Yosemite View Lodge — Hotel in Oakhurst

I didn't rate 5/5 because this is the best hotel I've ever stayed in, but rather because if you are wanting to stay in a hotel while visiting Yosemite, this is the best option for several reasons and way better and cheaper than staying anywhere in the valley (not including camping of course). I've stayed here 8 times over the last 22 years and have never had a bad experience, not even in the slightest. My first stay here was in 2002 and my last stay was in early May of this year (2024). This last time I stayed in a river view room with a king sized bed and a pullout couch.

Rooms: although they are not the most luxurious, they are completely adequate for the price especially compared to the hotels in the valley which are super outdated, moldy and loud due to thin walls. Yosemite View Lodge's rooms are always clean, quiet and very comfortable. Almost all rooms have a gorgeous view of either the beautiful Merced river or of the mountains. You can specify if you want a river view room which will cost you a bit more but it is so worth it. The room we stayed in had a kitchenette with stove top, microwave, mini fridge, coffee maker, toaster and sink. Bathroom was very nice and clean. I saw some people in the reviews saying the rooms are super outdated but I actually noticed that the kitchenette and bathrooms have been updated since the last time I stayed with new granite counters, new mirror in bathroom and new sinks. The only thing that still hasn't changed since 2002 is the pink and green tiled jacuzzi tubs, but it worked just fine. TV worked great. Pullout couch was super comfy to sit/lounge on. The only complaint about the room for me was the bed which I found too firm, but that could be because I'm pregnant. I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't mind the firmness.

Amenities/Services: there are several pools and spas on location including an indoor pool, which are always clean and never too crowded. There is also a game room, gym, a fancy restaurant, a pizza joint, and a decent sized gift shop and grocery store. The grounds are gorgeous. There are common outdoor spaces with patio furniture and fire pits near the river, so if you didn't book a place river room, you can still enjoy it there. They also have a laundry room on site. There is room cleaning services but I believe you must request it in advance if you are only staying for a night or two.

Service: in my experience with this hotel they have never particularly gone above and beyond but they also have always been friendly and attentive. Every time I have asked for help with something or I ask for extra towels, blankets, etc, I get them right away. They always answer their phone. The front desk always seems to have at least 3 concierges/checkout associates available which means lines are never too long.

Location: this lodge is located just outside the main gates to the park, so it's only a 10-20 minute drive to most places you'll want to visit in the valley. Also, although not in the park itself, the surrounding views are absolutely stunning so you are not missing out on nature by staying here. About half the rooms in the hotels in the valley don't have any view out the window, but rather of a parking lot. This is not the case at Yosemite View Lodge where almost any room you are in there is a view.

Price: compared to the two hotels in the valley, this is the most affordable option. The Yosemite Valley Lodge is about $50-100 more per night than Yosemite View Lodge. And the Awahnee Lodge is $600-1000 per night. Although these two hotels are located right in the valley, just steps away from it's breathtaking views and trails, what Yosemite View Lodge has them beat on is the overall quality of your stay. All you have to do is compare pictures from people's reviews of those hotels compared to this one to see how truly outdated, moldy, dirty and sad they are. This is ultimately why this hotel gets a 5 star for me.

Last thing to note: the pizza is always delicious! And honestly better than the pricey...

My husband and I stayed at Yosemite View Lodge from October 20, 2023, till October 24, 2023. We decided to come to Yosemite to celebrate my birthday, so we booked the King River View Lodge in hopes that we would get a room with a wonderful view. My husband even left a note on the reservation saying that it was my birthday and that we would like to have a nice view. The room we booked is supposed to have a nice view of the river anyway. When we checked into our room I got pretty upset. My view was a bush! I'm not kidding. That's all I could see out of the window and from the balcony. Room number is 1083 so be aware of that room. First of all, we paid extra for a room with a view and that should be enough to get a room with a view. I don't think that a bush could be considered as one. Second of all, we even mentioned it in a note to prevent the exact situation we ended up in. It really makes me think that no one reads the notes and nobody wants to make sure that the guests have everything they desire upon their arrival. Of course, I had to go to the front desk and request a room change. They gave us a room on the second floor and we could finally see the river which was nice.

