Inn at Death Valley,
Death Valley National
Park.Christopher ReynoldsChristopher Reynolds/Los Angeles TimesLATIMES.COM/TRAVEL F11
PUBLIC SPACES
The Ahwahnee’s ground floor
was a wonder, protected by
historic preservation measures.
But it was also worn. The first
piece of furniture I saw, a love
seat in the lobby, had a big stain,
not fresh. The Great Room
ceiling was impressive but
marred by white patches —
water damage repair waiting to
be touched up, a worker told me.
A big gift shop. A pleasant bar
with food on the menu — a good
alternative to the dining room.
At 2 p.m. daily, an Aramark
employee, not a ranger, gives a
talk on hotel history in front of
the fireplace. The speaker I
heard, Marty Anderson, did a
great job and charmed his audi-
ence with the tale of how his
parents had met while working
at the hotel and how, years later,
his mother had waited on
Queen Elizabeth.
In Death Valley, the inn’s
indoor public spaces were much
smaller, but graceful, with
arched doorways, exposed
beams, tile floors and Western
art. A pleasant lounge with a
fireplace was next to the dining
room.
The gift shop has been ban-
ished to the Ranch, its sister
resort, a short drive away. The
former store now is a stately
room called the library, with,
curiously, virtually no books on
the West. Also no coffee table
books. Outdoors, the pool was
long, wide and spring-fed, al-
ways 87 degrees.
The inn’s oasis was tremen-
dous — immaculate palms
swayed over pools that reflected
them like shimmering mirages.
However, it was a bit of a jour-
ney from the lobby to the pool,
oasis or parking lot, which was
too small.
Advantage:A tie: the Ahwah-
nee wins indoors; the Inn at
Death Valley wins outdoors.DINNER
My big Ahwahnee dinner was a
7.5. First, Italian sausage and
quinoa soup, followed by salm-on with spinach and potatoes.
Cost: $35 for the entrée. Dinner
main dishes $30-$58.50. The
dining room’s log rafters soared
high above, 12 chandeliers dan-
gled and a pianist played “The
Girl From Ipanema.” Even at
7:30 p.m., the dining room
looked less than half full. I’m
sure it’s jammed in summer, but
why was this reservation such a
chore?
In Death Valley, my big inn
dinner was an 8.5. Jambalaya
pasta with Indonesian shrimp
and Italian sausage, $40. Zesty
flavor, large helping. Dinner
main courses $28-$71. The din-
ing room was busy but quiet,
with a flickering fireplace.
Advantage:Death ValleyTOOTHPASTE TEST
At 8:05 p.m., five minutes after
the Ahwahnee gift shop closed, I
asked the desk for toothpaste.
The clerk was ready: “The sweet
shop has toothpaste,” she said.
So it did, and it was open until 10
p.m. I paid $1.50 for a .85-ounce
tube of Crest (and $3.99 for an
impulse-purchase dessert:
honey-glazed orange dipped in
chocolate).
The Inn at Death Valley had
no store on site (it’s in the
Ranch complex). But when I
asked an employee about a
toothbrush, he reached into a
drawer and pulled out a couple
of toothbrushes with tiny tooth-
paste tubes. Take two, he said,
they’re small. No charge.
Advantage:Death ValleyTOWEL TEST
At 8:35 p.m., I called the Ahwah-
nee desk to request a towel. Five
rings, then an attendant an-
swered and pledged quick deliv-
ery. It never arrived.
In Death Valley, I called the
inn desk at 8:54 p.m. The first
call went to a recording. On my
second try, an attendant picked
up. What kind of towel? Bath
towel. It arrived at 8:58 p.m.
Advantage:Death ValleyCHECKING OUT
In Yosemite, I requested a late
checkout. “The latest I can give
you is 12:30 p.m.” instead of
noon, the Ahwahnee clerk said.
In Death Valley, I requested a
late checkout. Yes, said the inn
clerk, I could have the room
until noon instead of 11.
Advantage:A tieTHE BOTTOM LINE?
