Akutan and its new airport are on adjacent islands, and a hovercraft is ferrying residents and fish plant workers across the water to town. So what happens when the ferry can't make the run because of rough seas? No worries, say the folks at the new Surf Bay Inn on the airport side of Akun Strait. Except, maybe, for the $230 daily tab for a room and all meals, reports The Dutch Harbor Fisherman.
The Surf Bay Inn is owned by the city of Akutan, with 31 double-occupancy rooms, a restaurant, wireless Internet, cable television, swimming pool and pingpong tables. The prices are similar to Unalaska rates, at $165 per night for a room, and $65 for breakfast, lunch and dinner. ...
Surf Bay is located between two places on Akun with unfortunate names, Lost Harbor to the north, and Jackass Point to the south. The new airport has also been called some unfavorable names, and viewed as a boondoggle, a big waste of taxpayer dollars.
[Hotel manager Peri] Jordan sees that criticism as unfair and says she's "100 percent positive" about the new facility.
No worries, either, about vacancy at the Surf Bay Inn. Only three fish plant workers were there during a recent ferry grounding due to weather. Read more at The Fisherman: Hospitality, Akun style
Before the new airport was finished, amphibious aircraft were used to reach Akutan. Last week, PenAir said goodbye to a 70-year-old Grumman Goose that used to make the Unalaska-Akutan run.
