Wawona Hotel

We had a hard time believing that anybody would choose to stay here. It might be fun to visit if you are over in the isolated part ofYosemite Park but not to stay there. There's no air conditioning, very few rooms have bathrooms inside the room, many things didn't work while we were there and the staff didn't seem to care much.The historic value might be the only reason to go there.

Aramark is destroying Yosemite's jewels. Neglect is evident everywhere. It's so very sad to see these landmarks fall into disrepair.

FOOD: N/ASERVICE: 4AMBIANCE: 4VALUE: 4Let's make it clear, this hotel is in Yosemite and away from the busy/tourist filled valley. If you are for a peaceful stay away from the crowds, this is where you need to be. The place is full of history and when you drive up to check in, it feels like you've been transported back in time. That's especially true because there are no modern creature comforts, not cell service, no room telephone, no TV, no AC, no in room refrigerator and no room internet (although there is WiFi in the lobby/main building). The basics are very good, spacious room, big comfortable bed, traditional bathroom with good shower pressure and lots of storage. There is a full service restaurant on site serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. We did not try the restaurant during our short stay. As for things close by, there is a gas station and gift shop just next door. You can arrange for horseback riding. There is a pool but it was being serviced during our stay. And you can hike straight out your front door! There are so many hiking trails around the hotel. A very good alternative in the Yosemite National Park. BTW, with a hotel reservation, you can come and go as you please without having to make a park reservation.

The Wawona Hotel is made up of several whitewashed Victorian buildings. It's a chance to experience things mostly pre-tech. The rooms do not have TVs, phones nor wifi. Rooms are decent size and clean.Seasonal amenities include a nine-hole golf course, a swimming pool and riding stables. There are lots hiking trails around the hotel. Beautiful views when you sit outside. Food is decent, but nothing amazing. Services was good. Overall it's a 3.5 rounding up to 4.

When you reserve your room make sure you get the newly remodal ones. I haven't been in the lodge but I believe it's a lot nicer same price. And remember you have to pay extra to get a bathroom with your room. There's no soap or amenities with the restroom. My room smelled like urine so I had to leave the door and window open with the fan on To arid out. I think the smell actually is coming from the toilet. It is what it is I'm not staying in the room much anyway just wanted to give people an idea of what you really are getting no air conditioning Very basic a step up from camping

I am very interested in the Victorian era, so I was excited to stay at this hotel, built during that period and maintained with its touches. I loved the porch seating, decor, and feel of the place. They had only been reopened six weeks before my stay this past week, and all in all, the place was clean and cozy. Service was nice. They're renovating and doing some maintenance work, so the pool, some of the cottages, part of the lawn, and the golf course (due to drought) were not open.My one regret is forking over the super high cost of dinner at the buffet ($40/person), but this is not necessarily a problem of the hotel's. I know the logistics of getting food to the park must be difficult, but I feel like something could be done that's better than Aramark, or Aramark could find a way to step up their game for the insane price per plate (it was even higher at Awahnee, though).The bathroom situation is supposed to be shared between rooms, but our adjoining neighbors locked us out, so I can't really comment on that experience except to say that we could hear everything that went on (or came out, rather) in that bathroom. It wasn't much of a problem to be locked out, though, since there was a sink in the room for hand-washing, teeth-brushing, etc., and there was a toilet (literally just a toilet) to be shared by others next door to our room.There was a better, gym-style bathroom in the "shower house" downstairs, which we didn't mind using to get cleaned up. The water pressure of the shower was amazing-- like being power-washed. And if you're just hiking and camping and not staying in the hotel, you can swing by and "buy" a shower for $5. Soap and two-in-one shampoo/conditioner is stocked in dispensers, or you can bring your own fancy stuff. Take your towel from the room (or front desk if you're not staying), and chuck it in a bin outside the showers to be cleaned when you're done.Stuff to know: The beds are really high from the ground! I liked that though. You can pretty much hear everything going on outside the rooms, so they can hear you, too. (People are usually sitting at the lawn chairs in front of their rooms to read or chat.) It got quite hot at night, so open the windows! Pack breezy summer pjs. Great lawn chairs and wicker patio seating for picnicking if you want to pack food to avoid the pricey on-site meals. There's also a very cool little creek and historical Yosemite town area to check out if you walk on that trail past Hill's Studio (which is now just a place where a ranger sits at a foldable table in the doorway and gives out wilderness permits) and the general store. Also there isn't any WiFi to 'gram the beautiful sunset in real-time. Guests are mainly families, which works, as the lawn's got a lot of space for games and running around.

