Ahwahnee Hotel facts for kids
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The Ahwahnee
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The Ahwahnee Hotel in winter
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 Location in California
Location in the United States
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| Location | Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California |
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| Built | August 1, 1926–July 1927 |
| Architect | Gilbert Stanley Underwood |
| Architectural style | National Park Service rustic |
| NRHP reference No. | 77000149 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | February 15, 1977 |
| Designated NHL | May 28, 1987 |
The Ahwahnee Hotel is a famous hotel located in Yosemite National Park, California. It sits on the floor of Yosemite Valley. The hotel was built by the Yosemite Park and Curry Company and opened in 1927.
It is made from steel, stone, concrete, wood, and glass. The Ahwahnee is a great example of National Park Service rustic architecture. This style blends buildings with their natural surroundings. In 1987, it was named a National Historic Landmark.
For a short time in 2016, the Ahwahnee was called the Majestic Yosemite Hotel. This happened because of a legal disagreement. The US Government owns the hotel, but the company running it, Delaware North, claimed ownership of the hotel's name. The original name was brought back in 2019 after the problem was solved.
Contents
How the Ahwahnee Hotel Began
The Curry Family's Vision
David and Jennie Curry were schoolteachers who came to Yosemite Valley in 1899. They started a simple tent camp for visitors. Even though it was a long trip by horse and wagon, 292 guests stayed there in the first year.
The Curry family's company became very important in the park. They wanted to make the park popular for fun activities. They even promoted attractions like the Firefall, where glowing embers were pushed off Glacier Point.
After David Curry passed away in 1917, his wife Jennie, known as "Mother Curry," took over. Their daughter Mary and her husband Donald Tresidder helped her. Their original camp is still open today as Curry Village.
Building Better Places to Stay
In 1915, Stephen Mather, who helped create the National Park Service, wanted to improve visitor services. He encouraged building better places to stay in Yosemite. Some important visitors thought the existing hotels were not good enough.
Mather dreamed of building a fancy hotel in Yosemite. An early attempt to build a hotel near Yosemite Falls failed because there wasn't enough money.
Yosemite Park and Curry Company Forms
By 1925, the National Park Service wanted to make things easier for visitors. They decided to let one company handle all the hotels and food services in each park. So, the Curry Company and another park company joined together. This created the Yosemite Park and Curry Company.
Donald Tresidder, from the Curry Company, became the new leader. This new company suggested building a new, luxurious hotel. They hoped it would finally make Mather's dream hotel a reality. The Yosemite Park and Curry Company became the main company providing services in the park. They built many of the park's service buildings.
Early Days of the Hotel
Donald Tresidder was in charge of building the Ahwahnee Hotel. The hotel was first going to be called "Yosemite All-Year-Round Hotel." But Tresidder changed the name to "Ahwahnee" just before it opened. This new name honored the local native people.
Building the hotel cost almost twice as much as planned. As winter approached, fewer guests came. To keep the hotel busy and earning money, Tresidder focused on winter sports like skiing. He also planned special Christmas events. One famous event was a banquet based on a story by Washington Irving. Local people, including photographer Ansel Adams, helped with the show.
Why the Hotel Was Renamed Temporarily
In 2014, the company running the hotel, Delaware North, lost its contract. A new company, Aramark, was chosen to take over. When Delaware North first took over in 1993, they had to buy the names and trademarks used by the previous company. These included names like Ahwahnee, Badger Pass, and Curry Village.
Delaware North believed these names were their property. They sued the government, saying the new contract didn't include buying these names. The government thought the names were worth much less than Delaware North claimed.
Because of this disagreement, the Ahwahnee Hotel and other park lodges were temporarily renamed. The Ahwahnee became the Majestic Yosemite Hotel on March 1, 2016. The original names were returned in 2019 after the issue was resolved.
How the Ahwahnee Hotel Was Designed
Architecture and Inside Look
The Ahwahnee is a Y-shaped building with 97 hotel rooms and suites. Each room has designs inspired by Native American art. There are also 24 cottages, making a total of 121 rooms.
The hotel was designed by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood. He also designed other famous park lodges. The Ahwahnee was meant to look natural and fit in with its surroundings. It is seen as a masterpiece of "parkitecture."
The hotel is located below the Royal Arches rock formation. This spot was chosen because it gets a lot of sun, which helps with heating. It also offers amazing views of Glacier Point, Half Dome, and Yosemite Falls.
The first ideas for the hotel's design were much grander. Underwood's original plan was for a huge six-story building. But the leaders wanted a hotel with about 100 rooms that felt more like a fancy country home. The design changed several times.
