In addition to the places listed, you'll find super-clean rooms with many amenities in a quiet building downtown at the Super 8 Sitka, 404 Sawmill Creek Blvd. (tel. 800/800-8000 for reservations, or 907/747-8804; www.super8.com).
To save money, choose a B&B. The Sitka Convention and Visitors Bureau (tel. 907/747-5940; www.sitka.org) has links to many B&Bs on its website, and can send you a printed list as well. Here are two good options: Sitka Woodside Lodging, 411 Wortman Loop (tel. 907/747-8287; www.woodsidelodging.com), with comfortable rooms for $85 to $100 double in a quiet subdivision a half-hour walk from town; or Alaska Swan Lake Bed & Breakfast, 206 1/2 Lakeview Dr. (tel. 907/747-3917; www.sitka.org/swanlake/index.htm), with rooms with private bathrooms for only $95 a night in a big, white house above the lake just a mile from the downtown area.
Rent a Floathouse
Southeast Alaska has a unique kind of dwelling called a floathouse, a house on a barge, permanently anchored in some quiet, forgotten cove. There have even been float-towns, with houses, schools, and other buildings tied together, usually at remote logging sites. Camp Coogan Bay Hideaway (tel. 907/747-6375; www.ssoceanadventures.com) is a floathouse you can rent for $180 a day. It floats in a narrow, placid bay out of a wilderness fantasy, 20 minutes from Sitka by boat (it's also the best place in the area to see bears). A charming, peeling old bunkhouse from town was stuck on a 1940s barge and anchored here, with a rainwater system, a woodstove for heat, propane appliances, and a diesel generator if you want light. A wood-fired sauna and a gas barbecue are out on deck. Don't expect the Hilton: It's primitive and a little grubby. You'll want to rent a boat or sea kayaks for mobility; owners John and Barbara DeLong offer those services too.
A Hostel & Camping
Hostelling International -- Sitka is, as of this writing, a hostel without a home. It remains active as an organization and can be reached at tel. 907/747-8661, but has moved out of a Methodist church without a place to move into. By the time you're traveling, perhaps this will be resolved. Call ahead.
The Forest Service's Starrigavan Recreation Area contains excellent campgrounds at the north end of Halibut Point Road, 7 1/2 miles from town and 3/4 mile from the ferry dock. There are three loops. The Backpackers' Loop has six hike-in sites. The Estuary Loop (which joins the Estuary Life Trail), on the right, has 26 sites for RVs or tents, which are widely separated under huge trees. The Bayside Loop, at the water's edge, is the last left on the highway. Three of its sites are situated on the edge of Starrigavan Bay, creating the feeling that you're way out in the wilderness. Fees are $12 to $30 a night. Fourteen sites are available on a first-come, first-served basis, but all the rest must be reserved on the national system. The recreation area is open all year, but vehicle access is restricted in the winter. May through mid-September, access gates are locked from 10pm to 7am.
There are two RV parks, each with water and electric hookups only and each charging under $22: City-run Sealing Cove RV Park (tel. 907/747-3439) is near the airport and a free dump station, and Sitka Sportsman's Association RV Park (tel. 907/747-6033) is near the ferry dock.
