The Ahwahnee Hotel (formerly The Majestic Yosemite Hotel) - Additional Photos

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These are additional photos of the The Majestic Yosemite Hotel aka The Ahwahnee Hotel.  These photos were taken February 14, 2006.  I simply have too many photos, far more than most people would be interested in!  With so many fantastic things to see at this hotel, it's hard to choose what goes on the main pages and what lands on this overflow page.  So here they are, almost 50 more photos for you to enjoy!  (Be patient this page may load slowly.)

East side of the Ahwahnee Hotel viewed from a fire escape on the 2nd floor. The Sunporch Parlor is at top center of the photo on 6th floor, with the overhanging roof.



Another view from the 2nd floor fire escape.  You can see the pool in the distance.

Flagstone walkway along a creek by the hotel.

The meadow and flagpole next to the hotel entry walk. Photo taken looking down from the east wing fire escape.

Hotel viewed from near the banks of the Merced River on the far side of the meadow.  While the hotel is large it doesn't seem that massive once you can put it into perspective with the huge cliffs behind it.

View of the central tower.

South wing viewed from the meadow. The Great Lounge is on the ground floor, there is no 1st floor on this wing.  The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floor rooms are above the Great Lounge and have the blue shutters.  Suites on the 2nd-4th floors are on the far left with balconies.  The 5th and 6th floors are in the tower on the right.

View from the 4th floor "secret" terrace.

Porte-Cochere Corridor with Display Case.

View looking toward the main doors and the current porte-cochere location (the original Porte-cochere was through the open door you can just barely see on the right.)

The rubber inlay pattern in the floor of the Main Lobby.  Original hotel entry doors are visible in background.  So the architect's original intent was that you would walk into the hotel over this floor design.

Cashier's Windows in the Main Lobby.

Jeannette Dyer Spencer mural over the fireplace in the Elevator Lobby.

Elevator lobby stairs.

Me (Jess) and my wife Julie having breakfast in the Ahwahnee Dining room.

This table is an original furnishing of the hotel.

Fireplace in the Tudor Lounge.

Photo of the Great Lounge taken from windows in the upstairs Tudor Lounge, which overlooks the Great Lounge. The two doorways on the far side of the Great Lounge lead into the Elevator Lobby, the balconies above them are the 1st floor lobby.

The Great Lounge. Looking back toward where the last photo was taken from the Tudor Lounge window above the door on the far left wall.

These original hotel writing desks are in the Great Lounge.

Ceiling details of the Great Lounge. These photos were taken looking into the Great Lounge from the balcony of the 1st floor lobby.

Stained glass window details of the Great Lounge. These photos were taken looking into the Great Lounge from the balcony of the 1st floor lobby.

Another view of the Great Lounge.

Robert Boardman Howard Mural in the Mural Room.

The Mural Room.  Too dark for a good photo with my old camera.

Attention to detail: If you look close you can see the drain cover in the Solarium fountain has the Ahwahnee logo cast on it!

Rainy day view from the Solarium windows.  Yosemite even looks good in the rain!

Original Persian Hall carpet runner now used as a wall hanging.

Spiral staircase down from 2nd floor.

Looking down the spiral staircase.

The steel spiral staircase is just outside the doors. Also an access ramp down to the swimming pool.

4th floor lobby.

Fragment of one of the hotel's original Persian rugs. These framed historic rug fragments are used as decorations throughout the hotel. Very clever!

The transoms over the room doors were sealed shut when the hotel was air-conditioned. Each has a painted design on it.

Each floor has ice for guests. Don't look for an ice machine.  It's in a real ice chest!

Rug detail showing the Ahwahnee logo. This is one of the new replacement rugs.

Not so fancy stairwell.

This is the bath of the Spensor Room on the 6th floor. The bathrooms were remodeled after this photo was taken. the standard rooms have a different tile and decor but the fixtures are similar. There is another photo later showing the new sinks.

Typical bathtub. The yellow rubber duck on the edge of the tub is a nice touch. Every room had one. Not sure if they still do...

Walk-through closet in the Spensor Room. You walk through the closet to get to the bathroom.

This is the view of the valley from the steel balcony on the Mary Curry Tressider Suite on the 6th floor.  Owning the park concession had it's perks back in the day!

Snow catchers on the roof keep the snow from sliding off. Note the copper flashings around the chimney.

Standard room decor.

3rd Floor suite parlor room.

Same 3rd Floor suite parlor room.

Slate roof up close.

The service yard on the back of the hotel is hidden behind a fence and is right next to the main entrance. Those are employee's bicycles, bikes are a better way to get around the Valley than cars, and faster than the shuttle buses.

They were remodeling the baths when we visited. This is a bathroom with the wall mirror removed. Behind the bathroom mirror is the access hole for the utility chase inside the wall. This is where all the pipes are, and the hole is how the maintenance workers get in to repair them.

Here's the new sinks, that are now installed in all the rooms. There were footprints of a ring-tail cat on this sink, but they didn't show up in the photo. The plumber said he saw the ring-tail in the bathroom that morning, but it ran back into the wall and disappeared. It's a National Park, you have to expect a little wildlife! Realistically, almost all old hotels will have animals living in the walls. Yes, that is a bathroom scale under the sink. All the rooms have scales so you can see how much weight you've gained on vacation!

A look inside the walls of the Ahwahnee Hotel. This is the website where you really get an "inside look" at the hotels! This is what it looks like inside the utility chase. The copper pipe is the valve and pipes for the bathtub/shower in the adjacent room. The huge black pipe is a cast-iron sewer pipe.

Don't want you to miss anything so here's a hotel utility room. Yes, we give you a thorough look at the hotels. What a thrill!

Wood?  Nope! These roof joists above the 6th floor are all concrete. If you look close you can see that 3 of them have the exact same knot pattern where they reused the same form to cast them! They are each painted a little different to make it less obvious. The window on the lower left is the Sunroom.

Riveted copper rain gutter.

Cool light fixture. Yes, all the "'wood" in this photo is really concrete! (Except the window frame and shutters.)

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