A $3 million, 83-room Motel 6 is slated to open May 5 and an adjacent $5.5 million, 106-room Fairfield Inn is scheduled to open July 4, according to Jon Feil, a superintendent for A & A Construction & Development Inc.

Both are located on A Street, with the Motel 6 at 5000 A St. and the Fairfield Inn at 5060 A St.

The recent cold snap hampered construction somewhat, Feil said, but both projects are on schedule for the opening dates.

Construction on the properties began Aug. 13.

Feil does not think Anchorage hotels and motels are being overbuilt.

"A lot of people are not going overseas," he said. "They're coming up here to see Alaska and Canada, the last frontier," he said.

Kevin Pearson, vice president of business development for the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation, said that approximately 2,400 hotel rooms have been added to the Anchorage market in the last two years.

And since 1997, there have been 34 new hotels built in Alaska, according to the Alaska Travel Industry Association.

"Are we overbuilt?," Pearson said. "I would doubt it. But we do have a surplus of rooms, especially during the off season."

The oversupply will sometimes drive prices down, and push motel owners to work hard in marketing, particularly for corporate accounts, he said.