Yosemite Valley Lodge — Local services in Oakhurst

Apart from the bed sheets and towels, my room in the Hemlock building was disgusting. ||Every high-touch surface in my room, in the hall and on the building entry doors was filthy. The interior stairs were covered in dust and looked as if they had not been dusted, swept or vacuumed in days or perhaps weeks. ||The tub in my room had not been grouted in ages. Its seams were filled with blackish grime. The tub stopper was broken. ||The bathroom heater was partially hanging from the ceiling. ||The room’s one window was filthy. ||The curtains were hanging loose and dust covered. ||Spider webs on the walls. ||Heaven knows what the surfaces that disguised dirt were like. ||I could go on and on. ||I wish I had brought nitrile gloves and disposable booties to use while in my room. ||I tried to avoid the cafeteria, since I doubted its cleanliness was any better. ||When I pointed the problems out to a housekeeping worker who said his name was Art, he jumped down my throat for not registering a complaint immediately upon arrival. As though the filth was my fault to begin with. ||I relocated to a smaller room in the Cedar building due to reservation limitations that were in place when I first booked my stay. ||The smaller room was somewhat better but still not satisfactory. Spilled goop dripped down the wall behind the trash can. The door was dirty. The ceiling fan (essential due to lack of ac) was loose and rattled non-stop. ||Having been chewed out earlier by “Art” for not complaining about my Hemlock building room immediately, I mentioned the problems to front desk. I eventually was met by the front desk supervisor. She was gracious and sent a maid to touch up the cleaning. ||Also worth noting, I had the darnedest time getting anyone at the front desk to give me accurate contact information for the Aramark employee in charge of of the lodge. ||The first employee claimed the lodge was overseen by the front desk supervisor. When I said this was not so, he employee went to get me another name but never came back. ||I persisted. I found another employee in the back of the reception area who said his name was James. James gave me the manager’s name (Robert |Lopez) but an inaccurate email address for him. I believe the error was intentional. ||Finally a third employee who had been watching this “hide the ball” game from afar, heroically and wordlessly let me see a printed sheet with the manager’s correct information. PI intend to write to the manager and his superiors at Aramark directly with photos attached. ||As for more positive reviews that have been posted for the Yosemite Lodge, readers should bear in mind that the operator of the lodge, Aramark, deserves ZERO credit for the location of the lodge. Its location was set down eons before Aramark arrived on the scene.||And I personally find the authenticity of positive reviews given for non-location related amenities hard to believe. I would discount them entirely. ||Ask yourself: what are the chances that my experience was a one off? Two rooms in totally different buildings on totally different days not clean upon my arrival? ||My understanding is that Aramark is a monopolist in that it holds the sole and exclude long term right to operate hotels on behalf of the National Park Service in Yosemite Valley. Aramark’s operation of the Yosemite Lodge is a perfect illustration of how and why monopolies are terrible for consumers. ||Yosemite and its federally owned hotels attract tourists from around the world. In my view, Aramark’s operation of the Yosemite Lodge is a national embarrassment. We taxpayers and citizens — and national park visitors — deserve much...

Don’t expect to be able to park after a long journey, use the restroom or book a dinner reservation despite paying a minimum of $300 per night for even the most basic and unhygienic of rooms.

None of the several parking areas are reserved for hotel guests only meaning the day-visitors will have filled the hotel parking lot to capacity long before you arrive to check-in (one of many basic oversights by hotel management you will experience).

Most of the restrooms are 1 in, 1 out despite the large hotel capacity and 2 of the 3 were out of order upon arrival making for some very unhappy and desperate children and unhappy parents once you see how unhygienic and poorly maintained the restrooms are.

Despite being run by the same team as the hotel, the restaurant only accepts reservations online and the first thing you’re told at checkin is that there’s no internet access anywhere on the property after leaving the small reception foyer. Even in the foyer, the limited wifi wouldn’t connect and they refused to discuss restaurant availability in person and the restaurant doesn’t have a phone line for those who can’t connect. We also came to realize that the restaurant is fully closed on Mondays and Tuesdays to give the staff the same days off (no kidding) leaving paying guests to travel 1 hour plus outside of the park for the closest restaurant availability which, having now eaten across the park, I would strongly recommend.

The room itself was of a standard size but incredibly dusty, making it difficult to sleep, and without a working front or rear door which you had to force open. The bathroom window was so filthy you couldn’t open it and the same for most other equipment in the room which we elected not to use. Far from being COVID safe, it doesn’t look like any attention has been put into the maintenance of this hotel during the off-season or COVID downturn which is a real shame given its prime location.

While I’d say consider the higher price at the Awahanee, I came to learn from an employee that the same company runs both hotels (and all other stores, food places and amenities in the park for that matter) so wouldn’t be hopeful of a distinctly different experience than we received at the lodge. In the future, I’ll be staying and eating outside the park and travelling in during the day as I’m sure most other experienced...

This review is to express my disappointment with the unprofessional behavior I encountered during my recent stay at the hotel, specifically involving Jayna Sallee- the front desk manager.

On Dec 26th, my brother went to the front desk to see if our rooms were available for check in. It was about 3:20 and we were early so thought we’d just check since we had tired kids after the hike. He was told rooms were available so he called me and 10 mins later I get there with my husband and kids to find out that our room wouldn’t be available until 8 pm! We requested a falls view room and were told my front desk personnel that we could get another room which was all the way on the other side with no view or wait until 8 pm for our original assigned room. When asked the reason for delay because we were there only for 1 night and paid for the whole duration of stay, we were told that they only had 5 housekeepers for 250 rooms! I then asked for a manager because this was not acceptable. When Jayna came out, she had a very condescending tone to begin with and her response was “what is your problem here?” Instead of addressing the matter politely and professionally (especially because this was something that was hotel’s fault), Jayna responded in a dismissive and rude manner. She spoke down to us in a patronizing tone and had a very dismissive attitude toward our opinions and feelings regarding not being able to get the room on time and the one we had requested. She even threatened not to give us a room at all if we kept arguing about the situation!! This interaction left me feeling disrespected and frustrated, as it is not the level of service I expect from a reputable establishment like this. As a guest, I believe I am entitled to courteous and helpful assistance, especially from those in managerial positions.

I trust her supervisor will investigate this matter and take appropriate steps to ensure such behavior does not occur again to another customer. I would appreciate an acknowledgment of this complaint and any actions taken to address it. As for me, I will never consider to stay at this hotel ever again solely because of the behavior we received from Jayna. I will make sure to put this review every place possible so people know what they can expect when...