Wawona Hotel

I booked two rooms for next year through the National Parks Reservation Service and within a month I was notified that the hotel was cancelling all reservations after December 2024 for the future.

National Parks Reservation Service was of little help to me in obtaining the refund of the deposits I paid. I was told to deal with the hotel. Aramark who manages the hotel assured me my credit card had been credited for the deposits. I checked with the credit card company this was not true.

Again neither NPRS nor Aramark were any help to me.
The credit card company is now dealing with Aramark on my behalf.

On top of this NPRS is keeping the "service fee" they charged -10% of the price of thr entire stay- even though the hotel cancelled the reservation. They did nothing to assist me.

BEWARE if you use this preditory organization.

This is a scam hotel. After take my deposit. Then they cancel my booking. NOT WILLING TO REFUND THE DEPOSIT. How can a hotel do such thing

What a terrible service this is.

everyone who saw this review please don’t book this hotel.

😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡

My favorite part of our stay was relaxing on the second floor porch in our chairs sipping wine and eating take-out food from the general store. [Their dining room was closed. We could picture/imagine the horse and carriages dropping people off in olden days. Yes, you have to go down the hall for a shared bathroom, but that is part of the charm.

I booked a two night stay at Wawona, and a few days before we were due to arrive, I received an email to inform me that due to renovations, the kitchen and dining room were not available, and offering a refund. I took up this offer as it would not be acceptable to stay there without having access to somewhere to eat.
Two weeks later I have still not received the refund, but have had 3 emails from the company stating they overpaid me $17 when processing the refund and demanding that I repay them. I am not prepared to send more money to an organisation that didn’t provide me any service, left me searching for alternative accommodation and now are harassing me.
Avoid at all cost.

We were notified a few days before we left that the kitchen had been closed and were disappointed, but when we got there we were relieved that we hadn't eaten there. There was a health warning sign on the door to the kitchen that denied entry without protective gear due to bacteria, etc. The entire place is in deep decline. The hotel was encased in scaffolding and we learned that the roof was being replaced because it had partially fallen in. The porch on the building we stayed in (Washburn) was lovely and the chairs and small tables were in good shape, but the trim was visibly rotting and the railing had a warning on it telling you not to lean or sit on it (obviously it was no longer sturdy.). The room was clean and nice, but the lobby of the hotel was dirty, worn and outdated. It could have been charming if the carpet and upholstery of the furniture hadn't been so dirty and worn. It is really tragic that a historic place which clearly could have been wonderful has been so neglected.

Two days before arrival we received an email that the dining room would be closed at the hotel. Bummer. There are NO rear by restaurant options, so we brought a cooler and some provisions. I understand the closure was unforeseen, but the hotel did not go out of their way to make any other provision for meals except to lay in a few extra grab and go options at the golf shop. This was a fairly significant inconvenience and we were not compensated in any way for that.

We were not made aware that there would be construction going on during the period of our stay, scaffolding, hammering, etc. I appreciate that they must maintain the hotel, indeed it needs a tremendous amount of maintenance, I just wish we had been made aware so we could have taken that into consideration when making our travel plans.

The rooms are small, but functional and there was plenty of hot water. There are, however, lights on the veranda outside all the rooms that stay on all night and shine through and around the roller shades. Our bathroom window had no shade at all. Yes, this is a historic hotel, and we expected it to be antique and without modern fixtures, etc. So you shouldn't expect luxury.

To sum it up, the setting is pretty but not very convenient. There's a level of deferred maintenance here that we didn't expect and found disappointing. We felt that the hotel did not do the minimum to accommodate guests for the inconvenience caused by the dining room closure and the staff displayed a lack of warmth or friendliness that made me feel they were not happily employed.

What did we like? The veranda in the evening with a glass our own wine was lovely.

Was this worth $300 a night? No, it was not a $300 a night experience in the least. This could be a real show place if they really put the time and money into properly maintaining the buildings and keeping the porches swept, fountain cleaned of weeds and so much more.

Not worth the cost of the stay.

We booked the hotel mainly because it was our only option with a pool - We were told upon arrival that the pool was closed for the past 3 weeks and they did not know when it would reopen. When I said it was a shame because we booked it for the pool (we travelled with a 20 month old) and that it would be nice to send a notification to coming guests about it, I was simply ignored. The lady at the reception did not even looked at me, she looked at my friend and said "you have room #X". This made me really upset. How hard is it to says somthing like "We are so sorry for the inconvenience. We offer that type of service instead or there is a pool available at X Location"... you know, just something. Do not just ignore your guest, that is a very bad start. Over the stay, we found out that it was not only that lady that was unprofesional, but the rest of the staff. Not necesaarily bad, but not friendly, nor helpful, at all. The food is very average but prices are not cheap, and the service is not good. We had to wait over 45 minutes every morning to get our breakfast...
Then the room was okeyish but very old. So old that it can feel a little creepy and dirty. Everything is and looks old. There is no fan on the ceiling so it is really hot in the room and no air comes in from the window. Plus, if you leave it open, prepare for hearing the noise from other guests. The shared bathroom is ok though but we used it only one night as we paid extra (90USD per night!!) for a room with a private bathroom... which was nicer because it had a bathroom, but was still old and hot!
It is a shame though cause the place is so gorgeous, and, as soon as you leave the indoor area, it feels magical. But the staff and the hotel itself is really meh. I have been in better hostels in the past... But yeah, I guess it is ok if you don't stay longer than 2 nights.
By the way, there is a free pool in the Yosemite valley and it was perfect to be there while our friends were hiking.

