Montecito Sequoia Lodge

This is a wonderful place - l've come here a handful of times, staying at the Lakeview Suites and just came back again after not having been back for 3 years (stayed in the Sugarpine lodge). This is a passion project for the family who runs the place - and honestly there isn't a better place to stay in Sequoia NP. I've stayed at Wuksachi and Montecito Lodge is way superior. Is it perfect? No. But it'scomfortable, clean, wonderful staff, there's a ton of activities you can do (canoeing, archery, tennis, beach volleyball, etc) and the main draw is the included meals - they are great - essentially like a cruise ship buffet but not as large variety - but good and filling, with options for vegan and gluten free. Juices, coffee, espresso drinks, teas are covered. Things like soda and alcohol are extra. There is also satellite wifi which is decent (can disconnect at times but totally useable) The lodge has had some bad luck - wildfire and being buried under 20 feet of snow - and the owners have had to come out of pocket on it all. Everyone should come here and support this wonderful place - honestly I can't imagine coming to Sequoia NP and not being able to stay here !*** Do note they are having to close from 10/13/24 to April or May due to not being able to plow the detour road to the lodge. They are also closed for Sunday to Monday night stays due to lack of staff. Absolute pity!

Loved the variety of activities! Archery, tie dye, pickle ball, huge trampoline, ping pong, pedal boats and other watercraft on the lake, hikes, as well as crafts for kids kept us all happily occupied.Staff were wonderful! Good food at every meal, and a decent selection of snacks always available.Can't wait to go back with a larger group! Great for hanging out with family and friends!

We stayed as 3 adults and went during the week. This was perfect as there were no kids there. Only one who didn't make much noise. More retired adults and Europeans. Extremely thankful to the staff for such wonderful service. Food was decent, we liked the fresh chocolate chip cookies and tiramisu the best. Tofu stir fry was yum. As well as mashed potatoes and salmon. I liked they had yogurt and cream cheese for my bagel. The amount of thoughtfulness that goes into serving their guests really shows. room was amazing with a nice view and clean. Lake was fun to paddle boat on as well as s'mores, and the trampoline. Sad the jacuzzi was not working so we skipped the pool. We got low tire pressure and a staff member helped us out as there was no gas station that had air service in the park.

Originally, we had booked outside of the park in Exeter, but after realizing that we would be wasting a couple of hours driving to and from the park each day, it didn't make sense to be so far out even if it was cheaper since we only had 2 nights but wanted to see both parks. What sealed the deal for me to stay at Montecito Sequoia is having the meals included since food within the park is very limited. You get dinner the day of your arrival, 3 meals for any night you stay after that and breakfast the day you leave. I was expecting more cafeteria quality food but was treated to some great options like kalua pork, teriyaki steak, mashed sweet potatoes, asparagus, and hawaiian mac salad and decadent salted caramel and blueberry chocolate brownies the first night. The second night had tri-tip, citrus herb chicken, scalloped potatoes, and honey glazed carrots. Even with one item falling short like the Hawaiian mac salad day 1, and the chicken day 2, still satisfied with their offerings. Since it was buffet style, I just went back for more of the ones I liked. If you're still hungry during the night, leftovers are available in the fridge for you to reheat in the microwave in the common area. Snacks and fruit were available during the day and bagels, cereal, etc. all day in case you want to skip breakfast and get an early start. Luckily it was during the slower shoulder season in October, so the rates were decent especially on the weekdays and if you stay in the Main Lodge itself, but be aware that activities are extremely sparse (just archery and s'mores night during our 3 days) if you wanted to hang out at the lodge. Since we wanted to eat in our room, we went for the Lake View Suite which was enough room for 6 people. The view of the lake from the deck is more between the trees but great for stargazing if you can stand the cold at night. Complimentary kayaks are available for you to take on the lake but be aware the lake is quite small. Overall a great stay with two recommendations. Although the pool was understandably closed for the season, it would've been nice to be informed their year-round hot tub was also closed so I wouldn't have packed a bulky robe. Also, would've liked to have the firepits available for use during the evenings especially for s'mores night vs. trying to roast s'mores through the side grating of the fireplace.

I give Montecito 5 stars for the dining and 2 stars for the room. So 3.5 stars overall.The location is beautiful and close to the parks. We were able to ride one of their catamarans on the lake for free which was very fun.The food was great - I'm vegetarian and I felt like I had more than enough options to choose from. I had pesto pasta, grilled asparagus and baked potatoes for dinner.The room, however, was extremely old, small, stuffy and with no TV. The internet service was far from great too.

