Iconic Waterfront Hotel in Oakland’s Jack London Square to Close

The Waterfront Hotel in Oakland, Calif., in May 2022. Google Maps/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

The Waterfront Hotel in Oakland, Calif., located in tourist-friendly Jack London Square, will close on Jan. 31, the hotel confirmed on Jan. 30.

The upscale boutique hotel, which first opened in 1990 as part of the city’s $100 million development plan to revitalize the square, will no longer be operating as a Hyatt-managed property, according to a statement provided to The Epoch Times by General Manager James Dinnall.

“Hyatt will no longer be operating the Waterfront Hotel, and we understand that the property will no longer be operated as a hotel at that time,” Dinnall wrote in the statement Thursday. “The well being of our guests and colleagues remains a top priority, and we are working with the hotel owner in an effort to ensure a smooth transition.”

Guest reservations for stays starting Friday and beyond will not be honored, according to Dinnall.

Dinnall said hotel staff was working to notify affected guests and customers of the situation and help them find other arrangements, or cancel their reservations with no penalty.

The hotel is owned by JLS Associates LLC. The company could not be reached for comment.

The nautical-themed hotel, with many of its 145 rooms featuring fireplaces, offered views of the San Francisco Bay waterfront and marina.

The hotel was an anchor for many businesses at Jack London Square, which was named after the famous author of “The Call of the Wild” and “White Fang.” London spent much of his boyhood at the waterfront.

One business operator said the hotel’s closure might affect other businesses at the historic square, which serves as a destination for events, dining, and entertainment, attracting tourists and residents of the surrounding area.

“I think it will have an effect on us,” Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon co-owner Elliott Myles told The Epoch Times on Thursday. “I don’t think it will be a good effect.”

The saloon, which first opened on June 1, 1884, still has its original floorboards, which still slant after being thrown off kilter during the 1906 earthquake.

According to local legend, London moved to the neighborhood when he was 10 and would come into the saloon to read a dictionary and talk to the owner, Johnny Heinhold. He bought his first boat, the Razzle Dazzle, when he was 15 and celebrated the deal at the establishment, according to Myles.

The area around the square has returned to its original roots as a residential neighborhood. Locals can stop in to have a drink on the patio with their dogs, Myles said.

Elliott Myles, owner of the First and Last Chance Bar at Jack London Square in Oakland, Calif., on Nov. 10, 2023. Myles said the hotel closure might affect the historic bar, which first opened as a neighborhood saloon in 1884. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

“The area has become increasingly residential, which is ironic,” Myles said. “In the 1880s, it was a major residential area of Oakland. It only became a wharf in the 1920s.”

The square attracts tourists, and the Waterfront Hotel was popular with them, Myles added. In one form or another, a hotel on the site has been an anchor of the square since the ‘60s, he said.

Before it was a hotel, a “boat-el”—where guests could tie up their boats and get a room—opened on the site in 1964.

In one form or another, a hotel on the site has been an anchor of the square since the ‘60s, Myles said.

The Port of Oakland and city staff also did not return a request for comment about the closure.

The closure adds to the list of recently shuttered businesses at Jack London Square.

Last year, Left Bank, a French brasserie, closed its doors at the square. The popular Forge Pizza also shuttered after more than a decade on the square, after a slowdown in foot traffic.

However, the Jack London Square Farmers Market, a fixture on the square for decades, continues to draw visitors on Sundays. The market is currently operated by Golden State Farmers Market Association.