The rising hotel industry.

• Author: Grenn, Ben
• Position: Hotels in Anchorage, Alaska - Industry Overview

Anchorage is in a hotel construction boom with 11 new or renovated properties.

Hotels in Anchorage and Alaska are growing like mushrooms. And so is the hotel business.

Just within the last two years, Anchorage has seen 11 new or renovated properties crop up in the bowl area. Those 11 provide 1,382 new rooms. The additions range from 54 additional rooms at The Long House Alaskan Hotel (total 386) to the Hawthorn Suites, a Hyatt Hotels Corp. hotel with 112 suites and a 140-seat Benihana's of Tokyo Restaurant.

Those figures do not include the very latest, scheduled to open in late 1999; The Anchorage Downtown Marriott will have 393 guestrooms.

"We are definitely in a hotel construction boom," said Brigitta Windisch-Cole, an economist with the Alaska Department of Labor "The tourist business has ignited the investment people to build hotels. I would say we are at the peak of construction for a while. The building is getting very competitive.

"Alaska benefits because the investment climate in the Lower 48 is so good. The economy in the rest of America is doing well, so people have more money to travel." She said Anchorage is a good stop-off point for the world business traveler.

Anchorage also added a Holiday Inn with a new twist. It's called the Holiday Inn Express. The 78-room hotel opened June 15.

"Although we are owned and operated by the same company, we are an entirely different setup, (than the 3rd Avenue Holiday Inn)," said Express general manager Tammy Tanner. "The older Holiday Inn has a restaurant and is classified as a full-service hotel."

The new Express features an indoor pool and spa, fitness center, deluxe business center, hospitality suite for small meetings and complimentary airport transportation. Each guest room has voicemail, a hairdryer, coffee maker, iron and ironing board, and two, two-line telephones.

"We're like the wave of the future with our new product," Tanner said. "We try to meet the needs of the business traveler who is here for the weekend, as well as being able to cater to the family (vacationing) in Alaska."

Another national hotel chain, Hawthorn Suites, opened its doors in late spring. The downtown hotel has 112 rooms and is owned by the same company that operates the Clarion Suites, which opened in Anchorage just over a year ago. It has 111 rooms.

"The market is going to get very competitive come winter," said Carol Gilliam, vice president of operations for the Anchorage Hawthorn Suites. "The business that...