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Yosemite National Park Hotels are set amongst the
towering trees, the giant sequoias that grace this
region with spectacular displays of shadows and light.
It's hard to believe there's a Four Diamond luxury hotel
set amongst this forested national park.
But there's not only a fabulous AAA Four Diamond
National Historic Landmark,
Ahwahnee Hotel set to the
backdrop of sheer cliffs, there are also several more
rustic hotels that allow visitors to enjoy the woods and
forests of rugged California without roughing it too
much.
When
the Ahwahnee opened at the east end of the Yosemite Valley in July,
1927, it welcomed not only an eager public, but movie stars, heads
of state, artists, politicians and photographer Ansel Adams, who
stayed there often. The guest list included Dwight D. Eisenhower,
Shah of Iran, Herbert Hoover, Eleanor Roosevelt, Will Rogers,
Gertrude Stein, Charlie Chaplin, Will Rogers, Lucille Ball, Ronald
Reagan, Walt Disney, Greta Garbo, John F. Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth
II and Prince Phillip. It is not uncommon to see limousines in the
parking lot of this lodge set amongst one of California's most
beautiful forests.
The
building which receives its landmark designation for its
architectural elements, was designed by architect Gilbert Stanley
Underwood. Responsible for varied projects that ranged from Zion,
Bryce and Grand Canyon, Timberline, Sun Valley and Williamsburg
Lodges, to the San Francisco Mint and the Federal courthouses in Los
Angeles and Seattle Underwood was known for his versatility. At
Ahwahnee, there were cost overruns during construction but the
project was considered so important to tourism that no corners were
cut in creating this landmark piece.
The
building's irregular, asymmetrical shape and materials such as
rough-cut granite and concrete looks like wood siding and structural
timbers between the piers but is actually concrete, poured into
formwork that shapes it to look like horizontal redwood siding and
large milled timbers. The stain on the concrete, similar in color to
pine bark and redwood lumber, reinforces that illusion that the
fabric is wood. Not everything is as it seems in Ahwahnee, though
one theme is carried throughout—integration
with the natural environment.
The
Ahwahnee contains a six-story central block and three story wings
accented by balconies and terraces that add a spatial interest to
the exterior. The principal entrance through a porte-cochere is more
subdued with the most impressive views of the hotel seen in the
southern meadows. (Ahwahnee was derived from an Indian term meaning
deep, grassy meadow. Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada was
set aside as a national park in 1890 and has maintained the magic
shared by Ahwahnee through the years. The park includes spectacular
mountains, valleys, reflecting lakes, waterfalls, forests that
include groves of giant sequoias and flower-filled meadows that
spring to life with colorful blossoms annually, framing the hotel
perfectly.
The
hotel contains a Great Lounge with a 24-foot-high ceiling of exposed
girders and beams painted with bands of Indian designs, enormous
fireplaces at opposite ends of the Lounge, Persian rugs and
floor-to-ceiling windows with 5x6-foot stained glass panels.
Directly off the Lounge are the California Room, the Writing Room,
and the solarium. The California room contains decorations of
memorabilia from the Gold Rush days. A 6,630 square feet dining room
has a gable-roofed ceiling 34 feet high and are comprised of massive
granite piers interspersed with 11 floor-to-ceiling windows.
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