Yosemite Lodge at the Falls

It is 2÷29÷16 and as of tomorrow, Yosemite Lodge, along with everything in the valley, will be taken over by Aramark, the park’s new concessionaire. So if you are reading this, the information here might not be very relevant.
I’ve recently returned from a one week visit to Yosemite and I stayed in the Alder building.
The room has a large window facing the valley and the front door opens to a view of Upper Falls.
Bathroom is spacious though the sink area is cramped.
Coffee, hairdryer, and fridge all in the room which is nice, especially the fridge.
Heater in the room is very effective as well as very loud.
Hot water is HOT, so be careful because it also gets hot almost immediately. But if you’re taking a shower around the times everyone else is, you’ll have to moderate the temperature flux.
Beds are comfortable but the sheets/​blankets are horrid. But with the overhaul, it’s been said that all the furnishings from the Ahwahnee will be passed down to the Lodge while the Ahwahnee will be renamed The Majestic (facepalm) and will receive a complete remodel.
Maid service was friendly though they forgot to give us more coffee everyday. Not a big deal since you can just get some from the cart or the front desk, but still, when it’s 30 degrees outside, you don’t really want to do that.
You have a comfortable patio in the back of the room with a table and two chairs and all of nature for your viewing. After eating lunch in your room, you can just step out onto the trail which is ten feet from your patio.
Cafeteria is worse than grade school. Don’t do it.
Gift shop has food and a microwave along with snacks and various tourist items. I bought ice cream and chips and beer here. Expensive but that’s expected.
Mountain Room restaurant is over priced though a nice place to sit.
Lounge offers a very nice atmosphere for drinks and chatting with other visitors who no doubt have been visiting the park longer than you have.
Front desk staff are ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ normal/​rude. It’s always been this way.
I don’t know what’s going to happen to this place after the takeover but I do not the food changes for the better. Everything else is tolerable to enjoyable.

Perfekt gelegen, um das Yosemite Valley zu erkunden. Wie man auf den Bildern sieht, ist das natürlich kein richtiges Hotel, sondern eher eine einfache Unterkunft. Aber man ist ja auch mitten in der Wildnis. Und für zwei Tage Yosemite genau richtig!

Was sind die drei wichtigsten Dinge bei einer Immobilie? Die Lage, die Lage und die Lage! ;-)
So ist es auch hier: mitten im wunderschönen Yosemite Valley, inmitten friedlicher und stiller Natur liegen mehrere Häuser unter den Bäumen, in denen sich die Zimmer befinden.
Große Zimmer, gemütlich eingerichtet, Balkon, gute Betten und Kissen, also so wie es sein soll. Allerdings: Wenn man genauer hinguckt, merkt man dass hier lange nix gemacht wurde und es schon mal nötig wäre. Dünne Wände, das Bad etwas angeranzt, Tapete könnte mal erneuert werden, neuer Waschtisch etc. Allerdings sehr sauber und nicht wirklich schlimm oder gar eklig, aber für den Preis wäre etwas «neueres» angemessen.
Frühstück war inklusive — aaaber: Es gab für jeden einen Gutschein über 13 $, den man in einem neonbeleuchteten, hässlichen Self-​Service Foodcourt einlösen konnte. Das war wirklich schlimm.
Warum trotzdem vier Sterne? Personal sehr freundlich und, klar: Die Lage!

