This hotel is perched 200 ft above downtown Ketchikan and reached via a cable car ride from historic Creek Street. This commercial property has been figuratively and literally the top hotel in town since it opened in 1991. Managed by an Alaska Native corporation, it incorporates spectacular native art such as totems, masks and cedar screens in the lobby and hallways.
Guests enter the main lodge through an entrance gallery of Alaskan cedar and stone. A large fireplace with a sitting area of leather and upholstered bucket armchairs commands the lobby, and pine-beamed ceilings provide the ambience of a charming ski chalet.
At the Heen Kahidi Restaurant, guests can enjoy king crab, wild king salmon, and halibut specialties that are judged the best in town. With a glowing stone hearth and glass walls for panoramic scenery, dining here is a satisfying experience. The gift shop features an outstanding collection of native items and regalia, and a coffee shop offers light munchies throughout the day.
There are several meeting rooms, so that groups from 12 to 200 can be accommodated, and the local convention trade 
gravitates here. There is no courtesy van, but the hotel shares a large complimentary parking lot with the adjacent city convention center.
Guest rooms—most with harbor views—are in the main lodge and three smaller hillside lodges connected by covered walkways. Even the less expensive rooms that face away from the waterfront have spectacular views of snow-covered Deer Mountain and the rest of the "Ketchikan Alps." Knotted pine and tapestry prints dominate the decor, and amenities run to TVs and phones with data ports. Smallish desks host banker's lamps, wooden chairs and coffeemakers. Double beds coated in thick navy and maroon patterned spreads, thick comforters and plush pillows, and combination baths with tile floors and limited vanity space are standard. Most rooms are reserved for nonsmokers, as is one of the two suites.
Room service operates during restaurant hours. Soundproofing is a drag with exterior noises contributing to sleep difficulties (although the firm mattresses are also to blame). Rooms at this place feel like the suites in other local hotels, and the public spaces are twice as large.