Promoting Alaska Hospitality
Thinking About a Vacation to Exotic ALASKA?
Brigitte Humphery- Alaska Chalet B&B
My vision when hosting guests goes beyond operating a business out of our family's home. People staying with us on their Visit to Alaska are invited to feel welcomed and cared about. We are always excited to offer suggestions about how to make the most of their visit to Alaska.
EXTENDING ALASKAN HOSPITALITY is
our motto - we help VISITORS in that
spirit.
READ OUR STORY!
Alaska Chalet B&B is a well-established Alaskan business, planted with seeds of hope and enriched by years accommodating guests.
Brigitte Humphery: I love being a Host introducing guests from around the world to Alaska!
Alaska is considered an exotic top of the world tourist destination in the Arctic Climate Zone.
Starting from Scratch
My husband and I arrived in Alaska in 1986 and chose Eagle River to be our new community to live in with our three children. In 1991 we added onto our house because we anticipated my husband’s sisters and brothers visiting. We wanted them to have a comfortable place to stay. Instead of putting our children out of their beds we decided to provide spacious and convenient accommodations.
Pretty soon we found out that his sisters and brothers were not really interested in visiting us in Alaska, Humphery said. They live in California and preferred to spend vacations where it is warm.
Alaska has long been known for its strategic location as “Top Cover of America.“
Humphery continued: After we realized we had added this great but minimally used living space, I came across a little article in the classified section of the newspaper inviting: Anyone interested in starting a B&B can come to a meeting of the Anchorage Bed & Breakfast Association–to learn how to do it.
We decided to look into it and found that except for the permit and a business license we already had everything in place. We decided that’s it, that’s what we’ll do!
Role of a B&B Host
The oldest daughter went to college, the middle son entered high school, and the youngest one was being homeschooled when we had everything in place to welcome our first guests, continued Humphery. I saw hosting guests as an extension of my caring role.
We called the first suite we offered Alaska Chalet Suite – where we are sitting now.
This writer reviewed the original story as proposed with Humphery in the Chalet Suite of her business before first posting in 2021. AK Chalet B&B has been the longest advertiser on this site.
The Internet Didn’t Exist then.
My husband was just starting to learn about computers and what they could do. He insisted that instead of writing letters, making phone calls, and having a reservation service put our name out to the traveling public, we would advertise on-line, she said. I was not as comfortable using the computer as my husband, but after a few years of doing it the traditional way, we decided to work with someone to build our fist web site.
That was the beginning of our AlaskaChaletBB.com.
Do what you love and you never work a day in your life!
EXTENDING ALASKAN HOSPITALITY is our motto – we help VISITORS in that spirit.
Expansive view of Knik Arm from Mt. Baldy in Eagle River as it feeds into Cook Inlet.
Unique Eagle River Destination
Some visitors’ itineraries are well planned out, but there are always gaps where we can let them know what locals know, said Humphery. For example, the big secret of Eagle River is the lookout on the top of Mt Baldy–only a short 5 minute drive from us–where you can see the beautiful Alaska Mountain Range with Mt Denali and its volcanos at the most western end.
The Alaskan mountain ranges, the Mackenzie and Yukon river basins, and their drainage networks. (Encyclopedia Britannica: Alaska mountains).
Eagle River Valley is not noted on official guides like the Anchorage Visitor’s Guide,
explained Humphery. For us, being a host includes providing local knowledge to enrich guest’s stay with us.
What WE do is Alaska Hospitality.
Driving the scenic Eagle River Road to the end of the Eagle River Valley you will come to the Eagle River Nature Center. High surrounding mountains are covered with snow until June or July. I call this beautiful setting my Little Switzerland.
Eagle River Nature Center has a nature museum and regularly scheduled activities for families.
The Distinctive Nature of Eagle River
When first arriving from California, Eagle River was our introduction to this area. A colleague of my husband recommended we look at Eagle River before we consider living in Anchorage. When we saw the Eagle River sign we decided to get off the Glen Highway to check it out, said Humphery. My husband was driving a Nisson pickup truck pulling a small camper, and I drove behind him in my hatchback Nisson with our cat and three children. The children took turns riding with their dad, but the cat stayed with me, you know. We used our walkie-talkies to discuss where we should be going after turning off the Glenn Highway as we came to Eagle River Loop Rd. We decided to drive up to the top of the Loop Road, turned onto Kantishna Drive and came to Gulkana Circle. We stopped in the cul-de-sac, got out of the cars and I exclaimed: “This looks beautiful!” This is where I would like to live”–and we have ever since!
Perfect Alaskan Discovery
We walked up to the house, the curtains were down, and found it was empty. We decided to keep this in mind as we left to check in at the Inlet Towers in Anchorage. Within a week we were booted out of that place because they did not allow pets. We came back to stay at the Eagle River Motel; children, cat and us in a one-bed room suite with two beds. We piled into two beds, cooked a little bit, enrolled kids in school, and immediately tried to find the place we first discovered, continued Humphery. We met Suzanne Cool, a Realtor with Frontier Realty in a little trailer located where Walmart is now.
Ms. Cool went the extra mile to come with us to find out if this place was for sale. And there, behind some bushes, we found the sign: For Sale. It was a re-po that had been on the market for over a year. This was 1986—the AK economy had crashed and the banks were glad to sell their repos.
We were able to afford it!
Suzanne C. Cool is still in business in Eagle River, AK!
Photo taken when optimistic Mack and Brigitte Humphery began setting up Alaska Chalet B&B in 1991.
After joining the Chugiak/Eagle River Chamber of Commerce I met Susan, the director. We soon learned that the Chamber regarded Eagle River as a bedroom community. Coming originally from Germany, I saw Eagle River as a stand-alone community. Eagle River is OUR community; this is where people LIVED. As the new owner/operator of our B&B, I asked Susan to see Eagle River as an independent, stand-alone community. After all, our place is called Eagle River!
The red border contains the part of Anchorage proposed to be detached from the Municipality by an organization called EaglExit, in accordance with provisions of the Alaska Constitution seeking government closer to local community needs of Alaskans.
An organized effort is attempting to decouple part of Anchorage including Eagle River from the Municipality, said Humphrey. Many people might say we are a stepchild to Anchorage. I experienced this first-hand when we started our business, and remember conflicts the late Lee Jordan, newspaper publisher had making his attempts to separate Eagle River from the Municipality of Anchorage.
There is a different spirit in Eagle River than Anchorage, she concluded.
Minding My Business
We don’t have many innkeepers around Eagle River who call themselves Bed and Breakfasts anymore, said Humphery. There maybe one or two. If you have to consider overhead cost, you need to be in business to make it viable. But, since we are not doing it for income, I can do it totally for the joy of hosting guests who want to visit Alaska.
Our business is blessed to have no debt, no overhead. This makes it possible to focus the operation on the the joy of hosting guests in our beautiful suites for affordable rates. Eagle River is also a great location for guests to make as their hub for excursions to the North, East and South of the greater Anchorage area.
For guests locating us online or calling us with questions, I recommend going directly to our website address–www.alaskachaletbb.com–to avoid paying fees associated with making reservations using online platforms.
Direct Business Telephone: 1-907-694-1528
This website is a direct way to access Alaska Chalet B&B and this story is now reaching out into the International community through this post.
I will help them have a great experience – My husband and I planned it this way.