As we enter the Lodge’s complex of 15 buildings, we pass Elderberry, and the beautiful Eicher designed big windowed Aspen, Dogwood, and Tamarack buildings, best looking buildings in the Lodge. Shortage of nearby parking, due to daytime visitors, with traffic noise from the main road leading out of the Valley.
The rooms in most demand are those buildings with the best views of 2425′ Yosemite falls: Willow, Azalia, Cottonwood, Manzanita, and Elderberry. Since 1954 when the Lodge was built, planted pine trees soar 60 feet high, blocking out views of the Falls from the first floor back patios and second floor balconies.
The Falls run February to June, with the best views in February and March, before the spring foliage blocks your view.
We arrive at 3pm, 2 hours before the 5pm check in time. In the spring and summer, every room will be taken for months at a time, and your can count on your room not to be ready until 5pm.
We get room 3328 Juniper, a second floor room with a balcony. Buildings Alder, Maple, Hemlock, Juniper and Laurel have back yard patios/​balconies facing Glacier Point/​Cook meadows, and are listed closest to farthest from the main hotel lobby and food court.
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Our spacious 14′ x 22′ room comes with a 35″ TV, a 24″ fridge, coffee maker (bring hot chocolate mix), and a keyed safe the size of an Ipads. No microwaves. Cooking forbidden!
All 245 rooms renovated 2011 – 2013, with new bathrooms, new mattresses, newly painted, new carpets, and 35″ flat screen TVs with basic cable –sorry guys, if you want ESPN you will have to go to the Mountain Lounge, and pay through the nose!
All buildings. except Cedar, have balconies on the 2^nd floor and patios on the 1^st floor. Entry door in the front, windows and patio/​balcony in the back. End units, usually king beds, desirable with fewer neighbor snorers or crying babies to listen to!
1^st floor rooms have a patio, with space for kids to play, and are cooler in the hot summers (no AC). The upstairs balcony and low ceilings makes them dark. However they can move their patio furniture around all over the grounds, like my neighbor in Elderberry who wanted a better view of the Falls.
2^nd floor rooms have higher ceilings, a balcony, less obstructed views, no footfall noise, and easier to secure from uninvited 2 or 4 legged guests! But no elevators here, so you got to haul all your luggage and bikes up and down those stairs.
Cottonwood and Birch are 1 story, all others are 2 story. All but 3 buildings have outside entry ways.
Hemlock, Maple, Cedar have interior corridors. No hauling luggage up the stairs in the rain, but corridor noise from kids playing and adults talking. No cross ventilation of rooms with external doors, and are more difficult to cool in the torrid summer heat.
All rooms have ceiling fans, and box fans, but no AC, for the hot summers.
Manzanita, Willow and Cedar surround the Olympic size pool, open until 6pm, Memorial Day through Labor Day. Azalia and Cottonwood nearby. Laurel, Juniper and Hemlock farthest away, for those who don’t like kids!
199 rooms have a king size bed, or 2 double beds, with balcony/​patio. 15 smaller rooms in Cedar have no balcony nor patio.
Avoid 1^st floor of Cedar 3901 – 3905, with doors/​windows on a busy walkway. 1^st floor standard rooms 3906 – 3912 have wooden lounge chairs in front of the windows, under the overhang.
20+ rooms converted to bunk rooms, all in Hemlock, with a double on the bottom and a single on the top, and an adjacent queen bed.
4 family rooms, on 2^nd floor of Cedar, similar to a bunk room but with added fold out sofa bed, and double the size in a suite configuration with dining table.
Cedar and Hemlock will be noisy with 5 – 7 people taking showers next door!
Maple, Alder, and Hemlock are closest to the Food Court. Tamarack, Dogwood, Aspen, and Laurel are farthest away. Other chow spots: Mountain Lounge (sports bar), Mountain Room Restaurant (open 5−8pm). Bears at night dine out of your car!
Maple and Alder are next to the noisy tour bus loading/​unloading area, and the free shuttle bus, going to the Mist Trail, Mirror Lake, and Yosemite Village.
Birch has no view of the Falls, the longest walk to the parking lot, the closest to the North Side Drive road noises. There are much worse rooms!
3901 – 3902 Cedar are 1^st floor standard rooms, under an overhang, windows on a busy walkway, noise from ice machine, with a view of walls! One person complained, and got upgraded to the Ahwahnee for only $ 299!
Bike rentals $ 34 a day, bikes with toddler trailers $ 63 a day. Didn’t see any adult bikes with training wheels for my ex!
Expanded cell phone coverage. Wifi no good for videos or downloads, and as slow as molasses!
Starting March 1, 2016 online reservations can be made at the
or 888−413−8869. New sheriff in town named Aramark.