Xanterra Parks & Resorts, the largest U.S. national and
state park concessionaire, is rebranding itself as Xanterra Travel Collection.
The company is also reopening what was previously Furnace
Creek Resort in California's Death Valley as the Oasis at Death Valley.
Xanterra said it changed the name to better reflect
ownership of its national park resorts as well as VBT Bicycling and Walking
Vacations, the Grand Canyon Railway and Windstar Cruises. In addition to
ownership of lodging facilities in Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Crater Lake and
Mount Rushmore national parks, the company also owns Colorado's Broadmoor and
Georgia's Sea Island resorts.
Xanterra on Thursday will reopen the 91-year-old Furnace
Creek Resort as the Oasis at Death Valley after completing a multimillion-dollar
renovation. The Feb. 1 reopening date coincides with the resort's original 1927
opening date.
The 66-room inn added a pool bar and café to its
natural-spring-fed pool as well as shading to its outdoor terraces. The resort
is adding 22 casitas in July.
Oasis at Death Valley is a four-hour drive from Los Angeles
and a two-hour drive from Las Vegas,
Xanterra was founded in 1876 as the Fred Harvey Co., which
operated lunchrooms along the Santa Fe rail lines. Amfac Parks & Resorts
acquired Fred Harvey Co. in 1968 and changed its name to Xanterra Parks &
Resorts in 2002.