In short, take the other negative reviews seriously. While we LOVE the location and calmness during the day, the rooms are TINY and BASIC. They are so old that they have begun to feel unclean in my view (eg things like carpet, bathroom, shower curtain etc). You just don’t really want to touch anything(!). Also, VERY noisy at night with paper thin walls (could hear the neighbour’s snoring v clearly and the outdoor generator).

The communal restrooms are clean though.

Internet patchy. Pool v small, dining basic and expensive. We found the food average.

It really needs some proper money spent on it. A real shame because it could be a real gem.

That said, if you go with low expectations for a day or 2, it’s conveniently located if you’ve had a long drive to get to the park. We will probably stay again for just a night for that reason.

We found service mixed but mainly friendly.

And the 9 hole golf course is basic, but cute and worth a go!

Hotel in Yosemite NP, this hotel is about 1 hr drive from Yosemite Valley. It is near Mariposa Grove.
The hotel looks nice from the outside, the rooms are very basic and very noisy. The hotel has a restaurant. What I found very annoing was the absence of WiFi. It is stated there is internet, but it doesn’t work. Currently this is not acceptable anymore, especially since mobile service is also not working in this remote region. The pool was closed at the date we stayed here. Prepare to pay a lot of money to spend a night here.

First of all, the hospitality that the hotel offerss is nule. What it cannot be is, when a customer gets to the hotel at 20:55 after a tired day of visiting things, and wants have dinner, the restaurant manager cannot say that the kitchen close at 21:00 and they cannot offer nothing to eat event to take away. The only solution he gave me was to go some miles out of the park to have dinner. Please, try to inform the guest about the times where the restaurant closes. He also said, that the park obligates them to close at 21:00. That is strange, because the next day we saw in other restaurants inside the park that the close time was at 22:00.

We tryed to open claim right there with the recepction, and she did not have any claim form. She offered a piece of paper to write down the claim. I don´t now if that is even legal for an audit, but it was very funny (just to say something, because of course it was not).

We wanted to cancel our second night at the hotel, but we could not because the WiFi it was not working. The reception girl told that some times the people wait more than 2 hours to get connectivity, that doesn´t make any sense, but the situation was what it was so we went to bed without nothing to eat. Of course, I would had any kind of connectivity we would find out a better please to spend that vacation day, better that at Wawona Hotel.

The room it was very poor and old for the cost per night that we spent. The price was disproportionate for the quality of the room and accomodations. There was not even a cooler or coffe machine, so we could not have food just in case. You have to get in mind, that the hotel is in a place where there is no facilities to buy.

It is very sad, when you want to spend the vacations with excitement in a foreing country and you find all that.

The room we stayed in only had one robe for three people and it was missing the tie that would go around waist. We had to walk downstairs to washroom to go to restroom and showers. Would not stay in this type of room again, we paid almost $200 for a room a little bigger than a prison cell. Parking was terrible, had to walk a long distance with suitcases and other stuff. I am handicapped, no parking spaces for that. If you like 'rustic' and want to over pay for your stay, this is the place for you! We thought park was poorly marked with helpful signs, one way roads are terrible, if you miss a road you have to go around a circle for 15-20 minutes before you can get back to where you missed the road. One sign just said 'All other destinations' we looked for the visitors center and never did find it. We feel this place is more for younger people, two people in their 70's just can't cut it. This park is not for the handicapped. The park is massive, takes over an hour to get from one spot to another, if you want to see it all, plan to stay 3-4 days.

The setting is gorgeous. That’s about where the good news ends.

The location is about an hour from Yosemite Valley and the main sites of interest.

The staff were not polite or friendly, and seemed like they didn’t really care. I think they need more training.

The first room we were allocated smelled strongly of urine, and so we were moved to another room (worse location, better smell).

The pool was out of service when we arrived, and there wasn’t an apology or a suggestion of other amenities on offer, just a blank ignored. This was a shame, because even though nothing could be done, a polite interaction can just make things fine. Unfortunately, the staff’s attitudes were similar regardless of who you spoke to, which makes me think it is a management issue.

Finally, they didn’t make up our room whilst we were here, despite us requesting it with the door knob sign.

