Ma Johnson’s Historical Hotel

Had a lovely experience at Ma Johnson's located in downtown McCarthy! The staff went beyond our expectations including Neil, the owner, who went out of his way to give me a call prior to my trip and suggest some changes to our itinerary to spend more time in McCarthy. The rooms are on the smaller side but charming and clean. There is free breakfast provided at the Salmon and Bear Restaurant across the street and it is truly one of the best hotel breakfasts I have ever had. Everyone in the town is SO nice. Highly recommend spending at least two nights here and also doing a glacier hike with St Alpine which will pick you up right in front of the hotel. Hope to visit again one day!

This is your best bet in town. Very quaint, step back into history. If you are a party of two, make sure you book one of the 2-bed rooms. The single-bed rooms that we saw were tiny. Barely enough room for 1 person to move around. I think only 1 room that we saw had an outlet. However - everyone gets by - charging their devices in the lobby or in the common area in the adjacent building. Very nice people - very accommodating. Lots of grace for everything in this wonderful little town.

Ma J's, as it's called by the locals, was a great place to stay during our trip to Wrangell-St. Elias. We loved the breakfast and historic decorations in the rooms and lobby. Our room was small but sufficient and we had a sink in the room, which was nice since bathrooms were shared amongst rooms.

Amazing hotel that is an absolute time capsule taking you back to the early 1900's. Not only in the feel of the hotel itself with period furniture, but also the staff and friendliness you receive. Step back in time with your stay in this hotel that is centrally located within a stones throw of everything you need in McCarthy. We had the most amazing time here!

Neil Garish really went out of his way to make our stay wonderful! We thoroughly enjoyed staying at the Kate Kennedy house and dining at the Salmon and Bear restaurant! Excellent food and accommodations in McCarthy Alaska!

Loved this quaint historical hotel and the hospitality. Sherry at the reception desk was super friendly and helpful. The lobby with it's bookshelves and all kind of local historical artifacts and photos from days gone by was really charming. Even though shared bathrooms they were super clean and easy to use and had that vintage vibe reminiscent of old NPS lodges. Right in middy of McCarthy. Also enjoyed our food at the cafes next door and general store. All in all everyone was super friendly. One thing would be really extra nice is to add keys to the doors. Not a big deal

Everyone was incredibly nice. The hotel is very well kept, and everyone was always quick to help, make sure our trip was perfect, and that we had everything we need. An overall amazing experience in McCarthy thanks to the Ma Johnson’s team.

Ma Johnson's is a lovely old (authentic) hotel. The beds and pillows are so sweet; some rooms have sinks, but guests shower in a private but shared space and that's OK! Neil is so accomodating and employees Crystal and Reagan were great! This was my 2nd stay over the years. I will be back. Thank you McCarthy Ventures/Ma Johnson's Hotel!

Amazing hotel that is an absolute time capsule taking you back to the early 1900's. Not only in the feel of the hotel itself with period furniture, but also the staff and friendliness you receive. Step back in time with your stay in this hotel that is centrally located within a stones throw of everything you need in McCarthy. We had the most amazing time here!

I'm slightly hesitant to write a review for Ma Johnson's Hotel because I didn't actually stay at the hotel. I did, however, stop in to learn about the history and see the artifacts in the hotel lobby because Ma Johnson's is a historical hotel, a museum of sorts! The woman working at the reception desk was so enthusiastic to tell me about the history of McCarthy and the hotel. Ma Johnson's Hotel has since been restored as the town of McCarthy/Kennicott were once Ghost Towns. Stop in to learn more about the history, see the artifacts, and definitely stay a night or two if you can. I also learned the McCarthy Lodge and some of the other nearby restaurants are under the same ownership.

The rooms were great! The staff was also great! However, we had made reservations months (February) in advance for the night of our wedding (July 4, 2019) We made the reservations for the hotel and saloon/bistro for the wedding party. We were promised that what we asked for: steak, chicken wings and blueberry cheesecake. Would be available Upon arrival, one of the staff tried really hard to talk us out of the steak and wings be and into dishes that sounded disgusting (bone marrow on toast). The person also told us that the baker was "unable to get the ingredients" for the blueberry cheesecake. Keep in mind that the reservations were made in February and we were assured that what we requested would be there for us. We were also told that they were planning a "special" wedding dessert for us. The owner of the hotel and restaurant told us that he gives the staff "liberties" to take care of us on our wedding night. Didn't notice anything done for us. So just remember that if you make reservations and are promised certain foods or treatment, it probably won't happen.