Just as Yosemite and Death
Valley are different landscapes,
their grand hotels are different
animals. But the Ahwahnee
seems to be dozing while the Inn
at Death Valley is waking up.Photographs byChristopher ReynoldsLos Angeles Times>YOSEMITE’S Ahwahnee
Hotel and the Inn at Death
Valley both date to 1927. But
beyond that, their stories are as
different as a pine tree and a
palm.THE AHWAHNEE
The Ahwahnee has 97 rooms
and 24 cottages, all designed in
a stately yet rustic style by
architect Gilbert Stanley
Underwood, who also designed
Old Faithful Lodge in Yellow-
stone National Park.
The hotel, shaped like a Y,
features two big rooms on its
ground floor: the Great Room,
where visitors sink into
couches and armchairs near
oversize fireplaces, and the
dining room, where rustic
chandeliers hang above seating
for 300.
Though the hotel is owned
by the National Park Service, it
is operated by Philadelphia-
based Aramark, a concession
giant that runs dozens of at-
tractions.
Yosemite is said to be one of
the most valuable concessions
in the park system, with more
than 4 million visitors a year.
But the concessionaire’s role
comes with red tape.
Each year, park concession-
aires must submit rates to the
NPS for approval, and any
changes to historic sites receive
close government over sight.
In its review of Aramark in
2018, the National Park Service
rated the concessionaire’s
overall Yosemite operation
(including the Ahwahnee) as
“marginal,” with a score of 69
out of 100.
In September 2018, inspec-
tors from the American Auto-
mobile Assn. reported that the
Ahwahnee had slipped. That
month, AAA dropped its rating
of the Ahwahnee from four
diamonds — which it had held
since 1991 — to three. In results
released in February, AAA
again gave three.
Aramark spokeswoman
Lisa Cesaro said that AAA
diamond rankings tend to
reward newer properties and
that “due to the historic nature
of the hotel, there are key areas
that we cannot change.”THE INN AT
DEATH VALLEY
While the Ahwahnee was
rising in Yosemite Valley, the
sellers of Borax laundry soap
(made from Death Valley
minerals) were putting up a
hotel at Furnace Creek in
Death Valley. It was modest,
just 12 rooms on a hillside near
natural springs.
One early ad said Death
Valley had “all the advantages
of hell without the inconven-
iences.” Apparently, the ads
worked. Attendance kept
growing, and national park
status followed in 1994.
Nowadays, plenty is differ-
ent, including hotel manage-
ment and the inn’s name,
which in 2017 was changed
from the Inn at Furnace Creek
to the Inn at Death Valley.
The inn is run by Xanterra,
an Aramark rival that man-
ages luxury operations such as
Colorado’s Broadmoor Re-
sort, Georgia’s Sea Island and
Windstar Cruises.
Unlike the Ahwahnee and
most national park hotels, the
Inn at Death Valley and the
land beneath it are owned by
Xanterra. And the Inn at
Death Valley is not on the
National Register of Historic
Places.
That means Xanterra
doesn’t need government
approval for price increases,
renovations or other matters
that are the subject of negotia-
tion in most national parks
and historic sites. It’s “private
property surrounded by
Death Valley National Park,”
said park spokeswoman Abi-
gail Wines.
That may also help explain
Xanterra’s readiness to invest
an estimated $100 million in
Death Valley since 2017. Be-
tween May 2017 and February
2018, the company undertook a
major renovation at the inn
that rearranged its rooms and
grounds, added 22 high-end
casitas to 66 existing rooms
and turned the seasonal inn
into a year-round operation.
AAA gives the Inn at Death
Valley a four-diamond rating,
meaning it’s in the top 6% of all
properties inspected.Yosemite and Death
Valley grande dames
BY CHRISTOPER REYNOLDSYOSEMITE’S
Ahwahnee, top
left, and a park
view of the
Merced River,
above left. The
Inn at Death
Valley, top right,
is an oasis with
a swimming
pool and pond.