Merced’s historic El Capitan Hotel moving closer to reopening. Here’s what we know

One of Merced’s most anticipated projects for the New Year is the reopening of downtown’s El Capitan Hotel, which is now approaching the final chapter of a $15 million renovation

As a sign of the impending reopening, the operators of the 1715 M Street building recently said they are filling 70 positions to staff the luxury hotel.

Although a date for the hotel opening has not been advertised, the job listings state that employees will begin working soon as next month.

The hotel will have 114 rooms and three restaurants. The open positions include jobs in housekeeping, front desk, and food and beverage which includes the kitchen and roles like catering, according to Sara Cribari Hill, director of people and community impact for Mainzer and El Capitan.

Built in 1924 and restored in 1936 after a fire, the El Capitan is part of Hyatt’s boutique lifestyle brand Joie de Vivre. Hyatt also manages The Mainzer theater and restaurant, which has also been undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation.

“One of the things that we’re really proud of is how many jobs these properties have created and how many folks we’ve been able to hire locally in Merced,” Cribari Hill said.

“Currently we have 40 employees at Mainzer, and we actually started with just under 20, so we’ve been able to grow. With the opening of the hotel we will have created over 125 jobs,” she said.

The majority of current employees live in Merced, according to Cribari Hill.

Ninety percent of current employees at Mainzer are eligible for medical, dental and vision coverage. The same will be true for employees of El Capitan.

Hyatt also offers employees a 401(k) matching program, and employees can purchase company stock, according to Cribari Hill.

“One of the things we’re most excited about is that we have a volunteer program, and we actually offer paid time off for our employees to volunteer and give back to the community through our heart of Merced program,” Cribari Hill said.

Some projects such as a downtown beautification project have been completed, with future projects to come.

According to Cribari Hill, anyone interested in applying for positions at El Capitan can do so by going to the Hyatt careers website, careers.hyatt.com

This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 11:23 AM.