720 West 5th Avenue, Anchorage · Three-and-a-half-Star · #8 in Anchorage
Westmark Anchorage Hotel
Every room has a balcony, every morning starts at the Performing Arts Center across the street.
Every room has a balcony, every morning starts at the Performing Arts Center across the street.
"A 14-floor, 200-room downtown hotel directly opposite the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts, the Westmark is the Holland America cruise-line partner property in the city and runs to that brief: full bus access, generous breakfast, every room with a balcony."
The Westmark Anchorage Hotel is the flagship of the Westmark group, a 200-room 14-floor property on West Fifth Avenue facing the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts and two blocks from the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center. The Westmark chain is owned by Holland America Line and was built around the cruise-line itinerary business, so the operating signature is full-bus turn days, generous lobby coffee, and a breakfast room sized for 250 guests at once. Outside cruise season the hotel functions as a conference and government booking; on a midweek Tuesday in May the lobby reads as a working downtown hotel rather than a tour staging area.
Rooms run to 320 square feet in the standard category and are arranged around the building's signature feature: every key has an exterior balcony. The balconies are small, with two chairs and standing room only, but they read out onto the city, the Chugach to the east, or, on the higher floors of the west face, a strip of Cook Inlet. Interiors were refreshed in a 2022 programme with new bedding, refreshed bath finishes, and the chain's standard work desk. The Junior Suites on the top two floors add a small parlour and a corner glass position that catches the inlet at two faces.
Dining is workmanlike and pitched to the cruise traveller. The main restaurant runs a daily breakfast buffet that punches above the price band, with proper smoked salmon, Alaska reindeer sausage, and a hot egg station; lunch and dinner are simpler. The lobby bar handles the post-show crowd from the Performing Arts Center across the street and is one of the better post-theatre rooms in the city. The 14-floor tower has an unfussy 24-hour fitness centre, a small business centre, and meeting suites suitable for breakouts of up to 80 attendees but not for full conferences.
Service is the chain's quiet strength. The bellstand and front desk handle 200-key cruise turns without losing the room-night business traveller; the concierge knows the standard Anchorage requests and books glacier flights and fishing charters without ceremony. The Westmark is not a destination hotel and is correctly positioned beneath the Hilton, the Sheraton, and the Marriott in rank. What it offers is a generous breakfast, a balcony in every room, and a Performing Arts Center across the street, at a price one tier below the chain alternatives downtown.
Connecting double-double rooms with balconies, a 250-cover breakfast room, and a central location three blocks from the Anchorage Museum make the Westmark a workable family booking. The buffet alone is worth a half-star above the chain category and removes the morning logistics.
For midweek government and energy-sector trips, the Westmark is the value booking in the downtown four-star tier. Meeting space is limited but the room product is solid, the breakfast is generous, and the price holds USD 30 to USD 50 a night below the Hilton or the Sheraton in the same week.
720 West 5th Avenue
Anchorage, AK 99501
United States
200 rooms and suites
Doubles from USD 140/night
Balcony rooms from USD 195/night
Junior suites to USD 360/night
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Star rating: Three-and-a-half-Star
Balcony in every room
Daily Alaskan breakfast buffet
Lobby bar opposite the Performing Arts Center
24-hour fitness centre; business centre
Holland America cruise partner property
Complimentary WiFi throughout
From USD 140 / night. Rates and availability vary by season; book three to four weeks ahead in summer and around major Anchorage events.
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