.png)
Alaska’s Capital Inn, a haven for politicos as well as tourists, now a candidate in top 10 B&B campaign
- Mark Sabbatini
- 10 hours ago
- 6 min read
Restored downtown mansion owned by couple for nearly 30 years among 20 finalists in USA Today online vote that ends Aug. 3
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
It’s on the ballot as one of the nation’s best bed and breakfasts, but Alaska's Capital Inn owners Linda Wendeborn and Mark Thorson say it’s got quite a reputation for dinners and ghosts as well.
The inn in a restored 1906 mansion a block from the Alaska State Capitol is among 20 lodges selected as finalists for USA Today’s 2026 Readers’ Choice Awards in the category of 10 best bed and breakfasts. Alaska’s Capital Inn ranks seventh as of Monday morning, with voting continuing through 8 a.m. Alaska time on Aug. 3.
Wendeborn and Thorson bought the house in 1998 — with only two previous owners until then — and did extensive renovation before opening it as a bed and breakfast in 2000. Since then it’s gotten a range of awards and acclaim, although Wendeborn said making USA Today’s finalists field "is right up there in the top two" among them.
"I'm tracking it every day, of course, and sending out to all my friends and family, and everyone on Facebook, and encouraging them to vote," she said.
The USA Today nominee description notes the inn features period wallpapering, Alaskan artwork, whirlpool tubs and fireplaces in the seven in-house guest rooms, while a standalone cabin as the eighth guest accommodation has a cedar hot tub.
"Superb breakfasts are a staple here, and include crab Benedict, sourdough blueberry pancakes, reindeer sausage, and smoked salmon quiche," the newspaper’s description notes. "Homemade cookies in a bottomless jar, snacks all day, and complimentary wine in the afternoon, along with free passes for the Mt. Roberts tram seal the deal."
Alaska's Capital Inn is the first in the alphabetical listing of finalists. Among the others are The Historic Magnolia House in Greensboro, North Carolina ("Music legends including Tina Turner, James Brown, and Ray Charles have stayed"); The Inn at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, California ("Situated in the midst of a biodynamic urban farm"); and Judson Heath Colonial Inn Saugatuck, Michigan (in 1837 it was "a stagecoach stop, hotel, and tavern").
The inn is the fourth Juneau business during the past 14 months featured in the national newspaper’s Readers’ Choice competitions, with all earning spots in the top 10. Hearthside Books finished eighth in the “10 Best Independent Bookstores” vote last spring, The Alaskan Hotel & Bar finished fifth in the “Best Haunted Hotel” contest last October, and Devil's Club Brewing Co. finished fifth in "10 Best Brewpubs" in March.
Wendeborn said when they bought the historic mansion it didn’t occur to them they might still be serving breakfasts to guests and doing fixer-up work around the house nearly 30 years later.
"We were hemorrhaging money something fierce, and I just kept the belief in my gut that ‘build it and they will come,’ and they did," she said. "And I guess I never would have anticipated running it this long, but we're quite happy with it. We’ve quite enjoyed it. Mark and I both had full careers with the state and had early retirement, so we're blessed with a Tier I retirement program. And so the inn has just become a joy."
Thorson said he spent much of Sunday staining and powerwashing one of the outside decks as part of a bigger project that also involves new landscaping in the front and back yards. Wendeborn, who said the couple typically gets to the inn well before breakfast is served at 8 a.m., spent the early hours of Monday morning helping make and serve breakfast, and chatting with a tableful of guests about the inn’s history.
Each of them also has another job — Wendeborn is an ordained minister who owns a wedding planning and ceremony business, while Thorson is a security worker at the AJ cruise dock — so current innkeeper Lesley Wilkins does much of the day-to-day work.
"We've had so many wonderful guests," Wendeborn said. "I have a wall of fame of pictures on the wall of all the different celebrities we've had come and stay, and the governors. All the governors have been in the inn and, yeah, we've really enjoyed it."
Being a block from the Capitol means a political presence is inevitable. Wendeborn said lobbyists and others deeply involved with matters of state often book one of the inn’s eight rooms for some or all of the legislative session, which has led to the mansion being well known for its dinners as well as breakfasts.
"Over breakfast one morning the lobbyist said, ‘God, you know, I’ve got this big client coming to town, and I’ve got to go back to the same old restaurants and eat the same old food, and have 10 other ears sitting around me listening to our business.’" she said. "And I said, ‘Well, why don't you have a private dinner here? I can cook you up a meal.’"
Over the years "it's turned into a kind of a cash cow for us," Wendeborn said.
"During session we're catering dinner parties two and three nights a week, and we've had every oil and gas company president sitting around our table," she said. "Warren Buffett has been at our table and, of course, all the leading elected officials at our table on a regular basis."
The summer tourism season is also usually fully booked, with online travel website reviews from guests noting early-20th-century furnishings, quiet street isolated from the bustling cruise scene, and offering praise to the hosts. The inn has topped ratings at sites such as Tripadvisor and Kayak, and been featured by the Discovery Channel, Fox News and other media.
Not as highly publicized: "We do have a ghost," Thorson said. And perhaps more than one, according to the couple.
"There's some folks here in town that are able to communicate with the other side and they have assured me that the energies are there," Wendeborn said. One woman "didn't refer to them as ghosts. She referred to them as spirits or energies. She said there's a couple: one is a female, very welcoming and happy (with) we're what we're doing with her house. And then the other spirits are some mischievous young boys."
"Who like to grab your toes in the middle of the night," Thorson interjected.
"Well, that's only happened to one guest," Wendeborn replied.
There’s also reports from guests of "a little girl that appears in Victorian clothing," Thorson said. But Wendeborn said she and her husband haven’t actually yet seen any of those spiritual souls.
Wendeborn and Thorson both first arrived in Alaska during the 1970s, working a number of jobs in subsequent years. Deciding to buy and operate a bed and breakfast was "a natural progression for me," Wendeborn said.
"I did backcountry wilderness tours and really enjoyed that," she said. "And I've always worked in tourism. I was a bartender for years. I did dock surveys for Fish and Game. So I'm used to working with people."
Thorson worked for more than 20 years before the couple opened the inn and also was an administrative services director for the state.
"So I got the money part down, and Linda's kind of always been the front of the house and I'm the back of the house," he said. Also, he noted, "my wife is very inspirational and she's the one that talked me into this."
Still, Wendeborn said, after so many years "now we're looking to retire." The couple listed the inn as being for sale in a Facebook post last September, but Wilkins said they’re not making more intense efforts to turn it over to someone else yet.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
