The Awahnee Hotel, Yosemite

It was in 1927 that the grand Awahnee Hotel opened up in Yosemite National Park. The grandeur of this historic hotel is amazing as my photos will show. Let’s take a walk around the hotel and let me give you a bit of history too!

The Awahnee as seen from Glacier Point

The hotel was designed by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood. The site that was chosen in the valley was under the Royal Arches in an area once occupied by the Miwok Indians. This site was chosen for the grand views of Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, and Glacier Point. The building is made up of 5,000 tons of granite, 30,000 feet of timber and 1,000 tons of steel. To prevent fire from devastating the hotel, a lot of the “wood” that you see in the lobby and other areas of the hotel are actually made up of concrete that was poured into rough molds and colored to resemble wood.

Entering the hotel

Did you see the bear warning sign? There are signs all around warning of the bears. No food in the cars folks or you will not have a car to come back to! Now let’s go take a look at the lobby, shall we?

One side of the lobby

The other side of the lobby

I took these photos from a mezzanine level. Traveling back down the stairs and into the lobby you will find a huge fireplace. My husband is in this photo an he is 6’6″ tall, so this gives you a bit of perspective of how big the fireplace is!

The fireplace is huge!

All above the windows are housed beautiful stained glass designs. Each of them are different.

Stained Glass – 1

Stained Glass – 2

We ventured off to the restaurant that too was very large. Here is a shot from where I was sitting.

Inside the dining room

Check out the huge cross beam in the center of the photo above. Looks like wood, but it is really concrete. The ceiling was really impressive too.

The ceiling of the restaurant

If you travel to Yosemite and go into the Awahnee and are hungry, the food is reasonably priced, service was great, and the food was good too!

Let’s take a walk around outside to check this place out.

Outside looking in to the dining room

Under the royal arches

A view showing the penthouse deck at the top

Some of the notables that have spent time here at The Awahnee were Lucille Ball, John F. Kennedy, Charlie Chaplin, and Queen Elizabeth II. If you decide to stay here, plan way ahead of your visit!  It books up fast!

From Highway 120 follow the Southside Drive. There are plenty of signs throughout the park.

I hope you enjoyed this travel tour of this magnificent spot! Have a great Sunday!