The Ahwahnee in Yosemite is no longer a 4-diamond hotel
A major hotel rating for one of Yosemite National Park’s grandest properties, The Ahwahnee, has been downgraded.
The historic Yosemite Valley hotel is now listed as a three-diamond hotel, dropping from the prestigious four-diamond status it had held since 1991. Visitors to the upscale hotel built in 1927 have included queens and U.S. presidents.
Julie Hall, a national AAA spokeswoman, said the Yosemite hotel’s AAA rating was downgraded in September 2018.
“We don’t disclose the specific reasons for a property’s rating adjustment except with property management, since that would be considered proprietary,” Hall said.
Yet, as of Tuesday, the park’s concessionaire – Yosemite Hospitality, a subsidiary of Aramark – still listed The Ahwahnee as a four-diamond hotel on its website.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that as of last weekend, a plaque behind the hotel’s front desk still advertised the same.
“We take this very seriously,” Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman told the Chronicle about the rating. “We have been meeting with Aramark to discuss the complaints and remediation.”
Gediman declined to comment further for this story.
Yosemite Hospitality and Aramark did not respond Tuesday to requests for comments.
AAA diamond awards are given sparingly. Just 121 hotels earned AAA’s top five-diamond award in 2019, including Château du Sureau in Oakhurst, about a half hour from Yosemite’s southern entrance. The chateau’s restaurant, Erna’s Elderberry House, also has a five-diamond award.
This story was originally published January 7, 2020 at 4:23 PM.
