Merced’s El Capitan Hotel celebrates grand opening after multi-million dollar renovation

The artwork is hung, the beds are made, the furniture is installed and the dust has cleared as The El Capitan Hotel officially held its grand opening in downtown Merced on Wednesday morning.

Planning for the four-floor, 114-room hotel started four years ago. After three years of construction the renovation on the 1715 M St. project is finally complete.

“For those who have children, It’s like having a child,” said Robin Donovan, managing director of El Capitan Hotel and The Mainzer.

“It’s the most exhilarating day, it’s been so anticipated, a lot of passion, a lot of love, a lot of thoughtfulness has gone into this. I couldn’t be happier. We have a tremendous team that worked in front of the scene and behind the scenes to make this all happen.”

A portion of West Main Street was closed off as members of the Golden Valley High band played and local dignitaries were on hand to celebrate the official opening of the historic hotel, which is part of Hyatt’s boutique lifestyle brand Joie de Vivre.

Hyatt also manages The Mainzer theater and restaurant, which recently reopened downtown after renovations.

“With the opening of the El Capitan Hotel, partnered with the Mainzer and Tioga, we’ve now added 115 new jobs to the downtown court and over $30 million in improvements to three major properties here in town,” said Merced City Manager Stephanie Dietz. “It’s already sparked interest in the rest of our Main Street corridor.”

The hotel company did not comment Tuesday on the final price tag on the multi-million dollar renovation.

The renovation included the refurbishing of the 33 original rooms of the El Capitan Hotel that make up the Arbor Lane Wing. These 33 rooms were made to capture the essence of Merced, including custom wallpaper highlighting local historic landmarks and record players in each room.

“At every step the owners and builders of this property came to us and said ‘how can we honor Merced?” — and that has been so unique to a project,” said Dietz, who has been part of the project since its inception. “It means so much to have people who don’t live here respect and honor our history and our traditions.”

Other features

The hotel includes three one-bedroom suites and nine junior suites. All the newly-constructed rooms make up the Main Street Wing.

The hotel also has three restaurants in The Native Son, The Courtyard and Rainbird.

The Native Son will be a 30-seat eatery that transitions from a cafe during the day to a community bar in the evening. The open-air Courtyard gives people a chance to relax outside and will feature a custom made bar set in a retrofitted horse trailer.

Rainbird, the hotel’s signature restaurant, is scheduled to open this summer, and will feature dining from chef Quentin Garcia highlighting Merced’s agricultural abundance to produce meals that reflect the unique flavors of the location.

Bobby’s Market will also open up this spring and will feature locally-made products, travel essentials and handmade goods.

The hotel also includes 3,000 square feet of meeting rooms.

The El Capitan Hotel is offering many packages to guests including wedding packages and a Pick Your Label Package.

The Pick Your Label Package includes a stay at one of the restored rooms in the Arbor Lane Wing, which comes with an in-room record player and access to the hotel’s extensive vinyl library.

The package comes with a $40 gift certificate to Tiger & Daggers Records, which is located downtown, and a Classic Vinyl cocktail from El Capitan’s Native Son. Package rates start at $239 per night.

The starting room rate for the hotel is $179.

“This is great,” said Merced County Supervisor Daron McDaniel. “It’s great having it here in Merced. What I like about this place — walking around and looking at everything — these are the places we stay at when we leave Merced. To have this gem here in Merced — to attract other people into here — makes it a great opportunity.”

This is the fourth grand opening of the hotel in Merced’s history (first in 1872, second in 1912, and third in 1936), according to local historian Sarah Lim.

The history of the El Capitan began with the construction of the original hotel building on 16th and N Streets in 1872.

After the first hotel in Merced was razed by the railroad company in 1900, it took another 12 years for the Merced Hotel Company to erect a new hotel on M and Main Streets.

“We worked on this project every day and we are so excited to see it finished,” Dietz said. “This project spurred Tioga and The Mainzer, things we never as Mercedians thought we’d see restored.”

This story was originally published March 31, 2021 at 2:08 PM with the headline "Merced’s El Capitan Hotel celebrates grand opening after multi-million dollar renovation."