Yosemite Valley Lodge

The location of the accommodation is absolutely wonderful. That is the last positive comment you will read in this review. Reception staff rude, unfriendly.
Accommodation not been upgraded since Jurassic period I’m guessing - no a/c is totally ridiculous, broken shutter. Worse though was filth. See pics. To be fair, bathroom and bedding seemed clean enough but the lack of care around the entrance, balcony and dust levels on furniture is just so lazy and leaves bad taste. Would highly recommend seeking different option especially as this is not close to value for money.

Tragic state of a park lodge. Rooms are falling apart. Lodge is absolutely filthy. Staff know the state of things, but are indifferent bc they are powerless to fix it. I checked out a day early because it was so bad and the staff seemed to expect it - they showed no concern and didn’t even question the early departure. I can’t believe this place has any good reviews at all.

The main attraction is the location, perhaps 10 minutes to get into Yosemite. It is really out on its own though, there’s nothing else on site or walkable except a pizza restaurant and another eatery plus a shop (which I felt was very expensive). The pizzas also cost over $60 for 2 medium pizza and 2 drinks. The rooms overlook the river and you have coffee machine, toaster, microwave and hob. As an international traveller though the absence of a safe was not great, you do not want to have to carry your passport around with you.

It’s all about the location with this place, especially if you are here during busy season and don’t want to have to deal with driving into the park each day (and don’t want to camp). It was very basic, rustic, old, and could be cleaner. Not at all impressed with the room. There is a store and food options on the property. Easy short walk to Yosemite falls trail from here.

I am so disappointed with our stay at Yosemite Valley Lodge.

Yosemite National Park is absolutely breathtaking, but unfortunately the lodge did not live up to its location or its price. It was the most expensive hotel we stayed at during our California trip—even more expensive than our 5-star hotel in San Francisco—yet it was by far the worst.

The room was very dirty, small, unbearably hot despite three fans, and so noisy from an ice machine and an air-conditioning unit outside that we barely slept. The restaurant was also disappointing, with overpriced and overcooked food.

The only bright spot was Cynthia Rasmussen at the front desk. She was kind, patient, and genuinely helpful. Without her support, our experience would have been even worse.

The park is incredible, but our stay at the lodge was a major disappointment.

There’s no reason to stay at this hotel. The management company is clearly sucking money out of this property without putting even basic maintenance back in. The room was infested with ants, we knew not to expect A/C but there was no airflow through the window screens. I cleaned them myself -they were full of months if not years of pitch black soot. Rugs in the lobby were not cleaned the whole time we were there, we saw the same spilled popcorn for the 3 days we were there. Most of the food was of food service low quality type, but sold at a high price. The fancy restaurant had higher quality ingredients but probably operated at a similar food-cost percentage considering how expensive it was. It’s a shame a company is allowed to operate like this on national property. You will feel robbed if you stay here.

I gave the hotel the fourth star for its location (inside Yosemite NP) not for the experience, which was 2 or 3 star. There was visible black mold in several places in the bathroom. Hotel's location is central and the Yosemite buses make it easy to get to places in the park. Sleep was comfortable. We had a slight problem with a toilet but hotel staff fixed it quickly. There was no noise. We had a ground floor room with a nice patio at the back. There is no air conditioning but a fan was enough. The room had a refrigerator (however, it was not that cold).

Came with grandkids family. Stayed 4 days to hike and see the park. But the room was much less than hoped for. We made our reservations many months ago but when we got here we were put in the last king rm in the furthered away building “Laurel”. When we first opened the door the misty smell and small moths greeted us. Then we noticed no ac, but 3 fans (1 oscillating, 1 tower and 1 ceiling fan). The only “windows” are patio loovered door where the inside window only lets down half way. There is NO cross breeze or breeze at all that comes in the rm.
next the bed needed to be flipped or changed and it had body grooves. Next the standup shower had mold around the bottom edges. Lastly they want you to conserve water and towels but to get room service you have to call it in and the ice machine is two buildings away and the far end of that building. For what we paid for this room you would think they would do a better job to make it at least a 4 star facility.
The eateries were fine except for the Mountain View rm which is very expensive. There is a Starbucks here that honors. The swimming pool is free for paid rooms. Bikes are available to rent. The free shuttle is very good and certainly helps so you don’t have to move your car. There is a safe in the room

The location is amazing, but this NP hotel needs some work to be worth the price tag for me. We have stayed at a lot of NP hotels and know that we are paying a premium for the location and know that they are bare bones compared to hotels in other parts of the country. This is the first time I felt that the value just wasn't there and I would have rather stayed in the tent cabins or driven in from outside the park. The hotel was really run down, didn't have A/C (which we knew in advance), restaurants weren't good, etc. and total was above $450 with tax.

Great location near the hub of Yosemite activity. Awesome scenery. Moldy shower with plumbing that nearly pulled out of wall. Electric heat that threw out irritating dust. Inconsistent housekeeping that left a piece of trash on floor throughout our four night stay, although room fairly clean. And quiet.
Would not be hard to do better.