Great place to stay, very friendly staff , clean rooms. No power outlets in the rooms but that's to be expected due to the age of the Hotel. Power outlets to charge phones are in the lobby down stairs. Highly recomended

My goodness, a 5-star restaurant serving 5-star food in an isolated town in the Wrangell Mountains. Year-round population is 42. We loved this restaurant.

Wonderful! We ate here the night before a week-long backpacking trip in Wrangell-St Elias. It's pretty amazing to discover such a gourmet place in, literally, the middle of nowhere.It's a tiny little restaurant in a historic building in the miniscule town of McCarthy, AK (2 hours down dirt roads to get there, only 40 or so residents, 1 hotel). They serve only a set 4-course meal or, on some nights, a tasting menu with several more courses. We're completely unfussy eaters, but we heard plenty of other folks around us with special requests (no dairy, vegetarian, etc) that they seemed to be willing and able to accommodate. The four-course meal the night we were there was excellent. First course was copper river salmon on a bed of seared tomato, adzuki beans, and lentils. I thought the salmon was great, but the tomato was mediocre (not very ripe) and the beans were a touch under-cooked for me. Second course was a pork ragu with gnocchi. Third course was braised beef and polenta (amazing, amazing, amazing) and the dessert was some sort of shortbread-cookie-ish thing with strawberry cream and chocolate. YUM! Our water was also excellent, and SO knowledgeable about the wines, which were at least as good as the food, if not better. And at $40 (not including wine) a person, a total bargain! We paid more than that for fish and chips and a couple beers at a pub in Seward! Anywhere else, I'd probably give this restaurant 4 stars, but it gets the 5th just for being what it is under such insane circumstances.

We had a couple backpacking trips in Wrangell St Elias National Park and after the first one, came back to town looking for a place to eat. And luckily, walked into this place. The restaurant serves a 4-course dinner for $40, a great deal in any city, an awesome deal when you're in the middle of nowhere Alaska town with a winter population of about 20 residents. Three times a week, just to get the chef's creative juices flowing, they serve an 18 to 20-course tasting menu for $125, which is a bargain anywhere. Since my husband's a vegetarian and I am a picky eater, we asked the waiter if it would be possible to alter the menu to accommodate our requests. He went to check with the chef and came back with the great news for us to go next door for a beer while the chef will need about 30 minutes to prepare for our dinner. We were impressed at how accommodating they are, especially when we found out later that most of the people dining there have had reservations made first. The room was warm and classy with white tablecloth service. Remnants of old Kennecott Mining Company artifacts and photos were all around the walls. Given how isolated this town is, the chef should be highly commended for all the dishes that came out of his kitchen. First dish was arugula salad with shrimp (seared tomato slices for vegetarian) tossed in simple vinaigrette and pickled onion and carrots. Second course was soba noodles mixed with julienned cabbage, celery, and seaweed, topped with cod (if you eat fish) or roasted eggplant (if you're vegetarian). Third course was braised beef that melts in your mouth (or veggie loaf for vegetarian substitute) on a bed of quinoa with mushroom and red wine reduction sauce. Dessert was rhubarb crisp. Excellently delicious. We came to find out later that the chef is Joshua Slaughter, a James Beard Award chef who has worked for Thomas Keller in Napa Valley and NYC. A great chef with a complete understanding of flavor, texture, pairing and how it all go together to produce an exquisite dining experience. The wine selection complimented the food greatly. The service was impeccable. We had such a great experience overall that we made a reservation this time to come back for dinner after our second backpacking trip. And it was great if not better than the first time we were there. We asked Chef Slaughter if it would be possible to do a vegetarian tasting course and he welcomed the "challenge." We will definitely be back in this wonderful town and to pay a visit to Chef Slaughter again.