Location, location, location!! This lodge is one of very few places to stay inside of, or in this case right in between, 2 national parks. You can't beat the location! I stayed here with my mom and her partner during their visit to CA. We spent one day hiking around Sequoia NP, stayed at Montecito Lodge for the night, and continued to Kings Canyon NP in the morning. Very convenient :)Breakfast and dinner are always included, buffet style. There is a hot lunch available as well if you are staying more than 1 night. There really isn't anything else available to eat in the area so it makes sense that all meals are provided. When we visited the dinner options included vegan stuffed peppers, among other items. Breakfast was a buffet of scrambled eggs, sausages, hash browns, waffles, French toast, and oatmeal. They have a vegan egg substitute available but it takes 15-20 mins to make (powdered form, not Just Egg) - I didn't want to wait that long and there were plenty of other items to eat. They offer a few non-dairy milk options (oat, soy, almond, and coconut). There are always snacks out and available for grab & go, e.g. apples, oranges, chips, cookies. At the time of our visit (May 2022) they were using paper plates and plastic cutlery.. not sure if that was because of covid but it felt very wasteful. There is wifi on property, many board games in the large hangout room, and a fireplace that is relaxing to sit by. The grounds themselves are nice. There are lots of amenities, a nice lake, and you can even hike to national park trails from the lodge! We did just that on the morning we checked out. The lodge building itself is quite dated, including all the guest rooms. We had an interesting issue where our heat didn't work in the room.. it was quickly fixed by maintenance. They do have nice new cabins available - they look great from photos but are quite expensive when compared to the lodge guestrooms. I'm more of a camper but this is a great option for staying 'inside' the national parks. Don't expect luxury unless you book the new cabins though!

Just returned from our short trip to nature, we had a memorable three night stay at Montecito meeting with old friends. Checking in was an interesting process, cars are only allowed at the designated temporary unloading spot, use the provided wheel barrel to transport all your belongs to the front of the main lodge. Rooms are on the second floor, we made multiple trips carrying everything up the narrow stairs which was a bit of a workout. We reserved a room with a king and a bunked bed; the room is quite dated with no air con but an overhead fan and small portable fan placed at the window to help air circulation, it's also more crowded then expected. The only switch in the bathroom will turn on the light as well as the very loud fan. To be honest we weren't too impressed at the first glance. Things got better as we adjusted our expectations. Meals and snacks are all included in the room rate. The spacious dining room on first floor is where three meals and snacks are served. They also provide wine glasses if you byob during dinner. Guests and staffs were all very respectful of the mask requirement, tables are spaced apart, hand sanitizer and Lysol wipes on each table. Meals are served buffet style, plentiful with varieties and decent quality, although not the most skilled cooking. Guests bus their own table and clean up after eating. Every morning after breakfast, ingredients were spread out in the kitchen counter for guests to make their own sandwiches. Our party of 3 couples had wonderful picnics everyday during our outings. Having only limited Wifi and no TV can be a good thing. We had a great time exploring the wonderful sceneries and majestic sequoia while catching up with dear old friends; Montecito was a perfect place to stay.

MONTECITODO NOT STAY HERE.One star is way more than this property deserves.There were multiple problems. A week before we arrived, we received an email saying the road to the lodge was closed and we would have to take a detour. That detour required us going three miles out of our way and driving into the lodge on a series of extremely poorly maintained dirt and gravel roads that was barely drivable even with an SUV. Our vehicle was filthy and covered in dust when we arrived.But the worst thing was three days before we were scheduled to arrive, we received an email saying the lodge would be closed for two of the five nights we had booked and that we would have to find accommodations elsewhere because they did not have the staff to be open. They did not offer to help and said there was nothing they could do. We were on our own trying to find another place to stay in an area that only had limited lodging to begin with. This happened while I was already on vacation. As a result, I was forced to spend nearly half a vacation day on the internet and making phone calls looking for a place to stay. Eventually, I was able to book another hotel twenty-five miles away. Furthermore, while at the Montecito we spoke with several other couples who received the same email and were also forced at the last minute to find other accommodations.When we arrived at 3pm we were told in an extremely rude manner that our room was not yet ready, that check in was at 4pm and we should wait in the game room until it was ready.Finally the heat in our room did not work. After dinner we informed a manager. She said a maintenance person would be up to fix it in fifteen minutes. An hour later I was forced to go back down to the office to find out why no one had come to fix it. The only thing the manager said was she would contact maintenance again. No apology. I have never been so inconvenienced in my life. Absolutely the worst experience I ever had.

The summer family camp is great for kids of all ages. I took my children 25 years ago and visited this summer with grandchildren. It's wonderful seeing happy kids having the time of their lives. My room was clean and comfortable. My only negative was food choices and preparation. Too many mediocre choices made for a lot of wasted tossed food. In the 90s food was served hot and fresh. Buffet for hot food doesn't work.

Great staff, food is wonderful rooms are clean and fresh . Love the choices of activity beautiful