Good stay at Yosemite Lodge, but VERY sorry we booked through Agoda. We had received a prepaid, confirmed reservation from Agoda for June 21, 22 and 23, but when we arrived they had only a reservation for the 22nd and 23rd, and then a one-night reservation in mid-July! When we told them we had used Agoda they said this sort of thing happens all the time..plus Agoda charged about 25% more than the hotel's own rate. Fortunately the hotel was able to accommodate us, and we were very happy with our room and the hotel services. Would stay there again, but NEVER AGAIN USE AGODA.

The location is perfect and convenient. Rooms are dated and no ac.. ceiling fan and floor fan and first floor location made it better. We were glad we stayed there because of location. We had rooms with a view of the mountain/rocks, lovely ro see from our patio. Food was good and we really enjoyed the Mountain Rm dinner. The service,food and atmosphere was great. Expensive, yes but wirth it for our family of 11.

Wonder full time, beautiful nature.

If you want to stay in the park this is a very nice lodge, the staff is very friendly, it is the also on the shuttle routes and the starting point for the valley flour tour, there are a couple of restaurants in the complex and the shuttle will get you to all the main sites in the park.

Great place to stay, less crowded than Curry Village. Our view from the patio was Yosemite Falls.

Three night stay in Juniper building. On the second night as I was trying to sleep I heard something trying to get into our food which we had placed on a small table. A mouse. It scampered behind a curtain. Called the desk. A young man showed up with 2 traps saying “this is all we can do”. As he laid the traps he noted there was already a trap placed in the room, indicating there was probably a previous infestation. A few minutes after he left I heard a trap close but no mouse. A few hours later, after very little sleep and our plans ruined for the day, we decided to check out early. We settled accounts with management to our satisfaction, though the desk supervisor seemed annoyed we were bothering her. The nerve of us to complain!
I stayed at the Lodge in 2017 so I wasn’t expecting the Ritz, and I understand it’s in the middle of the woods. The buildings are decrepit and badly need renovations but short of that at least plug entry points for rodents.

Great location in the Park. Good restaurant and Lounge onsite. Rooms are dated. On busy weekends parking can be a challenge but there's a free shuttle. DO NOT book through Agoda.com. They charged $1912 and the Lodge charge would have been $1261 for the 3 nights. Agoda claimed the extra $644 was for operational fees which was not revealed at the time of booking.

While I expected the lodge not to have air conditioning and should be a little rustic, the room was dimly lit and felt old and a bit worn out. The floor was a plastic style carpet and the walls are a dingy beige. The bedding and towels were clean but there were spider webs on the light fixtures. The windows, screens and balcony need to be cleaned and had a build up of pollen. But this wasn’t new and the exterior of the building needs cleaning.

I’m a retired property manager and found so many details that need attention.

Service from employees was very friendly and everyone was helpful

We stayed in Hemlock. In our room everything was in order mechanically. We had hot water and good water pressure, which has been a problem in the past. The queen bed was comfy. The TV reception was great about 90% of the time, which is an improvement over previous years. The housekeeping staff does a great job overall. The room was generally clean and tidy, but some parts of our room (like the ceiling) look they haven't been wiped in months. The guest buildings look more run down each time we stay there. Some parts of the hallways and stairs look like they haven't been swept in years. We pray the Lodge doesn't fall into a decrepit state like Wawona did.

The cafeteria at the Lodge is awful (as of Spring 2026). There was even less selection than last year, and the food looked very unappetizing. The cafeteria was sooo much better 10 years ago. We could get a hot entree, chili and corn bread, prepared foods, and pizza. It was actually something we looked forward to. Now it's like it doesn't even exist. So sad.

The Mountain Room on the other hand was great. The staff there works hard and the food is cooked well. There is always a vegetarian option, although this time it was not as good as in the past: it was a stew consisting of too many pearl onions. Also there was no focaccia that day, which was amazing last time. Those nits aside, the Mountain Rom is still the best place to get a tasty, slightly-upscale, sit-down dinner in the valley.

Accessible EV chargers would make the Lodge a very attractive option for people EVs. Right now, the Rivian chargers are almost useless because non-EVs park in the charging spots. Maybe the Lodge can ask Rivian to pay for some sort of enforcement so that their chargers can actually be used. I think Rivian needs to buy a tow truck and park it right next to the charging spots. Then put signs in front of the spots saying, "See that tow truck right there..." That would make non-EVs think twice!

Cons:
1 Trip advisor does not actually book a room when you pay for it, they wait to see what opens up. Not sure what would happen. If nothing opened up They did not give me the hotel confirmation until three days before we were staying.
2. Booking a room does not give you a parking space. No spaces were available for three hours after we arrived.
Pros:
The room was clean, if a bit tired, the bed was comfy, and the view was spectacular.