The inside design also changed. Artists Professor Arthur Upham Pope and Dr. Phyllis Ackerman created the final style. They blended Art Deco, Native American, Middle Eastern, and Arts and Crafts styles. Many skilled artists worked under their guidance to decorate the hotel.
Building the Hotel
The hotel was built using 5,000 tons of granite, 1,000 tons of steel, and 30,000 feet of timber. The steel came from San Francisco. The timber came from land owned by the Curry family.
The parts of the hotel that look like wood on the outside are actually stained concrete. This was done to make the hotel resistant to fire. The construction took eleven months and cost about $1,225,000. It was finished in July 1927.
After the hotel was built, some changes were made. In 1928, a roof garden was turned into a private apartment. In 1931, the main beams in the dining room were made stronger. This was to make sure they could hold the weight of snow and handle earthquakes.
During World War II, the United States Navy used the hotel as a hospital for war veterans. They repainted the inside and made other changes. Over the years, the hotel received upgrades like fire escapes, smoke detectors, and a swimming pool. In the early 2000s, the roof was replaced.
The Grand Dining Room
The Grand Dining Room is a huge space, 130 feet long and 51 feet wide. It has a 34-foot ceiling with tall rock columns, making it feel like a grand cathedral. For fire safety, the wooden beams in the dining room are actually hollow and contain steel beams.
When the hotel was finished, a window at the end of the room perfectly framed Yosemite Falls. While most of the park is casual, the Ahwahnee Dining Room used to require men to wear jackets. Now, men can wear collared shirts, and women can wear dresses or slacks and a blouse.
The dining room was first planned to hold 1,000 guests. But it was made smaller to seat 350 guests. The kitchen is still very large and can handle big events. It has high-quality equipment to compete with other fine restaurants. A pianist often plays music during dinner.
The Bracebridge Dinner Tradition
The Bracebridge Dinner is a special seven-course meal held in the Grand Dining Room. It's like a feast given by a lord from the Renaissance era. This tradition started in 1927, the hotel's first year. It was inspired by a Christmas story by Washington Irving.
Music and acting performances go along with each course. Donald Tresidder and his wife Mary Curry came up with the idea. Photographer Ansel Adams, known for his unique personality, played the "Jester" in the early years. He even climbed the granite pillars to the rafters!
When the director of the show passed away in 1929, Tresidder asked Ansel Adams to take over. Adams changed the script in 1931 and played the "Major Domo," the head of the household. His wife, Virginia Best Adams, played the housekeeper.
The dinner was paused during World War II when the hotel was a hospital. When it returned, more music was added. Ansel Adams retired from the event in 1973. His daughter, Andrea Fulton, now directs the show and plays the housekeeper.
The Bracebridge Dinner celebrated its 85th anniversary in 2011. Travel + Leisure magazine named the Ahwahnee Hotel one of the best hotels for the holidays. For many years, tickets were very hard to get. People had to enter a lottery to win them.
The Great Lounge
The Great Lounge is one of the main public areas in the hotel. It is a large room that stretches almost the entire length of the wing. There are two big fireplaces made from cut sandstone at each end of the room.
On both sides of the lounge, there are huge floor-to-ceiling windows. These windows have beautiful stained glass designs at the top. The unique border designs on the beams in the Great Lounge were created by artist Jeanette Dryer Spencer.
The Ahwahnee in Movies
The inside of the Ahwahnee Hotel inspired parts of Stanley Kubrick's horror film The Shining (1980). Designers used the hotel's lobby, elevators, and Great Lounge to create sets for the movie's Overlook Hotel.
The films The Caine Mutiny (1954) and Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day (1996) also show parts of the Ahwahnee Hotel.
The Ahwahnee on Radio
The Ahwahnee Hotel was featured in two episodes of The Jell-O Program Starring Jack Benny in 1940. In the radio show, the characters visit a funny, fictional version of the hotel during a ski trip.
Famous Guests
Many famous people have stayed at the Ahwahnee Hotel and eaten in its dining room. These include artists, kings and queens, leaders of countries, movie and TV stars, writers, and business leaders.
Some notable guests include:
- Leaders: Queen Elizabeth II, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, the Shah of Iran, and Barack Obama.
- Business Leaders: Walt Disney and Steve Jobs.
- Entertainers: Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball, Charlie Chaplin, Judy Garland, Leonard Nimoy, Will Rogers, and William Shatner.
- Writer: Gertrude Stein.
Images for kids
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Two people eating in the Grand Dining Room
See also
In Spanish: Hotel Ahwahnee para niños