Stopped here for lunch and a hike. The lunch at the hotel was ok, menu was limited and food was ok. Food was ok, prices were normal for a hotel. Staff was nice and friendly and helpful. Not sure i would go out of my way to stop here again.maybe to do the hike that was cool.Fyi This hotel has no Wi-Fi and there is no Internet reception at this location whatsoever

*OFF-SEASON REVIEW FOR THE RESTAURANT*. This is really hard to write for such a beautiful and historic hotel with such a rich history, but I'm writing this to inform people about our off-season experience so you know exactly what to expect. My friends and I stopped by at the beginning of October for breakfast/brunch after the owner of a local winery was raving about it as a destination for brunch and to people watch. So we were incredibly excited to check it out for ourselves! When we arrived, we were informed by the front desk person that it was just to-go food only but could sit on their picturesque patio. Ok not bad... We then made our way to speak to the only person working front of house at the restaurant where he was kind enough to give us recommendations on the food. We really appreciated his honesty, as he let us know that he didn't recommend the chicken but loved the wraps, chili, and soup there. So we took his advice and ordered those three and got ourselves coffee (he gives you cups and you have to fill up the coffee yourself). I will start by saying that the freshly made vegan chili and soup were pretty darn good. The wraps on the other hand were incredibly disappointing. Not only were they not made fresh (they came in plastic containers just taken out of the fridge with a sticker that said they were made two days ago), but they were just not good and way overpriced. I just kept thinking that Trader Joe's has better wraps :(. We were absolutely starving by the time we got there and it was just a really sad situation for the four of us. I wholeheartedly believe that it's a completely different experience during the busy season when they have table service. I would love to visit again during that time.

***Off season review*** My friends and I went to Wawona hotel at the beginning of October excited for a hot and comforting brunch after the windy drive. To our disappointment, the service was buffet style and they only had a few food options available including wraps, fried chicken, and soups. We were advised that the chicken was cold but the wraps were made in the house. We all chose wraps but were not expecting them to come out of the fridge in a plastic box. We ordered the chipotle chicken wrap and the broccoli and cauliflower soup. The soup was delicious and comforting. It had us wishing we would had ordered two instead of the wrap. The wrap was super cold and barely came with any chicken after the first few bites. The price was also pretty steep ($10-12). We ate it because it was the only food option available in the park. We also ordered coffee but it was self service. Sitting on their terrace was pleasant and we did enjoy the 19th century style building and friendly service. However, I would not recommend grabbing lunch here in the off-season.

This review pertains to a stay at Wawona in July/2021. The Wawona Hotel is a quaint hotel situated in a rather excellent location. To be absolutely clear, the premises itself appears to be kept clean as the rooms were in good condition (albeit with unusually elevated beds) and being on the older side (with no central AC so being stuck with fans for a hot night). Wifi, as others have noted, wasn't great in the rooms for me either, but serviceable in the lobby. The bathrooms were also remarkably clean and water was instantly hot (though to note, this was with a private bathroom, not a shared one). So why am I left with such a poor impression of this place? It's to factor in the fact the food service was *abysmal*.**STAY AWAY FROM THE DINNER BUFFET**Yes, it deserves it's own line. Our stay would've been perfectly fine if we treated it as a place to sleep and that was it. Unfortunately the food leaves quite the black mark in my book. The fact that the buffet was so obscenely expensive was salt on the metaphorical wound. As was the fact that even getting into the buffet took 30 additional minutes due to technical difficulties. Not to mention the hot dinner was mostly cold/lukewarm (the roasted veggies were actually cold). The fish was unidentifiable, but purportedly salmon (one of the few things to get barely passing marks). The beef was extremely tough and hard to eat, the chicken way overcooked and deathly dry. The pasta salad was almost entirely pasta and had barely any flavor to it. It was quite frankly the worst meal I have ever paid for. Ever. My brother and I seriously debated dumping the food and driving into town just to get a cup ramen. Yes. It was that bad.Stay at the lovely hotel, but absolutely prepare for barely edible food at the restaurant's dinner buffet. Y'all have been warned.