The Baranof Downtown, BW Signature Collection continues Best Western Hotels & Resort's rich history - always providing guests with a stylishly unique hotel experience. Located in Juneau,AK, this carefully chosen upper-midscale hotel has been selected for their ability to offer travelers seeking a unique and memorable stay at an outstanding value.
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Nestled in the heart of the city, Baranof Downtown, BW Signature Collection, is lauded for its prime location close to various local spots, though guests anticipate updates. The atmosphere receives mixed reviews, with some appreciating cozy rooms whereas others find the dark, dated interiors less inviting.
Service at this hotel often falls short of expectations, with reported instances of staff unresponsiveness and reservation errors. Despite its cleanliness, the hotel's value is questioned due to high prices that don't align with the subpar quality and amenities, which guests find lacking and outdated.
Location
Central
Atmosphere
Outdated
Rooms
Run-down
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Mixed
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Underwhelming
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This is an older hotel located in the heart of downtown so great location for walking around the village and 5 min walk to the harbor. The room layout was kind of funky. We had a separate room kitchen with a door which was nice for the extra space and ability to make a few simple meals. There was also a separate walk in closet with a door which was nice to spread out our gear rather than all over the floor of the bedroom. Bathroom was very small and tight. They have a restaurant that serves breakfast but we did not eat there at all. There is also a bar with kitchen service for dinner. We tried to eat there but the kitchen was closed on the Monday night we tried to get dinner. We did get drinks there and the bartender was good at mixed drinks. The service is interesting. We tried to get the radiator heater running to dry out our wet boots and when it wouldn't come on they brought us up a space heater. If you want room service make sure to request at the front desk. Hit or miss if you just put out the door hanger. It was fairly humid during our stay and we opened the windows for air. The many ravens living in downtown Juneau started their daily vocals pretty early and they are LOUD. Also some random noise from the street on the weekend nights as there are a few bars on the block (it is downtown). It's not the Ritz, but not a bad place for the price and location.
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Date of stay: July 2021
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Â Not sure if all rooms have a kitchen so ask when reserving.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Aimon I, General Manager at Baranof Downtown, BW Signature Collection
Responded Aug 30, 2021
Thank you for your feedback, it was very thorough and I am sure others will appreciate the information.
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Baranof Downtown BW has a great location for those looking to adventure around downtown. Their lobby was tidy and inviting, offering free lemon water or other snacks and beverages upon purchase. I unfortunately did not get to enjoy the restaurant, bubble room, or fitness area but they are certainly a plus to have available. My room was small but had everything I needed. My biggest complaint is the lack of air flow in the room due to outdated vents. This wouldn't normally be an issue in Alaska, but I stayed overnight during a hot summer day of 75+ making getting a comfortable temperature a bit difficult. Additionally I would not recommend staying on the second floor opposite of the street side because there is a rooftop there with very noisy machinery that made it sound as if a plane was constantly flying overhead. Lastly, due to summer rates and such, the room was awfully high for what was received.
Overall, the stay was alright, but could've been better.
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Review collected in partnership with Best Western
Date of stay: June 2022
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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So we had booked for 3 individuals and everytime they cleaned the room and on check-in the room only had 2 towels. The floor wasn't vacuumed when we arrived so had various lint and other pieces of trash on them. Hotel shower would lose hot water very quickly and the water was lukewarm at best. The website doesn't give the square footage of the room and due to the photo angles you can't tell so we were very surprised at how small the room was. The breakfast was expensive at $20 for what is normally a free breakfast at other Best Western properties.
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Review collected in partnership with Best Western
Date of stay: June 2021
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Aimon I, General Manager at Baranof Downtown, BW Signature Collection
Responded Jul 1, 2021
Thank you for taking the time to post a review, I'm sorry for your housekeeping experience and will make a note of the complaints mentioned. We have replaced some shower valves that have fixed an issue with clogged hot water supply on the shower only, the hotel was not experiencing a hot water shortage and the sinks still had full hot water which caused us to miss the issue in some rooms. I apologize we didn't pinpoint this issue in your room before your stay. Our economy priced rooms are smaller, we have larger newer rooms on upper floors that have different price points for those needing more space. Unfortunately we are not able to offer free breakfast, although we offer a breakfast package on BewstWestern.com that includes breakfast vouchers.
