Yosemite contractor slammed for hospitality failings, including rodents at Ahwahnee bar

San Francisco Chronicle​

4 days ago

The company that manages the hotels, restaurants and other enterprises at Yosemite National Park has long struggled to provide decent accommodations for park visitors, with a record of shoddy food service, unkempt facilities and dangerously overdue repair work
This past year, things only got worse, according to the 2024 performance review of Philadelphia-based Aramark, obtained by the Chronicle.
On multiple occasions documented last year, the bar at the prestigious Ahwahnee Hotel had to be shut down because of rodents. At another time, faulty kitchen equipment spread foodborne illness at the park's food court, Base Camp Eatery. In another incident, an employee was injured at Yosemite Valley Lodge after tripping on stairs that had been tagged for fixing. On several occasions, the Curry Village Store was ransacked by squirrels and ringtails.
Aramark, which operates as Yosemite Hospitality at the park, was given a rating of 'unsatisfactory' in the 2024 review. It's the lowest mark the company has received in nine mostly unfavorable evaluations since being awarded Yosemite's multi-billion-dollar concessions contract nearly a decade ago. A recent change in how the reviews are done ensured that poor performance would result in an unsatisfactory rating.
The score, according to the review, is grounds for the park to terminate the contract with Aramark. Yet, as problematic as the company has been, Aramark is unlikely to lose the job. Prior evaluations found similar faults that justified termination, and still little has changed.
In a letter accompanying the latest review, park officials say they'll continue doing business with the company: 'We value the partnership with Yosemite Hospitality and look forward to working together… to continue improving the visitor experience at Yosemite National Park,' wrote the park's then acting superintendent.
Aramark's tenure at the park has also been colored by a handful of startling incidents with employees, including at least two workers charged with sexual assaults on colleagues. This spring, an employee died of an injury at an Aramark-run staff dormitory that authorities have described as 'suspicious' and that remains under investigation.
Additionally, the company, which runs concessions in more than a dozen national parks, has been plagued by stumbles elsewhere. Last year, it lost its contract at Crater Lake National Park because of performance problems.
Aramark officials declined a request for an interview with the Chronicle but emailed a statement, vowing to do better at Yosemite, as they've done after past reviews.
'We take this rating seriously, and in working closely with the NPS (National Park Service), we have and continue to make improvements at Yosemite to ensure high standards are met for park guests,' said Debbie Albert, a company spokeswoman.
The National Park Service said in a statement it was hoping Aramark would turn things around.
'Yosemite Hospitality has shown a commitment to improve its operations,' the emailed statement said. 'We are committed to closely monitoring performance and working with our business partner to meet the high expectations of quality services our visitors expect.'
While lucrative, the concessions contract at Yosemite is not an easy one to execute. The agreement, which is the biggest money-making contract in the National Park Service, requires the concessionaire to perform a range of often niche duties, from maintaining and operating a dozen lodging properties and 14 food and beverage sites to running bus service, backcountry camps and a ski slope. More than 1,000 workers are part of the effort.
The difficulty finding another company qualified for the job could be part of the reason that Yosemite hasn't made any changes.
'If the park service says we're going to kick Aramark out and they can't find anyone to do it, what are we going to do?' said Jonathan Jarvis, a former director of the National Park Service. 'The concessionaire has the park service over the barrel.'
Furthermore, Jarvis said, there's little motivation for the concessionaire to make improvements since it has a built-in customer base at the park.
'If Aramark gets a bad rating, it doesn't mean they're going to have fewer people staying in the hotels or eating in the restaurants,' he said.
Another reason that Yosemite might be sticking with Aramark is vacancies at several top jobs within the park service, meaning there are fewer people to make tough decisions. Yosemite is currently without a permanent superintendent, and the Trump administration has yet to appoint the agency's permanent nationwide director.
In California, Yosemite is the only national park that Aramark operates in, but the company has contracts with state parks and last year took over concessions at San Francisco's Oracle Park. Aramark provides services at sports stadiums, universities and hospitals globally.
The company's 2024 review at Yosemite, which was obtained by the Chronicle through a public records request, details a pattern of contract breaches and blunders, similar to prior reviews.
According to the document, the upscale bar at the Ahwahnee Hotel was closed at three different points last year, two because of rodent infestations and one because of a persistent leak in the kitchen. The first closure in June followed reports of an employee getting sick because of 'issues with chemical safety and unaddressed rodent contamination.'
The Ahwahnee is the most venerated of the park's properties, having hosted U.S. presidents and British royalty. Rooms can run for $1,000 a night. The hotel is currently wrapping up extensive seismic work.
The dining room at the historic Wawona Hotel and Base Camp Eatery were also shut down at various times last year to address 'imminent health hazards,' which included rodents.
Park officials, in their review, drew special attention to a complaint that was filed with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration about Aramark. The filing said Aramark employees were removing dead rodents and roaches without being properly trained. The workers, according to the review, were exposed to 'various health hazards.' Park officials said they had not been notified of the complaint, as required by the contract.
Yosemite has sought to take extra precautions around rodents since three people died at the park from the mouse-driven hantavirus in 2012.
The performance review cited other problems with wildlife, too, including improper storage of food and trash at several sites, drawing in hungry bears, as well as the invasions of squirrels and ringtails at Curry Village.
Another repeated complaint was Aramark's failure to maintain park structures. Problems ranged from frayed carpet at the Ahwahnee to loose electrical wires at the Yosemite Valley Lodge, where on one occasion a wire sparked and generated smoke. The guests staying in the smoky room were moved elsewhere.
Park officials said the concessionaire too often responded 'reactively' to maintenance issues rather than doing routine upkeep.
In addition to performance problems, part of the reason for Aramark's low rating last year is a change in the way concessionaires are scored. Under the new terms, the concessionaire can't receive an overall mark above 'unsatisfactory' if it is found to be below "satisfactory" in three of the six categories that the review is based on. The rating system consists of four tiers: superior, satisfactory, marginal and unsatisfactory.
Aramark's overall score the prior two years was 'marginal. The company has been below 'satisfactory' five of its nine years at the park.
Aramark got the concessions contract in 2016. The contract was initially for 15 years but has since been extended by at least two years because of the Covid pandemic. The company replaced Delaware North, which failed to win another contract after a high-profile trademark dispute with the National Park Service over who owned such place names as 'Ahwahnee' and 'Curry Village.'
The concessions contract generates revenues of well over $100 million a year. The park service receives a percentage of the receipts.