The Camai Bed and Breakfast is one of the many homestay-style lodgings that are offered in Anchorage, Alaska. There are three different suites in the building, and it is possible for entire families to stay at the property. It was opened in the year 1981, and management has been under the care of home-owners Craig and Caroline Valentine for the entirety of the inn's existence. Camai Bed and Breakfast offers an authentic Alaskan lodging experience, with an emphasis on relaxation.
Camai Bed and Breakfast is located in Anchorage, Alaska. The word Camai (pronounced Cham-eye) is a native Alaskan word used by the Alutiiq and Yup'ik peoples. It is a word of greeting. Caroline Valentine—one of the property's owners and managers—describes the name in the following way: "'Camai' to Alaska is similar to how 'aloha' is to Hawaii." Simply put, it means "welcome."
At the Camai Bed and Breakfast, guests will find three distinct suites: the Peony Suite, the Fireweed Suite, and the Rose Suite. Each of the suites is a two-room dwelling with a private bath. The Fireweed Suite and the Rose Suite have private entrances, whereas the Peony Suite is accessed by the front door of the property. Caroline's favorite room is the Rose Suite, in part because it has a separate sitting room that can be converted into a bedroom in order to accommodate families (bringing the maximum occupancy of the room to five). There is a dining table in the kitchenette to promote family-togetherness. The suite also comes equipped with some of Caroline's grandmother's antique furniture from the late 1800s. Though the mattress has been changed for sanitary purposes, the bedframe in the Rose Suite is the same that Caroline slept in from time to time when she was growing up. The Fireweed Suite is also of note, due to the fact that it has a ramped private-access entrance. Though standards for handicap accessibility have changed over the years, Caroline describes the Fireweed Suite as being "mostly handicap-friendly."
All three of the suites at Camai Bed and Breakfast offer essential amenities such as small refrigerators, coffeemakers, microwaves, and Wi-Fi. Off-street private parking is provided to guests at no additional cost. A hot tub is also available on-site. Many of the decorations at Camai Bed and Breakfast are family heirlooms or authentic Alaskan crafts. Interior decorating is colorful and artsy in its appearance. The bed and breakfast as a building is a white, three-story structure accented by red paint on the sides of the roof, window frames, and the porch's railings and stairs. In the backyard, guests can take a walk through the gardens and listen to the nearby Chester Creek. Camai Bed and Breakfast is located at the end of a cul-de-sac, and the area is relatively quiet and residential. The property is open year-round.
The innkeepers' main goal at Camai Bed and Breakfast is to provide a hospitable stay. Craig and Caroline Valentine have lived on the property for decades. They are experienced in offering their hospitality services to people from all over the world. Because they raised their own family on the property and watched their children leave home to start new generations, Craig and Caroline strive to be especially accommodating to visiting families. Suites at Camai Bed and Breakfast are designed to house four or five guests each, allowing for larger groups than what is generally possible in a bed and breakfast. Due to the relative distance that separates the different suites, families need not worry too much about disturbing other visitors with small children or babies.
Caroline was certified as a "Master Gardener" back in 1976, so she always invites guests to take a peaceful stroll through her Bucolic gardens. Surrounded by trees and located next to Chester Creek, the bed and breakfast is secluded and has a natural environment. Moose can often be spotted on the premises, sometimes arriving in groups of two or three. Caroline is the director of a hand bell choir, and she has strong Christian backgrounds and beliefs. She particularly enjoys the round-the-table breakfasts with her guests.
The Camai Bed and Breakfast has been in operation since May of 1981. During the entirety of the bed and breakfast's operation, it has been under the management of Craig and Caroline Valentine. The Valentines live on-site, making it a homestay style of lodging. The Valentines, who are not Alaskan natives, enjoyed the Anchorage environment and decided to make it their new home.
As they were settling in, the Valentines began to develop an interest in the bed and breakfast industry. The biggest appeal for them was the opportunity to be hospitable to people, due to their Christian beliefs and upbringing. Caroline was a math teacher in a public school, so she didn't have enough money to take her family traveling to various places over the world. "I couldn't take my children to the world, so I wanted the world to come to them," she says. Craig and Caroline were able to raise their two children in a bed and breakfast environment, and they have served people from many countries and nationalities.
Other notable items of history on the property include snowshoes worn by Caroline's father in his youth as he traveled to various states in the eastern United States, as well as a bear skull. The skull is from a bear that Caroline's father killed while fishing. It made various advances on him, and he beat it upon the snout twice before deciding to take more severe measures. Pulling out his pistol, he killed the creature and kept the skull. A dentist friend thought that it would be humorous to replace one of the teeth with a golden tooth, so they did so.
3838 Westminster Way
Anchorage, Alaska 99508-4834
United States
Bed and Breakfast
Craig & Caroline Valentine
