Glamorous Living in the Wilderness

Just because you’re in the wilderness, there’s no reason to rough it.

That seems to be the sentiment behind the accommodations in “Great Lodges of the National Parks,” a four-part PBS series starting tonight (and continuing Wednesdays through July 31 at 8 p.m.).

Tonight’s installment visits Yellowstone’s Old Faithful Inn and Yosemite’s Ahwahnee Hotel. Both lodgings were designed to blend in with, rather than stand out from, their natural surroundings, while capturing the parks’ scale and grandeur. The Old Faithful Inn, which opened in 1904 mere footsteps from the Old Faithful geyser, was constructed from hundreds of native lodgepole pines and tons of rocks. The 76 1/2-foot-high lobby is a dark and woodsy open space lighted by a massive stone fireplace. The rooms are rustic, with log walls and ceilings and bathrooms down the hall. However, we are assured the amenities are first-class.

Yosemite’s lavish Ahwahnee Hotel’s claim of reflecting the surrounding wilderness is more tenuous--though visitors can gaze at ice sculpture models of the landmark Half Dome while sipping afternoon tea in the solarium. The elegant hotel, built in 1927, boasts “English country home” furnishings, including buttery yellow walls, fine antique furniture and Oriental rugs.

On the outside, the Ahwahnee sports massive granite columns mimicking nearby cliffs. Inside, though, it is nothing short of posh, right down to the tuxedoed chap playing the grand piano. Coat and tie required for dinner, of course. For those who prefer to spot a bear through a window rather than a tent flap (gin and tonic in hand), it may be the perfect spot.

Like the lodges, the show meanders from its focus at times, spending too much time on ho-hum maintenance at the Old Faithful Inn and on the medieval English-style Christmas festivities at the Ahwahnee. Both the show and the lodges would do well to get a little more back to nature.