Renee Brincks
After welcoming two new hotels in 2017, Anchorage will soon see more rooms added to to its citywide inventory. Hyatt, Marriott and La Quinta are among the brands making investments across Alaska's largest city.
One renovation project wrapping this spring is on the eastern edge downtown, where the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel and Spa will soon complete interior renovations. The property has 370 rooms and suites on 16 floors, including 16 junior suites, two luxury suites, one family suite and four Americans with Disabilities Act rooms.
The Westmark Anchorage also updated its 200 guest rooms in recent months, adding new beds, linens, flat-screen televisions and USB charging stations throughout. New floors, lighting and Anchorage artwork were installed in the hotel's upper corridors, and the property now welcomes guests in a refreshed lobby. The downtown hotel is located near the Alaska Performing Arts Center.
The Hyatt House Anchorage opened south of downtown, in the city's Midtown neighborhood last May. The project brought 144 new guest rooms and studios to the city. Amenities include complimentary daily breakfast, free Wi-Fi, a heated indoor pool and a free airport shuttle. The on-site H Bar serves small plates and drinks, and select suites offer full kitchen and living room facilities.
About two miles away, a former Super 8 was completely renovated, rebranded and reopened as the La Quinta Inn & Suites Anchorage last spring. The 84-room Minnesota Drive property, approximately three miles from the airport, offers business and fitness facilities, free high-speed internet and complimentary breakfast.
Also in the pipeline are a $16 million, 148-room Hyatt Place Hotel that's rising along East Tudor Road, and a $13.4 million Courtyard by Marriott now under construction near 48th Avenue and C Street.
"In midtown, you're situated between the airport, the universities and some of the larger Anchorage office buildings," Visit Anchorage spokesman Jack Bonney explained. "Your access to everything in and around the city is solid."
"I think it's reflective of the kind of independent traveler that we're seeing more of here in Anchorage," Bonney added. "We get a lot of people who are interested in flying in, renting a car and exploring not just the city, but also the state and national forests and the national parks in the area. These travelers want to do things independently, and some of these midtown [properties] are really well equipped for that."