Yosemite National Park's historic Wawona Hotel is closing its doors, and park officials have not said when it will reopen. Hotel workers are being reassigned elsewhere.
One of the last times this Victorian-era hotel in Yosemite National Park closed, the raging flames of the 2022 Washburn Fire had engulfed and surrounded the institution.
The hotel, which bears the same name as the neighborhood in which it is located, was closed for two weeks that July, reopening later that month when the fires were extinguished and the smoke and ash cleared.
Unlike that quick recovery, the next hotel closure may not be so brief.
The National Park Service announced via Instagram on Wednesday that the 168-year-old hotel would close on Dec. 2 for an unspecified period of time to allow the agency to conduct a Comprehensive evaluation of the hotel complex.
Yosemite Hospitality, which has managed the Wawona and other hotels in the park since 2016, confirmed there is no estimated reopening date.
(National Park Service)
“The National Park Service (NPS) recently undertook a roof replacement project on the hotel’s main building, which revealed the need for more intensive investigation and evaluation of the hotel.” The National Park Service wrote.
A National Park Service spokesperson said the agency would not offer additional comment beyond its statement on social media.
The Wawona Hotel issued a message saying it would issue refunds to guests with a reservation for December 2 or later. The hotel said that There was no estimated reopening date.
Yosemite Hospitality, which has managed the Wawona and other hotels in the park since 2016, confirmed the indefinite closure and that hotel employees will be redeployed to other positions within Yosemite Hospitality or Aramark. Yosemite’s better-known Ahwahnee Hotel, which has welcomed guests since 1927, is open but is still undergoing a $35 million earthquake-damaged modernization.
“We have been entrusted with managing concessions in Yosemite National Park since 2016, and we consider our role as stewards of one of America’s most beloved national parks to be very important,” the statement said.
Yosemite Hospitality said the hotel's closure was necessary for the preservation of the historic building and that the group would continue to work with the National Park Service.
The two-story Wawona Hotel, almost surrounded by a Spanish-style terrace, has 50 standard rooms with private baths and 54 additional rooms with shared baths.
While the hotel boasts its nine-hole golf course, stables, pool and piano lounge, the property and Yosemite Hospitality have come under fire for safety issues over the past two years.
A 2023 annual assessment by the federal Department of the Interior, obtained by SFGate through a Freedom of Information Act request, noted that “no significant steps” were taken to address growing security concerns at the facilities.
Yosemite Hospitality “has neglected to properly manage maintenance activities at the Wawona Hotel, which became particularly evident in 2023,” the report states. “During periodic assessments conducted in 2023, in addition to service condition assessments, significant deterioration and damage to the hotel facilities was noted, including damage to railings, walkways, stairs, roofs, gutters, and other physical assets.”
In June 2022, a guest fell from the porch of the hotel's Clark Cottage after leaning on a railing that failed, the report said.
According to the report, a leak developed in the roof of the Ahwahnee hotel, also managed by Yosemite Hospitality, in February of the following year. Although the National Park Service requested a patch, the hotel was still in service months later with the leak unrepaired.
In April 2023, water intrusion through the roof caused a piece of the Ahwahnee dining room sunroom roof to fall off and strike an employee, the report said.
“The Service is extremely concerned about the risk to the safety of visitors and employees,” the report said.