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Stayed at the Baranoff two years ago. Last time it was being remodeled and my rooms was upgraded to a top floor suite. This time the upgrade was only to a smaller apartment type room. Both were great! the location of the hotel as the Hotel on the hill were great. Easy walk to everythijg
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Review collected in partnership with Best Western
Date of stay: September 2023
Value
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Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The hotel is very dated but charges premium rates. The hotel is under renovation though I saw no active work ongoing during my several visits. The sign stating the hotel was undergoing renovation was stained, wrinkled and faded. Our room for the first couple days was dark and old though one step above wires hanging from the ceiling. Room was quiet and generally clean. When we returned for one night 10 days later we were assigned a room on the 7th floor. Earlier we stayed on the 4th floor and used stairs when the single operable elevator was available. This time it was the 7th floor so a lack of a reasonably available elevator was more impacting. I believe the room had been renovated though done by a matures. The sink had been moved into the very small bathroom making it very cramped. The door to the bathroom opened inward causing a 3 way collision between the shower door, the bathroom door and the toilet. To get into the shower your enter the batthroom, close the bathroom door and move to the narrow space between the toilet bowl and shower to make room for the shower door to open for you. Reverse procedure to exit room. The hotel staff were very easy to deal with and accommodated to our request to store extra luggage while we were waiting for a room to open. We wanted to head into town to eat without lugging suitcases.
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Date of stay: August 2021Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Aimon I, General Manager at Baranof Downtown, BW Signature Collection
Responded Aug 30, 2021
Thank you for taking the time to review, we have been very busy and occupied and so renovation have been halted until our seasonal closure. I will make sur the sign is removed.
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Stayed here for 3 nights while visiting Juneau for the first time.
I love this hotel, I love its history and how quirky it is! The hotel could do with a facelift, however considering it’s survived a pandemic with 2 years of no tourism I’m pleased it’s still open and it’s decor is appealing in a retro way.
We had a king suite on the 7th floor which was lovely, very comfortable bed and room was clean and had everthing you needed. No air conditioning but the room has windows which open fully and there are fans in the room (which we did not need to use)
The staff I came into contact with were friendly and they have a laundry room you can use (accessed through a separate entrance to the left of the main hotel entrance) for $4
I also saw a gym, plenty of working areas and there is an ATM in the lobby alongside a restaurant and bar.
I did not eat here, however enjoyed a drink in the bubble bar which was very nice! Great location as a hotel and we were lucky to have some amazing views of the cruise ships docked.
I would happily stay here again, and would recommend it to anyone
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Date of stay: May 2022Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Pros: The hotel has a great location. Our room was clean. The bed and pillows were comfortable. The front desk was great and took care of getting me a reservation for dinner and cab to the airport in the morning. I think the front desk gave my dinner reservation request to the concierge so you can ask the concierge service, that is within the hotel, to help you with dinner and excursion reservations. Cons: The hotel needs to be updated and refreshed. Our room smelled old and definitely needed new carpeting and there looked like some mildew stains on the walls. Wallpaper and laminate is peeling. The towels were the thinnest hotel towels I’ve ever seen. The bathroom mirror was crooked and when I straightened it a large panel in the wall behind it fell out revealing a hole in the wall. There is no heat control in each room. The windows could be opened and there was a fan in the room. But the street noise would be problematic with open windows. My husband heard people outside on the street at 1:30 am with the windows closed. This would be a fantastic hotel if it was updated and especially with individual room temperature control. We noticed that throughout Alaska most hotels are quite pricey and need updating. I would stay here again but it’s not a luxury hotel other than price!
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Date of stay: August 2023
Value
Service
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The staff here were absolutely lovely. The lobby is pretty nice.
After that, I’d call this visit kind of a disaster.
I don’t mind paying Ritz Carlton prices for a Ritz Carlton; this property jacked its rates to OVER $600 per night — in Juneau, Alaska — to gouge participants in Ironman Alaska, which took place the weekend of our visit. I’m an unapologetic capitalist and understand hiking rates…but paying 400% of what I suspect was rack rate for this is really unconscionable.
We let them know we’d have four people in the room. There were three towels in the bathroom, which was, in fact, clean. There was, however, no shampoo in the dispenser in the shower, and our request for some notwithstanding, we never received any.
The room and two beds (and pullout) were perfectly serviceable for normal rack rate…but at this price I’d have expected peeled grapes served by eunuchs fanning us with palm leaves. Again, I don’t expect top tier quality sheets and pillows for their normal rate…it was what you’d expect for a normal BW — a little threadbare but perfectly serviceable.
