The Majestic Yosemite Hotel, formerly the Ahwahnee Hotel, is a grand hotel in the "PARKitecture" style seen in national parks across the west. A park service naturalist leads a free daily walking tour of the hotel for park visitors. The hotel was envisioned as a place where the "movers and shakers" of the 1920s would feel at home in the vast wilderness of Yosemite National Park. The hope was that once these influential people saw Yosemite Valley, they would write their congressmen and demand that additional funding be allocated to protect Yosemite.
Hotels of the period usually had small guest rooms and large common areas as the guest room was only used for changing attire and sleeping. Guests were expected to mingle with others in the array of common areas on the ground floor. At the Majestic Yosemite Hotel, these spaces included the Dining Room, Great Lounge, Solarium, Mural Room, and Winter Club Room.
The hotel was built of steel, concrete, and stone in order to be as fire resistant as possible. However, much of the concrete exterior was molded and stained to look like wood to fit into the architectural theme. The interior designers were influenced by several styles, including Arts & Crafts, Art Deco, Native American, and Middle Eastern. Somehow, they managed to pull off an eye pleasing combination that worked.
During World War II, the hotel was used by the War Department as a convalescent home for wounded soldiers and much of the original artwork on the ceilings, beams, and walls was painted over. Restoration to the original designs is expected to cost more than $1 million and take several years to complete, once it is funded.
Built just as the automobile was becoming available, the hotel had to be reconfigured just before it opened as the original design for the main entrance would have allowed exhaust fumes into the building. A hastily designed and built timber port-cochere entry on the north of the east wing keeps exhaust fumes far from the hotel and hides the delivery area and back side of the kitchen from visitors. The hotel has 97 guest rooms and about two dozen cottages.
The naturalist conducting our tour grew up in Yosemite and has climbed most of the cliff walls surrounding Yosemite Valley. He was very knowledgeable, engaging, and friendly. We took the tour in March 2018.
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| Porte-cochere viewed from the shuttle stop |
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| Window shopping from the porte-cochere |
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| Looking back at the porte-cochere |
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| Historic Landmark plaque |
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| Front entrance |
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| Entering the lobby |
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| More of the lobby |
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| View from what was designed as the front of the hotel |
Great Lounge
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| Cut and stained glass windows |
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| One of two massive fireplaces in the common areas |
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| The other fireplace |
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| Connecting corridor |
Mural Room
Dining Room
Exterior
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| Hotel backs up to the north wall of Yosemite Valley |
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| Royal Arch Cascades |
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| Stained and textured concrete simulates wood |
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| Stones placed largest to smallest up the column to force a perspective of a larger structure |
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| The majestic side of the hotel |
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| View toward Glacier Point |
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| Our tour guide |
Entrance to Yosemite National Park requires an entry fee of $30 per passenger vehicle for a 7-day pass. The price increases to $35 per vehicle on June 1, 2018. Any of the America the Beautiful passes may be used instead.
The park website is
https://www.nps.gov/yose.
