“It isn't the Best, but it will do.”
The hotel has a nice location in the old part of Ketchikan, along Tongas Narrows. It is an old building, and has no elevator, so if you have a room on the third floor, you will have to haul up your gear. Pack light!
The desk personnel were friendly, and they have a cage to lock up your bags, if you arrive early and have to wait for your room. I suggest a room facing Front Street. We watched over 30 huge cruise ships come and go right outside our window.
There are no cooking amenities for the guests, and one is forced to use Annabell's Restaurant for food service or get your food at the local IGA, or Safeway stores just a mile or so North and south from the hotel.
I suggested a microwave be supplied for the guests, but they balked at that idea. Just remember... I had to go to the Bar next door to heat up some food on their microwave. Annabell's would not heat up any food brought into the hotel. The continental breakfast was nothing to brag about.
If you are planning a trip to Ketchikan, remember to carry a charged up cell phone to call the Gilmore hotel for their shuttle van! The taxi ride from the Ferry landing, is $13.00, and they don't tell you about their van service in their web site, and they didn't reimburse me for the taxi ride, when I complained about their over-site. CARRY AN UMBRELLA! They only had four inches of rain when we arrived. They average 169 inches per year. Sept. to April is the rainy season. YES RAINY! Oct. 1969, 68 inches fell!
Area recommendations
Visit the old part of Ketchikan, south of the Front street tunnel! The town is quaint during the tourist season, but is dead after Sept 29th when the cruise ships stop their Northern Inside Passage tours.
There is a museum at the library about the History of Ketchikan, and there are two totem parks north and south of town. Totem Bite and Saxman. They have historic indian Potlatch houses with walking tours.
If you are ambitious, you can climb Deer Mountain...Only on a clear day! Good luck on finding a clear day after August! It is a 3,000 foot climb and 3.5 miles from the trail head, and has a beautiful view of Ketchikan and Tongas Narrows and surrounding Islands at the top...Don't walk to the trail head! Get a ride! It is about 2.5 miles from town and very vertical.
Tatsudas IGA is the closest shopping center, and there is a Subway shop by the Library. Barnaby's, Del Sol, and Tongas Trading are the best shopping places in town for tourist items, and if you come in September, you will get 25-50% discounts, as the town is preparing to shut down at the end of the Cruise ship season.
But that doesn't take away from the beauty of the area, especially Creek Street, where you can see the salmon going to spawn in Sept. along the boardwalk above Ketchikan Creek.
When to go
June to September. It rains all other times! Six to ten inches in a day, is not uncommon from Sept to April
Getting there
I highly suggest you fly into Ketchikan, and spend some time site seeing! Cruise ships only give you eight hours to see the sites.
What to pack
rain gear, and an umbrella! A water proof camera would be a plus!
Also pack some Caladryll lotion, Cutters and Off insect repellant! Should you go on a hike, and get bit by one of their "White Sox" small innocuous looking fly, the bite can really cause problems, if not treated quickly...So slather Cutters or Off on all exposed extremities!
Must see
Saxman and Totem Bite Historic Parks, Deer Mountain trail, Ketchikan Library's Historical Museum, and Creek Street Historic Brothel district that was closed down in 1958, but contains the old Sour Dough mystique of what was once Ketchikan's more colorful past.
Dining
Annabell's restaurant, Subway, and Safeway's Deli...The latter is the best, if you are on a budget!!
Nightlife
Unfortunately, if you are not a drinker, there is no night life in Ketchikan...So to speak! Annabell's restaurant and a couple others that we couldn't afford are all that Ketchikan has to offer. During the Cruise Ship season there is a play house on the waterfront that puts on plays about the Old days of Ketchikan
Other
I am a Disabled Veteran and have a service dog! The Gilmore's staff was most accommodating about my service animal.
