Hotels

A little while back Sharon wrote a great review of the historic Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park, California. It’s a classic art deco-style lodge, and a beautiful place to stay when you visit the park.

The Ahwahnee Hotel in autumn

However, it’s also a death trap. Oops.

A new study has been released, saying that the lodge needs a lot of retro-fitting to bring it up to modern safety standards.

How much? Well, in a big quake, the kind we expect around here on a daily basis — seriously, it’s only a matter of time — the walls and floors could fail,  and “human lives could be lost”.

The lodge was built in 1927, and it’s a huge tourist attraction. But the retrofit will shut the property for two years, and cost $20 million dollars, which the owners don’t seem to have since they’ve requested federal assistance.

Let’s just hope this living piece of history doesn’t fall victim to the lackluster travel economy! No one will care if a few Hyatts and Motel 6 properties disappear, but The Ahwahnee is special.

Photo: Ahwahnee Hotel