The Ahwahnee

This is an extremely satisfied reviewer of the customer service at The Ahwahnee and notably for S. Molina, the Yosemite Hospitality Director of Rooms. I did not get the room that I expected when booking. S. Molina responded to my email and personally rectified my expressed concern. Excellent customer service. And the hotel itself is an historic and grand resort in the most spectacular setting of Yosemite Valley. The on site personnel are courteous and efficient. Such a great experience!

I would have rated it a 1 out of 5, except that the location is so good. Aramark employs the staff and they must treat them poorly judging from the grumpy, poor service. And the food was horrible and overpriced to boot. I don’t recommend this lodge.

We were looking forward to staying at the Ahwahnee after seeing its stunning Instagram photos and hearing raves about its renown from friends, but we were thoroughly let down by its coasting-on-its-reputation weak service and food (especially as its dining room is its big “wow” factor). If it wasn’t the only option for a high-quality stay in the heart of Yosemite (avoiding the vacation-time consuming driving on the mountain roads to get to lots of the action), it would definitely be a one-and-done, box-ticking stay. The service problems hit us right at the arrival (rule #1 of the hospitality industry is make the first and last impression your strongest). Here is my laundry list of check-in service problems: • Longest wait for check-in I have ever come across at 4:00 pm – Expectation = 3:00 pm industry standard. • Met at reception by a check-in attendant with a downcast attitude (and it wasn’t busy) – Expectation = someone with a bit of a smiley welcome. • Arriving a bit early at 2:30 pm, I was told that my room just needed a “final check”, but it eventually turned out that did not take place for another hour and half – Expectation – When a guest arrives early and the room is ‘done’, you contact the “checker” and say “guest for room x is here, would you be able to go do their check now so they can get in their room?” • Confusing information everywhere we turned. 1. Sign at entrance say “Valet Parking Required”, but you can park yourself. 2. Wifi password instructions confusingly written. 3. Asking the bar if we could have a drink with our bags until our room was ready and the hostess said ‘sure’ and another wait staff said ‘no’. (I’ll stop there). • After having our bags taken from us, they were not in our room when we finally got to it and had to wait another half hour for them to finally get there (holding us up form doing anything as our bags had all our stuff() • The room was freezing when we arrived (why didn’t the cleaners turn on the heat?) with no instructions as to how to heat the room (calling the front desk, they informed us how to turn on the small baseboard heater and small electric heater). • The room had a Nespresso but only 2 little capsules so that when our jetlagged selves woke up at 4:00 am (3 hours until breakfast started), we only had 2 small, tepid cups of coffee to fuel us). The crown jewel of the property is its cathedral-like dining room and it is every bit as striking as the photos. The candlelight and live piano are also exceptional touches to a superb ambience. The layout of the tables is a bit strange, but it is an awkward space to fill. We were sat on by a window which I’m sure they considered a premium table, but there we no other tables around at that end and it felt empty and isolated. Finally, the food is quite mediocre. The French onion soup had so little broth it seemed more like cheesy bread with onion gravy (it also wasn’t piping hot so I suspect it was all prepared earlier, sat out and the cop

We stayed for one night in November as part of our honeymoon and loved every second of being at the Ahwahnee. A setting like no other and iconic design. We also dined in the dining room with the new menu which was fabulous, we also had a fantastic server who made our evening even better.

The Ahwahnee has a majestic location and charges premium hotel rates on a par with 5-star hotels , however the guest experience is extremely disappointing. Our room was not serviced for the entirety of our 4 night stay, despite repeated complaints. The waits for breakfast service were completely unacceptable, with no priority given to hotel guests - we had to wait over an hour to be seated on one occasion. Given the historic and special nature of the hotel, the tired and shabby decor might have been forgivable, however combined with the various other issues, I could not recommend this hotel to others.

The dining room is beautiful -pianist playing classical music. the wait staff needs more training. red or white wine selection....just doesn't cut it. they need to be more knowledgeable. The Yosemite mountain lodge is the place to go. the food is outstanding