Again, we’re in Juneau, and it’s high tourist season and they’re probably turning over a lot of rooms as a result…the housekeepers came to clean our room well before the check out time (and we had notified the front desk that we’d be here precisely until checkout time). And, again, we’re in Juneau and it’s high tourist season…I’d have hoped to not find so much grunge and garbage under and next to the bed when I went looking for my watch that I knocked off the nightstand in the middle of the night.
To summarize…very kind and helpful staff. Lovely lobby. At what I suspect is regular rate, what probably would have been a perfectly nice stay….even with the sketchy cleanliness, lack of towels, and lack of shampoo…. They should be ashamed of taking advantage of competitors and tourists this way, though, and it reflects badly on the property, the owners, the brand, and the town.
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Date of stay: August 2022Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Aimon Indoung, General Manager at Baranof Downtown, BW Signature Collection
Responded Aug 8, 2022
Thank you for taking the time to provide a review, I appreciate the kind words for the staff and the public areas. However, as far as rates go, I can confirm that our prices during high demand times are higher than otherwise, although 400% is a gross overstatement. On any peak night this summer rate for economy rooms can reach in the $400.00/night range and we have many room types that are above economy. The reality is that Juneau and Alaska are very high demand summer destinations and "bucket list" trips- while we do not have tropical warm weather, the cost of living and travel in Alaska is comparable to Hawaii and I know personally that costs overall are also comparable (the major triathlon referenced is being held in the middle of peak season in a major tourist destination for 2022-2024 so I think you can imagine that a similar tourist destination hosting the even in peak season would see similar scaled rates). In the interest of future guests, I would suggest traveling in shoulder seasons to save on expenses if that is a part of the travel requirements and avoid traveling to our smaller city during July and August peak seasons when competition to secure hotel space increases dramatically.
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The pictures on the hotel website are deceitful, mold was inside the shower, and dust was everywhere. We discovered someone else's dirty socks under our bed. After our first night, we had a male house cleaner enter our room; although we had our- do not disturb sign on our room; he kept saying he was coming to clean our room- I was trying to explain to him we were trying to sleep. He apologized but asked me for a tip. I was blown away and shocked. Clearly, he doesn't clean well the conditions of our room were horrendous. Also, if you are traveling with medication that needs to be refrigerated don't stay here. I had to put my medication on the ice each night. The front desk staff is also in need of training - if you have an aggressive attitude you should NOT work at the front desk. For $300.00 I was expecting more, but we were disappointed. I'll end on a positive note, the location is nice.
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Date of stay: June 2023Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Aimon I, General Manager at Baranof Downtown, BW Signature Collection
Responded Jun 26, 2023
I am very sorry for your experience, I will be sharing this review with the head housekeeper to investigate this matter throughout the whole hotel to determine the issue.
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I let a lot slide in a historic hotel like this, but when it's basic maintenance that clearly isn't due to the age of the hotel, it's hard to let it go. First, it wasn't awful. It did its job, and was in a really good location, but it wasn't great. The staff here tried, but didn't really seem to know what was going on. Overall, the place just felt like somewhere that could just as easily had been abandoned 10 years ago, and like there would be stories of how the place is haunted. Maintenance issues were the problem - the shower drained incredibly slowly, it was a guessing game as to whether the door to the room would open, and there were a couple of other minor issues. There aren't a lot of good options in Juneau, so staying here is fine, but I might try something different next time.
My usual notes: Comparison to others in chain: Hard to compare, as it is a historic hotel, but I'd say worse than average Internet: Good enough (8 down/10 up) Breakfast: N/A - don't think one is offered Room: Small Cleanliness: Pretty clean Bed: Tiny Bedding: Average Shower: Bad - doesn’t drain, short, no fan (vent did nothing) Hard water: Maybe very slightly HVAC: If it had air, I couldn’t figure it out. Location: Good, right in downtown, walkable to everything Noise: Louder than average (both from hotel and outside) Staff: Fine, trying Cost/Value: Average for the area, a bit expensive
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Date of stay: August 2021
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Aimon I, General Manager at Baranof Downtown, BW Signature Collection
Responded Sep 20, 2021
Thank you for taking the time to respond, as we go into our closed season we have some plumbing updates to address some pipes that are to be replaced that became evident after our first seasonal closure last winter due to covid. All doors with be checked as well as all other rooms functions in preparation for our next season.
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There are more places to choose from in the Juneau area.
PRICE RANGE
$251 - $359 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
westmark baranof juneau, westmark baranof hotel juneau
LOCATION
United StatesAlaskaJuneau
NUMBER OF ROOMS
215
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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