Homer’s newest hotel opens on Monday, May 27, on the Sterling Highway across from Safeway and the Chevron gas station. The Aspen Suites Hotel is the latest hotel in the chain to open in Alaska.

“We’re so excited to have our seventh Aspen Hotel opening in Homer,” Carol Fraser, regional director of sales and marketing, said in a press release. “The location next door to the Islands and Ocean Visitor Center with a new walkway connecting the two properties will be a great partnership for conference travelers and tourists.”

Located on Beluga Slough, the hotel offers views of the slough, Bishop’s Beach and Kachemak Bay. The sidewalk connects to Islands and Ocean as well as a trail to Beluga Slough and the Old Town area of Homer.

Open year round, each suite is fully furnished with a full-sized refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, two-burner cooktop stove and all cooking and eating utensils. Aspen Suites includes complimentary wifi, an exercise room and lobby coffee. Two meeting rooms can accomodate from 10 to 60 people. It will employ about 20 workers.

“With the addition of our hotel, we hope to also be a part of increasing summer tourism as well as helping to bring more conferences to Homer,” Fraser said.

The Aspen Hotel chain started in 1999 with the Valdez Aspen Hotel. Later hotels were built in Fairbanks, Juneau, Soldotna and Anchorage. In 2003 the chain (except for the Soldotna hotel) was sold to Extended Stay Hotels. In 2008, development continued and Aspen Management Co. built more hotels in Juneau, Kenai, Anchorage, Haines and Sitka.

For reservations or more information, call 235-2351, email info@aspenhotelsak.com or visit https://www.aspenhotelsak.com/. According to the website, rates for a single queen-bed suite run from $179 a night in summer to $105 in the winter, with discounts available for AARP, Alaska residents and others.

Workers finish up the new Homer Aspen Suites Hotel on May 21, 2019, in Homer, Alaska. The 72-room hotel opens on May 27. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)