2 Best Hotels in Whittier, The Kenai Peninsula and Southcentral Alaska

With its lighthouse-tower design and its weathered-looking gray slats, this hotel set among shanties and harbor boats blends in well with its surroundings. The 26,000-square-foot, three-story hotel sits right on the water, overlooking the harbor. About half the rooms have stunning views of the water and the mountains across the bay. The junior suites and the bi-level town houses also look out onto the bay; the latter have fireplaces on both floors.

A former military housing tower that is now home to most of the town's residents, June's also offers bed-and-breakfast condos, half with million-dollar bay views and half with gorgeous mountain and glacier views. All the condos have full kitchens and one, two, or three bedrooms. The outside and the entryway of this monolithic unit are hardly outstanding, but June, the owner, keeps the quirky condos clean and comfortable. They provide an excellent place to roost after spending your days hiking around and fishing in the sound, and are a great bargain if you've got a family or a group of friends.