Yosemite Cedar Lodge — Hotel in Oakhurst

The photos on Booking.com do the place no justice. I've attached photos that give an accurate view of my room (Standard King Room).

I had a very comfortable bed in a room with a serene environment. Everything was working -- power outlets, USB charging ports, clean shower with efficient hot water flow, electronic door lock, free coffee, efficient room heating etc. (Small thing, but I do wish there were more orange lights in my room)

The entire compound had such a lovely, rustic, tranquil atmosphere. I spent the morning just listening to birds chirping and had a meditative experience. I did not get to use the pool but I believe it is heated in winter and had a glimpse of it -- looked simple and nice. They also have a games room I didn't get to visit.

Check-in was easy - Chris attended to me and was patient, friendly and warm. Check-out was also breezy, receptionist (unfortunately I didnt get her name) was warm and helpful too.

The recent rockslide also led to me having to seek support from yosemiteresorts.com. Jessie attended to me and was also very helpful and efficient, giving me the assurance I needed.

2 downsides - price is very high for a solo traveler (270usd, booked about a month in advance). the time I booked, other places were booked out so I just took this one. If you are not in a rush, there are properties that avail at much lower prices for stays within the next few days.

That said, after actually visiting Yosemite, I realised Curry Village and Yosemite Valley Lodge were quite crowded, lots of cars and footfall. I then came into deeper appreciation of the peaceful atmosphere at Cedar.

The other thing is, further down the road, I believe also property owned by yosemiteresorts.com, is a hotel called Yosemite View Lodge. Some rooms there are next to the beautiful Merced River, and like Cedar Lodge, it is also a stop along the YARTS bus route (the public transport that you can take to enter/exit Yosemite National Park). It is for about the same price per night, with free cancellation, which Cedar Lodge regrettably did not have on Booking.com. The view from Cedar Lodge is good enough, lots of beautiful trees. but if your room is on the hillside like mine, you don't get to see it and have to leave your room for it, or cross the short road to the river, rather than just be next to it, in your comfy bed..

Of course, you could just book the Ahwahnee Hotel if you have the cash for it. It was absolutely beautiful and was also the inspiration for some scenes in The Shining. If you're not staying there, I recommend you visit it anyway. So lovely.

*note, if you look into the history of Cedar Lodge, you might be worried about the incident that happened more than 2 decades ago. If you are, acknowledge your worry and sit with it... then, when you are ready, trust my words that the compound was very safe and lovely. I feel it would be a waste if you skipped on it just because of what happened years ago, which is actually a result of pain and trauma, rather than...

Cedar Lodge: An Overpriced Motel

If you've chosen Cedar Lodge for your stay, here are some things to expect. The staff is not the friendliest, nor are they helpful in any way, so expect bare minimum customer service from them. Cedar Lodge is basically a motel; it has the most basic amenities a place can offer a guest. We lucked out and got to stay in one of the newly remodeled rooms (304), so the room's materials were newer and cleaner. The bed was very uncomfortable but bearable for a 3-night stay.

The lodge offers an indoor and outdoor pool, which is nice for the summertime to take a dip after a long day at the park. There's also an amazing river across the street where you can take a refreshing dip. The property has a restaurant, bar & grill connected to each other, but expect the food quality to be small-town diner food – nothing special or health-conscious. If you prefer healthier food choices, I'd recommend packing your own snacks and foods of choice. You can store them in your room's refrigerator. We brought our own toaster and made our own breakfast in the early mornings because the restaurant doesn't open until 7 am, and we wanted to get going earlier than the restaurant's opening hour.

Side note: breakfast is NOT included with your room stay. (Nothing is.) Cedar Lodge does not offer Wi-Fi, so you need to pay $10 ($9.99) per day. The lodge has a small convenience store in the lobby with some basic foods in case you forget something.

They don’t have an ATM, we asked an employee if they had an ATM and they asked us “what is an ATM” LOL

The hotel does not provide complimentary coffee cups, so bring your own reusable cups. The lobby offers complimentary hot water; paper coffee cups are available for $1.00 I had to ask the restaurant to sell me coffee to go so i could reuse the cups because I didn't know that we had to bring our own.

Overall, the best thing Cedar Lodge has to offer that makes it worth staying is the central location to the park, which is 30 minutes away. If this place was anywhere else it would not be charging $300+ per night for what it offers...

I give one star becouse I can't give less, the rooms are old and they have a bad smell when you enter, the beds have sheets made of a tissue which seems plastic, the bath towels in the bathroom are for 3 people but we are 4, the curtain shower was ripped, the phone in the room seems come from a different century like all the other rooms part, there's is not a coffee machine in the rooms and when we woke up in the morning we found some insects on the beds. The restaurant named "Grill" is only a fast food, but more expensive and with unpleasant and hasty employees, they really took us our plate from our mouth before whe finished and we have to finish fast becouse the waiter was waiting next to our table looking at us. In addition to that, it's more expensive, like the double of the other fast food which are cheaper and cleaner. But the worst thing of this hotel is the internet and phone service... as a valley between many mountains the phone and the internet connection is absent and this is normal, but the hotel offers you an internet connection by wifi if you pay 9 dollars for 12 hours, and in that case the connection is available only for one device in the entire room. They justify this bad offer saying "Given our remote location at the footsteps of Yosemite Valley, Internet access is satellite-based and very limited. As a result, the Hotel Wi-Fi Service is restricted to ONE Device". This is unacceptable, I stay one night in an hotel in the death valley two days ago which is a valley too and is also under the sea level, so in my opinion is even more difficult to be reach from the telephone services and internet, but they have a free unlimited and fast wifi. In this hotel the problem is not the location, between the mountains and in a valley, on this hotel the problem is the lack of will to pay for improve your services, and this is valid starting from the rooms, continuing from the eating and finishing with the phone and...