Yosemite Village Hotels with Bars

I've been coming to Yosemite since I began camping with my parents in the 1960's. As I got older, it was always a dream of mine to stay in the park. I finally was able to fulfill my dream this month and stayed 3 nights at the lodge. I had always known that accommodations in the park were expensive so I had budgeted for that. Kind of like paying $20 for a beer at the ball game when you could have paid $5 at your favorite bar. Because of a flight delay, we did not arrive at the lodge until 9:30. Fortunately, we were assigned a room in the Alder building, which is right across from the front desk. Found a parking spot right in front of our building, too. The room was nice. Rustic but comfortable. Kind of like staying at one of the YMCA's in the mountains of Colorado. Beware of the thin walls, though. Use your inside voice. The next morning I was blown away when I walked out the front door of our room and the upper falls were right there! I must have taken 20 pictures. Being across from the lobby was very convenient. We took the valley tram tour (I highly recommend it) and it left from right in front of the lobby. A shuttle stop is located there, too. The trail head to the falls is right across the road from the lodge. The Yosemite Village is about a mile away via a flat bike/people path. The shuttle bus will also take you there. We took advantage of the amenities at the lodge, also. Since it was still early in the season, some of the outlets were closed. The Base Camp food court was so-so with a pretty limited menu. The lounge was a good place to order a glass of wine and then sit outside. The real treat, however, was the Mountain Room restaurant (reservations required). Real fine dining. Filet Mignon with Béarnaise ! As you can tell, we had a pretty good time.

Wonderful stay that generally exceeded our expectations. The construction work is ongoing so you know before you arrive there may be some inconvenience and I guess we were lucky as there was none whilst we were there but the patio area was not accessible. However we were in a refurbished room overlooking Half Dome and the Grounds and you are right in the heart of the valley. The hotel has maintained its sense of history whilst upgrading facilities and the swimming pool is excellent. Staff were super friendly and you can borrow bikes for the day from the hotel which is one of the best ways to explore. Valet parking was fine and our bags were delivered and collected with no expectation of a tip. It is expensive but you pay for the location and higher costs of maintaining such a grand hotel. Restaurant was closed and buffet was poor - see 'Ruby's Inn at Bryce Canyon' if you want to know how to organise a great buffet. We used the room once as it is a great room to see but I don't recommend taking Breakfast or Dinner there until the restaurant is fixed. There are better options elsewhere in the valley. Lovely comfortable bed with no squeaking and plenty of space within the room. Plate of food on arrival which was a nice touch. Plenty of wildlife in the grounds. Expensive but worth it.