When the Baranof Hotel, now the Westmark Baranof, was built in 1939, she was the grand hotel in Territorial Alaska. Now she’s a dimly-lit reminder of a grand hotel, filled with standard burgundy-and-cherrywood chain hotel décor, sub-standard sized rooms, and a steady procession of business travelers and airline crews. While the Baranof is something like a long-forgotten former debutant convinced by the sheer power of self delusion that she’s become a grand dame, she still have a few charms. There's her rich collection of mid-20th century Alaskan oil paintings in her updated art deco lobby. Some of her rooms still have the original beaded door casings and other original architectural flourishes. And then there's her proximity to power, just two blocks from the state capitol. No matter what, the Baranof will always have her lobbyists and legislators, who sit at the white clothed tables in her elegant Gold Room restaurant, conferring over scotch and king crab legs.