Yosemite's Scenic Wonders Condominiums — Hotel in Oakhurst

We stayed for 7 nights in a Yosemite Scenic Wonder's condominium. We were in A102 which was a bottom floor condo. This was nice, as it would have been much more difficult to get luggage, gear, bikes and what have you up to the second floor. It was calm and scenic being in the middle of the forest but there aren't any spectacular views here. Some of the best views on the planet are a short, less than 30 minute, drive away. If you are looking for a place to stay and have your own vehicle to get around and experience Yosemite National Park, this is a brilliant place to stay! The prices are far lower than what you would pay in the Valley and from what I've seen you definitely get a little more here. You'll have a quick drive's access to the Valley itself as well as the Southern Rim, including Glacier Point, Taft Point and so on. The drive to the Northern Rim and Tuolumne is closer to an hour. It was really great having a kitchen. Being able to bring some frozen meats, fresh fruits and vegetables. We had an almost full sized fridge and freezer combo to store everything. Four burner / oven combo, microwave, toaster / oven combo and a new barbecue that worked incredibly well, was enjoyable to use, and for us really topped off the stay there. The bathroom was satisfactory though the shower floor was slippery and could use a non slip mat. The closet with the fridge was large enough to stand up a couple of bicycles and store our bike rack and climbing gear. The fireplace was nice and would keep the place warm enough at night. We had a small issue with a fire alarm and maintenance got right on it. The only complaint I'd have is that parking would fill up to the brim at night. The lot wasn't large enough to accommodate every tenant. We had to create a few more spots in order to fit. We were never ticketed or anything but it would be helpful if there were more parking. That said there was a reserved spot or two where you could pull right up to an entrance to unload the car and even when we were the last one back at night as long as we 'created a parking spot' it wasn't a far walk. The ice machine was close by, the internet was enough for us to get a picture or two out at night an keep in contact with loved ones. There was a phone in our room that loved ones could call IN ON at night to keep in touch free of cost. It did have a TV with cable and a DVD player, no DVD's present in the room. The one thing I'd recommend is setting multiple alarms! There weren't any in the room surprisingly so bring a loud one! You're going to be exhausted if your hiking or being active in Yosemite and if you're anything like me you'll need trumpets to wake up =) If you've missed your reservation window for getting an 'in Valley' spot or you just want to be able to get away from the chaos or are looking for a real condo style stay without the heavy price tag, I'd highly recommend Scenic Wonders...

Stayed in their Yosemite West condo A-107 for 3 nites this week while we visited Yosemite. I thought the location was great, about 30 minutes from the Valley and 30 minutes from Wawona, so you are mid point between both ends of the park. Of course, most of the popular sites are located in the Valley, so some people might prefer to stay in the Valley which is what we did on our last visit in 2013. But if you plan to visit Wawona + Mariposa Grove and the Valley, then Yosemite West is a nice mid point. Plus, it’s literally five minutes from Glacier Point Rd. which is another popular summer destination.

We paid about $150 a nite, which is a competitively priced option considering that a tiny “cabin” with no bathroom in the Valley is $100. The condo is definitely worth the xtra $50 per night because you have a bathroom and a kitchen with refrigerator, microwave, stove, and oven. We bought groceries in Oakhurst and cooked our own meals in the park, which was great considering the VERY poor food options in the park, particularly if you are visiting off-season like we did in late October.

On the (-) side, the condos are small. About the size of a standard hotel room and the kitchen appliances are outdated, though they did get the job done. There is no WiFi in the rooms, and very limited WiFi is only available at the office, which is on the corner of the B-building on the 2nd floor. Pretty inconvenient if you’re staying in A-building, as we were, to have to walk over to B-building just to check your email. Plus, I don’t recall that information available when I made my reservation on their website. Had I known the only Internet access was on the 2nd floor of B-building, then i would have booked a condo in that building.

TIP (1): there isn’t anyone available on property after 7pm, so u should arrive before then to make sure you can get into your room. They use a digital keypad system where the access code is the last 4 digits of your phone number. I didn’t have any issues with it, but I’d imagine it would suck to arrive after 7pm and find out you can’t get into your room after a long day of travel. And how are you going to call them for assistance when cell phones don’t work?

TIP (2): GPS doesn’t work here, so u need to print out directions beforehand. Plus, there are no signs directing you to Scenic Wonders and the turnoff to the condos easily missed. But it’s easy to get to. If you are arriving from the South Gate follow signs to the Valley, then exit onto Hennessy Ridge. There is a small sign there that says Yosemite West. If you are arriving from the Valley, follow signs for Wawona and then exit on Hennessy Ridge.

Recommended, but compare other options as there are many rentals available...

We recently stayed at a property managed by Scenic Wonders. Things were not clean and when we contacted their support number the afternoon we arrived no one responded. We had to clean things ourselves. We also discovered that appliances did not work correctly. It took two calls before they eventually followed up towards the end of the second day. Then one of the nights our group was woken up by loud noise from one of the building systems that should NOT have turned on. ||The problems there, especially having to clean things, really put a dent in all of us friends trying to visit with each other. Having sleep ruined put a dent in the hike the following day. While all of that is bad, when we contacted Scenic Wonders management about the problems we felt they brushed us off. We were persistent and have come to feel they don’t really care about the people who rent their properties. They did NOT do anything to make things right for us. As things stand, we’ll go back to the other property management firms around Yosemite. In our experience, they do care about their guests. ||One other thing to watch out for: Scenic Wonders’ policy when we rented provides no refund if roads are closed or the Park Closes unexpectedly. In the last few years, the park has closed multiple times due to storms, floods, fires and the roads in/out get closed for the same reasons. You can be in a situation where Scenic Wonders gets your money and you are out of luck. Will trip insurance cover you? Probably not if the insurer has a clause for likely events that you can expect such as snow storms in winter, fires in in late summer, etc. Work with companies whose policies are reasonable when such...