Let's talk more about the room. Both rooms we were in were in bad condition. Not clean, the corners were full of dust, and the bed sheets had multiple stains on them. The bathtub/shower was so dirty that it was disgusting to even be inside of, plus the water pressure was terrible. In the second room we got, there was a spider web on the ceiling. Don't even think about walking barefoot on the carpet, my husband made that mistake, and his feet literally turned black from how filthy the carpet was. One of our stove tops didn't work and when my husband made a call to a receptionist, the lady just told him that some burners don't work and there's nothing they can do. So apparently they don't work in many rooms and the management just doesn't care to replace them. We had to cook on the smaller stove top and it took us a long time to even make scrambled eggs. When you get a room with a kitchenette, you expect to have the entire kitchenette function. The sponge and soap they provide you with are also terrible. The sponge doesn't scrub and is only good for about 5 dishes before it is completely trashed. The soap is almost all water and provides zero suds. Plus as everybody else and I will mention, Wi-Fi will cost you $10 per 2 devices for 24 hours.

The room looked so different from the pictures on their website. We paid 339$ per night, and it was the dirtiest hotel I have ever stayed in. Don't get your hopes up when you come here, you will be disappointed.

Now let's talk about lost and found requests. My husband left his headphones in the room on accident when we left. We called Yosemite View Lodge, and they told us to fill out the form on their website, which we did the same day. On October 25, 2023, my husband was notified over an email that his headphones had been found and was asked for our shipping information. My husband gave them all the information they needed the same day, and since then there has been no word from Yosemite View Lodge. We have emailed them again and again, called multiple times, and were told that there was no supervisor at the moment and they would give us a callback. They didn't. On November 5, 2023, 1 made them a call again and was finally told that they had the headphones (we knew that already ) and was asked to confirm the shipping address again over the phone. What took them so long, why were they not responding or calling back? I would not recommend Yosemite View Lodge to anyone and will never come back here on my own. Stay away from this place, save your...

Check in was a nightmare, but the whole lodging was beautiful and breath-taking. The view and convenient rooms took away our displeasure from the check in experience.

Love:

The view from the balcony of the three rooms we booked.

Conveniently located near Yosemite entrance.

Rooms had everything a big family needed. (11 people, 3 rooms).

Unpleasant Experience:

We visited the front desk at 6AM just before we entered Yosemite since we were already in the area. We spoke to a kind and inviting staff, and we requested our rooms to be together. We would give his customer service a 5/5. With two babies and elderlies, we asked what time we can check in the earliest. He said at 1-1:30pm we can come back and our rooms will be ready around that time.

As you said in your email, "We strive to make every one of our guests feel like family", we really felt that motto was was being practiced because of the hospitality we received.

So we come back at 1:15pm to the front desk to check in. This is the second man we talked to after the 6am. We were told to come back at 3pm to check in so our rooms shall be cleaned as they are still dirty. We were shocked since we took the words of the first man who helped us seriously. We stopped our trips inside Yosemite valley because we trusted your employee's word. We told the man who was checking us in regarding the morning conversation and how we even came in person at 6am to make sure we know what you have to offer us. The man said he can't do anything and we have to wait.

We waited for another hour. 2:15pm we returned to the front desk, another lady helped us. Everyone in front of us in the line was getting checked in so we were truly hopeful at this point. The babies were crying and the elderlies were falling asleep in the lobby sofa. The lady said she can't check us in. Our rooms are still not clean.

That's when we couldn't keep our calm anymore. We complained for the first time as to why they couldn't keep their words in the first place, we could have visited other places if we weren't told that around 1pm our rooms would be prepared. There was another staff, a man who wasn't the one helping us, who butted in the conversation and in a derogatory tone said, "You know the check in was 3pm, so why did you come here at 6am?!" This man who doesn't even know the whole story loudly said that in front of the other guests in line. My sibling have to tell him to stay in his lane since he doesn't know what our case was. He definitely needs more training in customer service. The lady who was helping us did well at keeping calm amidst the chaos. We were finally checked in after 20 mins of going back and forth with this tiring conversation.

Suggestions: Refresh the employees to customer service and world-class hospitality (since your lodge is famous as it is one of the accommodation closes to the Yosemite gate and people all over the world stay here). Now that this problem had happened, may you come up with a solution for the next time this happens to another guest. Maybe offer them alternative rooms with the same view, or anything they can do to help the stay be better. We were told by the frontdesk that they don't have any communication with the housekeeper, so maybe this could be changed.

Overall, the rooms exceeded our...