All in all, I would not recommend staying here. It should really be renamed Wawona HoStel, because it really is hostel service.

Pros:
Good location within the Yosemite National Park.
Beautiful heritage hotel and well-maintained.
Price is reasonable compared to alternatives.
Shared bathrooms were very clean and well-lit (see pics).
Fountain-facing rooms are quiet, but not street-facing rooms.
Has tennis courts and disc golf. Equipment provided free (not for golf) by front desk.

Cons:
Room was quite tight for four adults.
No views of any Yosemite attraction from hotel.
Can't even get a coffee until 7 am. Restaurant closes at 9 pm.
No shops or restaurants within a 45-minute drive radius.
No AC in room (two fans are provided instead). Was quite hot in July although the nights cooled off.
Parking is a short walk from rooms and so carrying luggage was a challenge.
Older bearded white guy who works at Golf Shop is extremely rude.

This is an historic hotel, so you need to prepare yourself for that. Our room was pretty bare-bones with only two outlets, one next to the bed and one in the bathroom. There were other rooms that had a shared bath in the back hall, but we chose one with a private bath. The large deck out front with chairs was very nice. The floor in the room was slanted, I'm sure with age, so that took a little getting used to. There is no fridge nor coffee maker in the room, but the do offer coffee outside the dining room each morning. The pool was closed during our stay, so we didn't get to experience that. It was very warm while we visited and the rooms each had a fan that helped a lot. The restaurant in the hotel was good and the servers were very friendly. The front desk staff was friendly and helpful. It is about a 45 min drive into the Yosemite valley, but it is much more quite here. The Mariposa Grove is only about a 10 minute drive, so nice and close.

The good: location to river swimming and Mariposa. It’s in the park so you avoid the line to get in.
No a/c: Given two fans but the outlets aren’t close enough to put the fans in front of the windows and the windows face where everyone walks. Go to Pine Tree Market for extension cord (and floats for river). No ceiling fan in our room. It didn’t get cool(ish) at night until about 3am. Pool was broken so we couldn’t cool off there but thankfully a ranger told us about swimming in the river which we loved. We had a private bathroom. Weird part was we opened the door in our bathroom and it opened into someone’s room! The room smells a bit like an antique store. The restaurant is very limited choices that don’t change much and note it doesn’t have a/c either. We ate there 3 nights due to no other choices and food was often over seasoned. Service is kind but not on par with prices. Have to go to restaurant to grab coffee. Front desk is not forthcoming with any info, you have to ask explicitly about things like pool, coffee, etc. It was a fine stay but we wouldn’t stay here again. It has a lot of potential.

If you want to stay relatively close to the center of the action (about 45 minutes to Yosemite Village) and not pay an absolute fortune, Wawona is a great option. Yes, the room was very hot at night, though there's a ceiling fan and an oscillating fan included to help you out somewhat.

The bed was comfortable, the towels were fresh and the bathrooms were clean. It's an old property so it's not pristine, but that's part of the charm in my opinion. The staff was friendly and everything was as described.

I only removed a star due to the restaurant. The service was very quick and the wait staff were exceptional, but the quality of the food was quite poor. Avocado toast was in fact avocado white bread - not toasted at all. Overcooked eggs and underwhelming french toast. For $55 all in, I'd expect better quality.

The pool was also closed, though it was full and didn't appear to be under construction (apparently it is though). I'm always confused when places take on these kinds of projects during the height of tourist season. Not a deal breaker for us but good to know if you're looking for pool time!

The inside room temperature was over 90 degrees. There is no A/C, there is no mini frig. No ceiling fan (yes, floor fans, but its just pushing around 90+ degree heat). Severa ice machines did not work due to heat. So its too hot to operate ice machines, but its ok to stick people in rooms with temperatures over 90 ? The pool was also closed during the hottest time of year. So how was someone going to keep a safe and comfortable body temperature? Go to the lobby or restaurant - think again, there is no A/C. If you are sensitive to heat, do not stay here. I understand that the Lodge wants to maintain its historical features, that's ok for the outside and decks, etc., that can all look like 1904, but temperatures are rising and the interior rooms should be up to 2024 health and comfort standards and frankly they are not.

The Wawona is a historical Hotel (during our visit-under restoration with scaffolding everywhere) where we enjoyed a delicious lunch when we arrived with great service but at dinner the food and the service was very disappointing. We stayed in a cottage that had a nice porch, but in the next room, where we could hear everything, was a misbehaving toddler that kept us up almost all night. Even with my ear plugs, I couldn't sleep. I apparently picked the wrong accommodations. Be aware that there are no TV's in the rooms, no A/C and the only place you can get WiFi is in the main hotel lobby. Because of my bad knee, we didn't do a lot of hiking and I bet I could have found better accommodations outside of Yosemite.

Main lobby and building are nice to relax in, the cocktails are good