| Hotel Name: | Sentinel Hotel |
| Location: | Yosemite Valley |
| Opening Date: | 1876 |
| Coordinates: | 37.7433°N -119.5903°W |
| Map Type: | California#USA |
| Map Dot Label: | Sentinel Hotel |
The Sentinel Hotel, originally known as the Yosemite Falls Hotel, was a hotel located in Yosemite Valley, California in the United States. Built in 1876, it was open until the early 1900s. Situated on the banks of the Merced River and across the Sentinel Bridge, the hotel had views of Half Dome and Yosemite Falls. The hotel, originally established during the stagecoach era, subsequently grew into a favored destination for tourists journeying to Yosemite via railway and stagecoach.[1] Despite multiple renovations and changes in ownership, the Sentinel Hotel's relevance declined with the advent of modern hospitality services. The entire complex was eventually dismantled between 1938 and 1941.
In 1876, Coulter and Murphy, proprietors of the former Hutchings group, built the Sentinel Hotel. Their management period was brief, with the entire property passing to J. K. Barnard in 1877. For seventeen years, Barnard maintained it as the Yosemite Falls Hotel.[2] In 1893, during an economic depression, the Yosemite Grant Commissioners authorized a new lease to hotelier A.B. Glasscock, an associate of the Washburn brothers. Glasscock undertook significant renovations, transforming the hotel into a first-class establishment that mirrored the design of the Washburn's Wawona Hotel. The Sentinel Hotel was able to benefit from the economic recovery that followed.[3]
As tourism to Yosemite Valley rose in the late 1890s, the Sentinel Hotel underwent remodeling to accommodate more guests. Despite these efforts, the hotel and its cottages could only host two hundred guests, insufficient in light of the Stoneman House's destruction in 1896.
In 1915, the Department of the Interior moved to consolidate Yosemite's concessions. The Desmond Park Service Company acquired the Sentinel Hotel, among other assets.[4] This company, alongside the Curry Company, formed the Yosemite Park and Curry Company, which controlled most park concessions until 1993.
Running the hotel was a challenging business. In 1910, the proprietor of the Sentinel Hotel, J.B. Cook, committed suicide.[5] Seven years later, in 1917, high water from the Merced River washed away the back porch of the hotel, resulting in significant damages.[6]
By 1925, the Sentinel Hotel, though still a first-class establishment, struggled to meet the growing demands of the increasing number of tourists. The opening of the Ahwahnee Hotel in 1927, built by the Yosemite Park and Curry Company, further eclipsed the Sentinel's popularity. The Ahwahnee, along with the Yosemite Lodge, could accommodate winter guests, making the Sentinel less necessary.[7]
The establishment of Camp Curry coincided with a decrease in guests at the Sentinel Hotel, prompting speculations that the hotel would close permanently.[8] Between 1938 and 1941, the entire Sentinel Hotel complex was finally dismantled.