unhinged: he turned a retired DHL cargo jet into a full-blown Airbnb that sleeps seven and comes with a private runway.
The bright yellow-and-red Douglas DC-9 (still wearing its old DHL stripes and registration N952AX) sits on a 100-plus-acre spread near Big Lake at FLY8MA Pilot Lodge. Host Jon Kotwicki, a flight instructor and Superhost who rolls with a Pomeranian named Foxtrot, hauled the bird down from Fairbanks, gutted the insides, and rebuilt it into a three-bedroom, 1.5-bath house complete with heated floors, a full kitchen, and a sauna in the tail cone.
You board via stairs, then the real fun starts. Park yourself in the actual cockpit and crack a beer in the captain’s chair. Step outside onto the wing deck and fire up the grill for salmon and steaks while bush planes buzz the 1,900-foot private strip. The living room (what used to be first class) has a big-screen TV, and kids get the ultimate hideout: a twin mattress down in the belly cargo hold, reached by a little ladder. Guests have reported disco lights, captain’s hats, and waking up to moose standing under the wing. Reviews are sky-high, hovering around 4.9 stars, with people calling it a 10/10 “once-in-a-lifetime” experience and “the coolest stay of my life.”
Prices run roughly $850–$900 a night. You can drive in or fly your own plane right up to the property. There are two more converted aircraft on site (a DC-6 and a Boeing 727) if one jet isn’t enough plane for your vacation. No smoking anywhere on the grounds, but plenty of room for adventure: ice fishing, dog sledding, glacier tours, and bear spotting are all minutes away.
This is not a hotel. It’s a real airplane that flew cargo around the world, now parked in the Alaskan wilderness and fully stocked for a ridiculous good time. Book it on Airbnb before someone else steals your boarding pass, because regular vacations just got a whole lot more boring.
A note on comments: Our advertisers enforce a strict zero-tolerance policy on racism, hate speech, and threats of violence. Any comment that crosses that line will be removed and the account permanently banned — no warnings. Debate hard, but keep it civil.